Reid drops his head back and laughs again. Louder this time, and his shoulders shake. His grin is bold and beautiful, and I hate him a little bit.
Goddamn him.
Goddamn him for being attractive.
Goddamn him for being vulnerable with me.
Goddamn him for wearing those glasses.
“Fucking genius. I had that on my list to do to you,” he says.
“Sorry I beat you to it. Are you mad?”
“Are you mad about the rubber ducks?”
I’ve been finding themeverywhere.
In drawers and under stacks of papers.
In between books on my shelf and in the bottom of coffee mugs.
They keep appearing, and every time one pops up, it feels like Reid is there. Like he’s sitting on the couch behind me and watching me.
“No,” I say. “I’m not mad. How many did you hide?”
“Guess you’ll have to keep looking to find out.”
I take a breath. The silence grows thick, and I turn my body to face him. “I didn’t know about the call. I wouldn’t have?—”
“That’s not how feuds work, Avery. You have to commit to it. You wanted to wrap my desk in cellophane, so you did. And I’m sure it looks great.”
“Want to go see it?” I ask.
His eyes light up, a spark of an ember behind the green. “I’d be honored.”
We leave the sensory room and head down the hall. When we get to his office, Reid scans us in, and I follow him inside. He bursts out laughing at the wrap job we did, and I can’t help but grin.
“Thoughts?”
“I’m impressed,” he says. He pulls a pen from his pocket. He tries to stab the plastic, but it doesn’t give. “I’m going to need a knife to get this off.”
“I made sure your scissors were inside a drawer. I had to make this as difficult as possible for you,” I say.
“I’ve always loved a challenge.”
I stare at him, and he stares back.
The noise from the crowd on the other side of the wall swells to a dull roar, and someone must have scored. We might be in the Titans’ house, but Thunderhawks fans showed up strong today. A win in enemy territory would be nice.
A win againstReidwould be nice.
“I should?—”
“Are you—oh. Sorry. What was that?” Reid asks.
“I was going to say I should go. The game and?—”
“Right. Yeah.” He nods and steps out of the way, giving me a wide berth. “Of course.”
