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I’d grown up my whole life wanting a love like my parents—high school sweethearts, football player and cheerleader, cute house with a picket fence—but now I saw the beauty, the necessity, in Reed’s lifestyle. Now my parents’ love story terrified me.
“I can kind of see what you mean,” he said slowly, twirling his fork. “I mean, I guess that’s why I can never get…comfortable in a relationship. It’s scary putting so much time into someone if it doesn’t work out.”
The seriousness in his tone had me peering up at him, but there wasn’t a trace of teasing in his expression either. His actions suddenly made so much sense, like someone flicked on a light switch over. That had been why Reed dated Jamie and Kelsey and Cindy, why his relationships didn’t last longer than three months. Heck, maybe that was even one of the reasons he agreed to kiss me. “Why didn’t you say that when Rachel and I poked fun about you dating around?”
“I guess I never cared to correct you before.”
“But you do now?”
Reed glanced at me from the corner of his eye, but it was the briefest peek that I couldn’t even begin to translate what it meant. “Cindy. Friday night, you said something about me kissing Cindy.”
Nope, nope, didn’t want to hear about any of that. Pretending I wasn’t affected would only get that much harder. “It’s really none of my—”
“I didn’t kiss her.” He broke off a chunk of chocolate but didn’t bring it to his lips. “She leaned in, but we didn’t kiss.”
“Why are you telling me?” I asked, quirking an eyebrow at him. It was a bad sign that my insides did a little jump for joy, though. I’d deal with that later. “You should’ve kissed her. You’ve never held back before.”
“You’re right.”
His words were low, low enough to tickle my ears and send goosebumps down my spine. My next question felt like it was nearing a line I shouldn’t cross, but I found myself toeing it, anyway. “Have you asked her to homecoming yet?”
“Not yet. I think she knows it’s coming.”
Of course she would’ve. When Reed set his sights on someone, it was obvious. And with him sauntering into Allen’s Alley holding onto her hand, that’d been a declaration. He’d chosen her. Before, I never really paid much attention to Reed and his girlfriends—sometimes Rachel and I would bet on how long they’d last—but now I couldn’t help but feel a wiggle of concern.What if she’s the one that lasts?
I swallowed my last bite of cake and licked the remaining frosting from the fork. There was one small sliver left now, but Reed could have it. “I know we joked about it last time, but you should let me know when you ask her. I’m going to do a compilation post of all the homecoming proposals, and yours…would be a good addition.”
And I’d rather hear it from you than from a submission.
When he didn’t say anything, I looked up and found him staring at me with an intensity that caused my throat to close. No, with how close he was, I could tell he wasn’t staring atme—he was looking at my lips.
Something about his eyes had my insides somersaulting. The bed underneath me suddenly felt much softer, the distance between Reed and me much shorter. In a different universe, I’d reach up and wipe my lips, because he was no doubt staring because I had frosting smeared across my mouth like a toddler. If I had a grip on my sanity, that’s what I would’ve done. Instead, I let my thoughts get away from me.
Kissing Reed felt so long ago now, and even though I thought the memory had been branded in my brain, I desperately wanted to remind myself of what it felt like. What he tasted like. If I kissed him now, he’d taste like chocolate. The frosting I’d licked off the fork—he’d taste like that.
I let my eyes dip to his soft-looking lips, and the charge of energy I’d felt the first time we kissed kicked back with an electric thrill, skittering along my skin. In that moment, I wanted. Too much. To throw all the pretending out the window, to throw caution to the wind, and just—
“Knock, knock.”
We both jumped a mile at Mom’s soft voice. It startled Reed badly enough that he nearly upturned the box on his thigh. He grabbed it at the last second and put it on the bed, hastily shoving to his feet. We both whirled to find her in the doorway with her purse slung into the crook of her elbow, her gaze a little glassy. “Sorry, I thought I heard voices.”
“I—I thought you were getting drinks,” I gasped out, clenching my fork. “You’re home early.”
“Lindsey’s son had a stomachache, so she went home.” Mom flicked from me to Reed standing a good three feet from me to the Styrofoam box on my bed, and I knew that if she hadn’t been drinking, her expression probably would’ve been a little more confused. If she were sober, she would’ve asked what we were doing here. In my bedroom. Alone. “Ava, I thought I told you to clean your room.”
My room wasn’t that dirty, in the grand scheme of things, but not really my biggest concern at the moment.
“I—I finished the drywall downstairs,” Reed said, and if I didn’t know any better, I would’ve thought his voice trembled. He distinctly didn’t look at me. “Let me show you.”
Mom allowed him to corral her from my bedroom, and I knew I should’ve gone with them. I couldn’t move, though. There was no facing Reed now, either. Not after staring at his mouth like a pervert, thinking what I thought, and freaking him out enough to send him fleeing.
With a soft groan, I fell onto my pillows, and though Reed was gone, it took my pulse a long, long time to die down.
It rained Wednesday morning, which meant I had to park the bike for the day and let Mom drive me to school. Normally, I would’ve carpooled with Rachel and Reed, but her text this morning totally wiped that off the table.
Rachel
Hey, I’m staying home today—cramps are terrible. Come over straight after and tell me more about the date!!!
