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“Where are you from originally?” Matt asked.
“California, and I’m not sure I’ll ever get used to the cold.”
“Oh yeah, I imagine it must be brutal if you grew up in California,” Owen said. “How’d you end up in Minnesota?”
“Uh.” I hesitated. Generally, I liked to avoid getting into that sob story. I gave the quickest explanation I could. “My mom’s working overseas this year,” I explained. “I came up here to live with my uncle. Well, I was dropped off up here.”
I couldn’t help but sound bitter and twisted about the whole thing. I guessed that was because I was bitter and twisted about the whole thing. Reed’s face was serious now as he looked at me with concern in his eyes.
“Well,” Matt said, breaking the silence. “It won’t be long before you’ve got ice in your veins like the rest of us.”
I was only too grateful that the pizza arrived, and the boys turned their attention to the food. I didn’t feel like unloading about my mom to these guys. I’d been doing so well at keeping my feelings of disappointment and abandonment all bottled up since I arrived in Sunshine Hills. They were always there though, lurking beneath the surface. Even Mia didn’t truly know how I felt. She was my cousin, and I didn’t want her to think I wasn’t grateful to be living with her this year—because I was. I guessed, sometimes, it was easier to talk to strangers about these things.
Reed was still watching me closely, and I wondered if perhaps he could see that I was still thinking about my mom. I quickly turned to my own food. “This looks great.”
“It is,” Reed replied before he quickly swatted Matt’s hand away. “Hands off.”
Reed started to eat his pizza in a rush, and I wasn’t sure if it was because he was trying to make sure his friends didn’t steal his food, if he was desperate to get me out of there, or if that was simply how he ate.
We were both finished before his friends’ food arrived, and Reed excused us from the table. “We should probably head out,” he said, glancing at me to check I was okay with it.
I gave him a small nod before turning to Matt and Owen. “It was nice to meet you guys.”
“You too,” they replied.
Reed insisted on paying for our meal, and as much as I wanted to object, I knew I probably couldn’t protest too much in front of his friends. I waited until we were back in his truck before I said anything.
“I can transfer you the money for dinner,” I said.
“Don’t be silly. It’s the least I can do after my friends gate-crashed our date.”
“Fake date,” I corrected. “And I didn’t mind. Your friends are nice.”
“They’re okay.” It sounded as though he was struggling to agree right now. “Owen can be a bit quiet around new people, and Matt’s great when he’s not trying to embarrass me.”
“Well, I don’t think he was trying too hard. He was hardly spilling terrible, dark secrets from your past.”
“For now,” he grumbled.
As he went to turn on the ignition, I reached out and rested my hand on his arm. “Thanks again for tonight, Reed.”
“Seriously, it’s fine,” he said. “I’m glad I got to introduce you to Nino’s. And, I guess, Matt and Owen too.”
I laughed. “No, I don’t mean that. Thank you again for being there when Jeremy confronted me. I really appreciate it.”
“It’s no problem,” he replied. “I’m just doing my job.”
“Right.” Of course. I gave a quick shake of my head, feeling silly for thinking there had been anything more behind his actions than that. When I was around Reed, it was easy to get caught up in the moment and forget this wasn’t a normal situation. I guessed he was just better than me at playing the part of a doting partner.
He’d done exactly what I needed from him. What I wanted. So why did a part of me feel disappointed?
15
REED
I felt like such an idiot. I’d just arrived home after my date with Violet but couldn’t bring myself to get out of the truck. Our first fake date had been somewhat successful, but I was still thinking about how she’d frozen up when I moved to sit closer to her in the booth at Nino’s. She’d seemed fine when I put my arm around her at the ice rink in front of Jeremy. I’d even got the impression she liked it. But it must have just been a part of our act to show her ex we were serious. An act she’d momentarily forgotten to continue in front of my friends at the pizza restaurant.
It felt like I’d seen her true feelings in that moment because as soon as our legs had brushed against each other she’d responded as if she wanted to get out of the booth and flee. It was probably because she remembered I was just an arrogant, unappealing jock who she would otherwise be completely avoiding.
