“What’s up?” he asks, and his voice cracks. Using the pretense of needing a drink, he ducks his head and grabs a water bottle.
“The twins are gone. And Easton’s door is locked.”
He nods. “The twins went to see Lauren. Easton is…” He pauses, searching for the right words. “Easton is—” He stops again and shakes his head.
“What’s wrong?” I demand. “Is he okay?”
“More okay than he was a couple hours ago.”
“Are…you okay?”
There’s a beat. Then he slowly shakes his head again.
Despite the warning bells in my head, I take a step closer to him. This is bad. My defenses have crumbled. I can feel myself surrendering to him. He keeps drawing me in with his addictive kisses and his strength and the vulnerability he’s stopped trying to hide from me.
“What happened?” I ask.
I see him swallow. “I…” He clears his throat. “I tried to tell him.”
“Tell who what?”
“My dad. I walked right up to his study, all ready to tell him what I did.”
“What you did?” I echo stupidly.
“Brooke,” he spits out. “I was going to tell him about Brooke. But I chickened out. I stood there at his door and couldn’t bring myself to knock. I kept picturing his disgust and his disappointment and…so I bailed. I turned around and came down here and now I’m pounding this bag and pretending I’m not a coward and a selfish asshole.”
A sigh lodges in my throat. “Reed.”
“What?” he mutters. “You know it’s true. Isn’t that why you hate me? ’Cause I’m a selfish ass?”
“I…don’t hate you,” I whisper.
Something flares in his eyes. Surprise? Hope, maybe? Then it fades, replaced with a cloud of sorrow. “You said you’d never forgive me,” he reminds me.
“For what?” My lips twist into a bitter smile. “For having sex with someone before me? For trying to warn me away?”
He rubs his lips together uncertainly. “For everything. For not telling you about Brooke. For not being there for you when you needed me. For taking advantage of you the night Daniel drugged—”
“I knew what I was doing that night,” I interrupt. “If I said no at any time, you wouldn’t have touched me. I wanted it to happen, so please don’t make me feel bad by turning it into something it’s not.”
He tosses the bottle to the side and closes the distance between us. “Fine. I’m not sorry about that night anyway. I have a lot to apologize for, but I won’t lie to you. That was one of the most incredible nights of my life.” He raises a hand toward my cheek. “And every day that I woke up after that was better because I could look forward to holding you that night.”
I know what he means. After we both dropped our guards, things were so…perfect. I’d never had a real boyfriend before, and every second I spent with Reed, kissing, talking, falling asleep together, was new and wonderful and I loved it.
“I miss my mom,” he says in a choked voice. “I didn’t realize how much until you came along. I think you were my mirror. I looked at you and how strong you were and I realized I didn’t have an ounce of your steel in me.”
“That’s not true. You don’t give yourself enough credit.”
“Maybe you give me too much?”
I can’t help but laugh. “I don’t think that’s been the case for a while.”
He grins back ruefully. “Yeah, you got me there.” Then his face sobers up. “I want to tell you about my mom. You up for that?”
I nod slowly. I’m not sure what’s happening between us right now, but whatever it is, it feels…right. Something about this guy has always felt right, even when it was wrong, even when I swore I’d never fall for him again.
“Let me shower.” He releases me. “Don’t go anywhere,” he murmurs as he backs away. “Promise?”
“I promise.”
He escapes into the attached bathroom. If it was me or Val, the shower would’ve taken at least twenty minutes, but Reed is done in literally two minutes. He’s still wet when he comes striding out with one towel wrapped around his waist and another in his hand that he uses to rub against his short hair.
The water runs in an interesting path down his chest, over his ridged abs and then stopping at the terry cloth at his waist. The towel looks securely fastened, but I’m pretty sure that with one tug, the thing would give way.
“Your room or mine?”
I jerk my head up. He grins at me, but doesn’t say a word. Smart boy.
“Mine,” I answer.
He holds out his hand. “Lead the way.”
24
Upstairs, Reed ducks into his room to get changed, while I grab a couple of sodas from my mini-fridge and wait for him. When he returns, I hand him a Coke and he settles on the bed beside me, angling his broad body so we’re facing each other.
“You know my dad cheated on my mom, right?”
I hesitate. According to Callum, he never touched another woman when he was married to Maria, but for some reason, his sons refuse to believe him.
Reed sees the doubt on my face. “It’s true. He screwed around on her while he jetted all over the world with Uncle Steve, who, by the way, was cheating on Dinah from day one.”
I swallow a lump of unhappiness. I hate hearing stuff like that about my father, which is weird because I didn’t even know the guy.
“Dinah didn’t care, though. She married Uncle Steve for his money, everyone knew it. And she had her own pieces of ass on the side. But Mom was different. She cared.”
“Did she have proof that Callum was cheating?” I ask tentatively.
“He was gone all the time, and he was always with Steve, a guy who couldn’t keep his dick in his pants.”
I wince. “That’s not real proof, Reed. It’s just suspicion. Why are you so sure he’s guilty?”
“Because he is.” Reed’s adamant. I want to argue some more, but he doesn’t give me the chance. “Mom was depressed, and she was taking a lot of pills.”
“I heard there was a mix-up with her prescription? And her doctor went to jail or something?”
“The twins are gone. And Easton’s door is locked.”
He nods. “The twins went to see Lauren. Easton is…” He pauses, searching for the right words. “Easton is—” He stops again and shakes his head.
“What’s wrong?” I demand. “Is he okay?”
“More okay than he was a couple hours ago.”
“Are…you okay?”
There’s a beat. Then he slowly shakes his head again.
Despite the warning bells in my head, I take a step closer to him. This is bad. My defenses have crumbled. I can feel myself surrendering to him. He keeps drawing me in with his addictive kisses and his strength and the vulnerability he’s stopped trying to hide from me.
“What happened?” I ask.
I see him swallow. “I…” He clears his throat. “I tried to tell him.”
“Tell who what?”
“My dad. I walked right up to his study, all ready to tell him what I did.”
“What you did?” I echo stupidly.
“Brooke,” he spits out. “I was going to tell him about Brooke. But I chickened out. I stood there at his door and couldn’t bring myself to knock. I kept picturing his disgust and his disappointment and…so I bailed. I turned around and came down here and now I’m pounding this bag and pretending I’m not a coward and a selfish asshole.”
A sigh lodges in my throat. “Reed.”
“What?” he mutters. “You know it’s true. Isn’t that why you hate me? ’Cause I’m a selfish ass?”
“I…don’t hate you,” I whisper.
Something flares in his eyes. Surprise? Hope, maybe? Then it fades, replaced with a cloud of sorrow. “You said you’d never forgive me,” he reminds me.
“For what?” My lips twist into a bitter smile. “For having sex with someone before me? For trying to warn me away?”
He rubs his lips together uncertainly. “For everything. For not telling you about Brooke. For not being there for you when you needed me. For taking advantage of you the night Daniel drugged—”
“I knew what I was doing that night,” I interrupt. “If I said no at any time, you wouldn’t have touched me. I wanted it to happen, so please don’t make me feel bad by turning it into something it’s not.”
He tosses the bottle to the side and closes the distance between us. “Fine. I’m not sorry about that night anyway. I have a lot to apologize for, but I won’t lie to you. That was one of the most incredible nights of my life.” He raises a hand toward my cheek. “And every day that I woke up after that was better because I could look forward to holding you that night.”
I know what he means. After we both dropped our guards, things were so…perfect. I’d never had a real boyfriend before, and every second I spent with Reed, kissing, talking, falling asleep together, was new and wonderful and I loved it.
“I miss my mom,” he says in a choked voice. “I didn’t realize how much until you came along. I think you were my mirror. I looked at you and how strong you were and I realized I didn’t have an ounce of your steel in me.”
“That’s not true. You don’t give yourself enough credit.”
“Maybe you give me too much?”
I can’t help but laugh. “I don’t think that’s been the case for a while.”
He grins back ruefully. “Yeah, you got me there.” Then his face sobers up. “I want to tell you about my mom. You up for that?”
I nod slowly. I’m not sure what’s happening between us right now, but whatever it is, it feels…right. Something about this guy has always felt right, even when it was wrong, even when I swore I’d never fall for him again.
“Let me shower.” He releases me. “Don’t go anywhere,” he murmurs as he backs away. “Promise?”
“I promise.”
He escapes into the attached bathroom. If it was me or Val, the shower would’ve taken at least twenty minutes, but Reed is done in literally two minutes. He’s still wet when he comes striding out with one towel wrapped around his waist and another in his hand that he uses to rub against his short hair.
The water runs in an interesting path down his chest, over his ridged abs and then stopping at the terry cloth at his waist. The towel looks securely fastened, but I’m pretty sure that with one tug, the thing would give way.
“Your room or mine?”
I jerk my head up. He grins at me, but doesn’t say a word. Smart boy.
“Mine,” I answer.
He holds out his hand. “Lead the way.”
24
Upstairs, Reed ducks into his room to get changed, while I grab a couple of sodas from my mini-fridge and wait for him. When he returns, I hand him a Coke and he settles on the bed beside me, angling his broad body so we’re facing each other.
“You know my dad cheated on my mom, right?”
I hesitate. According to Callum, he never touched another woman when he was married to Maria, but for some reason, his sons refuse to believe him.
Reed sees the doubt on my face. “It’s true. He screwed around on her while he jetted all over the world with Uncle Steve, who, by the way, was cheating on Dinah from day one.”
I swallow a lump of unhappiness. I hate hearing stuff like that about my father, which is weird because I didn’t even know the guy.
“Dinah didn’t care, though. She married Uncle Steve for his money, everyone knew it. And she had her own pieces of ass on the side. But Mom was different. She cared.”
“Did she have proof that Callum was cheating?” I ask tentatively.
“He was gone all the time, and he was always with Steve, a guy who couldn’t keep his dick in his pants.”
I wince. “That’s not real proof, Reed. It’s just suspicion. Why are you so sure he’s guilty?”
“Because he is.” Reed’s adamant. I want to argue some more, but he doesn’t give me the chance. “Mom was depressed, and she was taking a lot of pills.”
“I heard there was a mix-up with her prescription? And her doctor went to jail or something?”
