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“Does my dad know?”
“Yeah, we had a talk when I got here. They weren’t supposed to tell him, but they did.”
“You could have sued them.”
“With what money? With whose support? I had no one until I transferred here. Your dad must be clairvoyant. Logan didn’t know that I knew Hagan and Harper, but without them… well, let’s just say it was the first prayer answered for me in a long time.”
I huff and fall back onto the mattress. “I hope my dad believed you. Because it’s going to make telling him about us that much worse.”
He leans back and rolls onto his side and touches my arm through the sweater. “Brooke, it doesn’t matter if your dad believes me. What matters—to me—is that you do.”
Reed’s right. How we feel about each other is what matters. How he treats Caleb and me. I lift my head as he peers into my eyes. We hesitate before he isolates my lips with his, capturing the bottom one with his teeth. Everything Reed does in intense. He’s all-in whether he’s playing board games with Caleb, fixing breakfast, or having me for dinner. Whether it’s soft and tender, or rough and fast, when Reed takes any part of me, it’s all consuming.
He doesn’t go any further than the extremely hot make-out session—just kissing and touching over our clothes.
“Does this mean you want to keep this going? Because I want to tell your dad before…”
“I would never do what she did.”
Cuddling me tighter, he says, “I know. But I’ve been to the school of hard knocks, and things can get twisted. Your dad could ruin me.”
“He won’t.”
“If something happens here, another school of any substance won’t touch me. I’ll be blacklisted.”
I roll to where I’m half-lying on his chest. “He won’t. I’ll make him understand.”
“I have so much more to tell you.” He strokes my hair and places it over my shoulder.
“Let’s take a break. We have time, and I think we both need a breather.”
After a few soft kisses, we fall asleep.
Feeling like I’m in a dream state, I squeeze my lids tighter, not wanting to wake up. Feeling safe in Reed’s arms. He’s not the only one who needs to feel loved.
I’m somewhere between sleep and awake, so I’m semi-aware of what’s going on but so much is playing through my mind. Wanting to make his pain go away like he has mine. Until Reed, I was walking through life and now, I’m living it. Whatever he has to tell me is in the past, and I don’t care.
Phones are ringing. What?
“Cookie, your phone has rung a few times.”
I stretch. “Can you grab it?”
He bounces from the bed and gets my phone from my tote. “It’s Lettie.”
I sigh, knowing it’s Saturday night, and she probably wants to show me her outfit.Do you think Dane will like it? Or will he tell me it’s too tight or too short?
He places it in my palm, and I hit the green button. “Hey.”
“Come. Come now,” she cries. She’s not on speaker, but Reed can hear her clear as day.
“Lettie, calm down and tell me what’s wrong.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
REED
Without sparing a moment, Brooke and I tear through the house in a frenzy. It’s bone-chilling cold outside, and I slipped on my tennis shoes without socks. And as we run to the car, my ankles feel like I’ve been frostbitten. Damn joggers. When we return, I’m throwing them all away in favor of the open-leg sweats, everything about them is easier. My feet are too damn big for the little holes anyway.
