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Reed’s face brightens when his gaze finds my bestie. “Hey.” He cups her jaw with both hands and plants a kiss right on her mouth.
My eyebrows lift. “So, you’re doing this now, huh?”
“Guess so.” Ainsley’s still giving Reed starry-eyes when she answers me. “What was that for?”
“Missed you,” he murmurs against her lips.
She briefly closes her eyes and smiles softly. “Missed you, too.”
Ainsley and Reed have been pretty quiet about the fact that they’re together during school. They said they didn’t want to deal with the mean girls’ cattiness while their relationship is so new, but I guess that’s no longer a concern.
“Aw, you two are so cute, it makes me want to puke in my mouth.”
Ainsley flips me off as she sneaks one more quick kiss. “You need to haul ass if you’re going to get to math in time. I’ll meet you by the car after class.”
“Have fun.” Reed gives her a discreet pat on the butt before walking away.
“Why are you blushing, Ains?”
“Shut up.” She rolls her eyes as she leans against the wall.
We still have a few minutes before class, so we take advantage of that to continue our conversation.
“What were you and Reed talking about before I got here?”
“You.”
“What about me?”
“He’s still having doubts that you’re not okay with his...” I lower my voice before adding, “kinks.”
She pulls back, her delicate brows raised in surprise. “Reed said that?”
“Sort of. As much as he could without revealing what that thing of his is. He suspects I know, but I haven’t confirmed anything.”
Ainsley smirks. “Well, to be fair, you’re not exactly subtle about it.”
I shrug. “I respect the fact that Reed wants to be discreet, but you know damn well the guys know. And I hate bringing this up, but odds are, most girls he’s been with know too, so it’s not like it’s a take-it-to-the-grave kind of secret. He has nothing to be ashamed of, but I don’t think he believes that.”
“I think I know the reason behind that.” She sighs heavily. “His parents are über conservative. Judgy assholes, really. Reed’s grown up listening to them preach about Christian values, which they like to fall back on to justify their bigotry. In reality, their behavior is very anti-Christian. He doesn’t buy into their bullshit—especially after what they did to his sister—but I think he still fights a lot of deeply-rooted stuff in his head.”
“Reed has a sister?”
“Yep.” Ainsley nods. “She’s four years older, but they’re close. Reed usually spends most of the summer break at her place. He actually asked me if I wanted to fly up there for Christmas.”
“Why haven’t I heard about her before?”
Ainsley’s shoulder lifts. “She moved to Oregon literally the day after graduation with nothing but the clothes on her back. Couldn’t get away from their parents fast enough.”
“Why? What happened?”
She frowns. “Regan—that’s her name—is bisexual. She decided to finally come out to her parents toward the end of her senior year because she fell in love with a woman and didn’t want to hide her feelings anymore. The ‘rents were not okay with it in the least. Those jerks threatened to cut Regan out of their will unless she got that ‘lesbian nonsense’ out of her head. In turn, she told them if they couldn’t understand that love is love, regardless of what that looks like, they could take their money and go fuck themselves with it.”
“That’s sad.”
“Very. Regan’s girlfriend, Cass, had some family in Portland, so they packed up and left town as soon as they could. When Reed told his parents about Regan and Cassidy’s engagement, they acted like they didn’t even have a daughter. That was pretty much the last straw for Reed—he wants nothing to do with them. He can’t wait to get out of that house, either.”
I sigh. “Poor guy. No wonder he’s so serious all the time. I sorta feel bad for screwing with him now.”
