Page 54 of Cheap Shot

“You should come! I want to hear stories about Reid, and I’ve plenty of dirt on him to share.” Jake wagged his brows.

“I don’t think I––” I started to answer.

“Please come,” Reid interrupted.

One look into his eyes was all it took. He wanted me there, and I couldn’t tell him no, even if everything in me was screaming this was a bad idea. I was only going to end up hurt.

Chapter 18

Reid

Jake knocked his foot against mine for the tenth time. His eyes bounced between me and Haley, watching us with a bemused expression, his chin resting on his hand. I wanted to kick him under the table, or at least shove his leg away from me. He was sitting next to me in the booth, and if he didn’t stop, I was pretty sure Haley would catch on.

“I swear, I don’t have any other stories. You walked in on one of the only ones.” Haley laid her spoon on the edge of her soup bowl.

“Come on! I’ve told you about his boy band phase and pet rocks.” Jake chuckled. “You’ve got to have something else.”

I wasn’t enjoying this conversation. Jake told her all about how I’d liked to dress up as my favorite boy bands and learn their choreography during my limited downtime. It was embarrassing, but my ten-year-old logic was sound. If all the girls my age were in love with them, then if I could act like them, the girls would love me. It should have been a flawless plan, but apparently, the singing and talent were major contributors to their attractiveness.

And the pet rocks were really more a reflection of my parents than me. They didn’t think Jake and I could handle the responsibility of a real pet, so they glued googly eyes on rocks and told me if I could take care of them for a year, I could get a real pet. I’m still not sure what they expected me to do with rocks, but I never got a live animal, so I must have fallen short.

“I’m sorry! I’m new here. We haven’t really had that many experiences together,” she said with a wide smile.

Was she thinking about our first meeting?

The perfect kiss?

I wished I didn’t think about it as much as I did.

There was something going on with Ethan. I knew that, and it was a major reason why the voice in my head was screaming at me not to push things with Haley. He had enough going on without me going behind his back to date her. Not with the scene he caused at practice.

“You slept in his room last night. Doesn’t that mean you’re close?” he asked, looking at me even though the question was directed to her.

“That was an extenuating circumstance.” She pushed the bowl away and poked her fork at her salad.

“What do you mean?” he pressed.

I’d told him not to bring up last night, but he wasn’t one to follow instructions.

Her eyes flickered to mine, and she sighed. “I got into a bad position at a party. I tried to call my brother, but he didn’t answer, so I called Reid. He came and got me, and I stayed with him.”

Jake’s eyes narrowed. “Did someone hurt you?”

She shook her head, lowering her spoon. “No, but he tried to.”

I expected a joke or sarcastic comment from my brother, but he just looked concerned. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah.” She forced a smile. “Thanks to Reid I was able to get out of there before anything happened.”

He turned to me and gave me a surprised look, then slowly smiled. “That’s good that he was there.”

I nodded and looked back to Haley. “How are you feeling?”

She hesitated. She’d been off since we ran into her, and I wanted to directly ask her what was going on but didn’t want to push her in front of Jake. If she needed to hold back, I’d let her.

“Fine, the headache is gone.” She sighed. “Sorry, I’m a little rattled. I ran into that guy before I saw you.”

I leaned forward. “The guy from last night?”