“Your hair was lighter.” I jump when he speaks behind me, not having heard him cross the room. “At least from what I remember, it was a lighter red than it is now.” He thumbs a few strands reverently, glass abandoned on the coffee table. “Maybe that’s part of why I didn’t recognize you immediately.”
“Do you wish you had any baby photos? Don’t you wonder what you looked like?”
His teeth clench and he drops my hair. “No. I honestly haven’t thought about it in a long time. I wouldn’t want to see that version of myself even if I did.”
After his talk with Walker last week, he told me about his past. He’d only ever given me bits and pieces when wewere younger. It ached to hear him talk about his mother and being second choice to her addiction.
“Do you wish you would’ve reconnected with her before she died?” I’m hesitant to ask, but selfish curiosity eats at me.
“No. I never wanted anything to do with her after she was taken away in the back of that police car.” His words are harsh, but I don’t blame him for it.
I snake my arms around his waist and hug him, needing to feel his warmth, his strength. He wraps his arms around my shoulders in answer, squeezing me closer.
His chin rests on the top of my head. “Do you ever think about trying to track down your mother? Or your aunt and uncle?”
I wish I could answer no as quickly as he did, and mean it like him, but that’d be a lie. “I’ve thought about it.” I barely remember my mother, and the memories of my aunt and uncle have grown hazy over the years, along with the anger toward them for abandoning me. It’s still there, a quiet flame that flares at times, but in order to keep moving forward in my life, I’ve had to stop myself from stoking it.
Reid runs one hand over my hair in gentle, soothing motions.
“That probably sounds crazy to you,” I say, words muffled by his chest. “That I’d ever think about that after everything.”
“It’s not crazy. Just because I’d never do it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t if that’s what you want.”
“But I don’t want it.” At least I don’t think so. I have my family out here. Marley and Sara, my friends, now Reid. I don’t need anything from my biological family.
“Well if you ever decide you do, you can talk to me about it. If you want.”
I lift my head off his chest and stare up at his devastatingly beautiful face. There probably won’t ever be a time in Reid Keely’s life where he’s not the most handsome man in the room.
“Thank you,” I say before rising to my tiptoes and sealing my lips to his.
23
Reid
Ihave a few errands to run around the city before I’m on my way over to Nikolai’s. He’s back home for a couple weeks before he has the last few shows of his solo tour out on the east coast. He called me last night when I was out to dinner with Penny to see if I wanted to come over and hang out.
I haven’t seen him since his album release party and there’s so much I’ve been dying to tell him. Normally he’s the one to overshare, but I have a feeling I’ll be doing most of the talking tonight. Thoughts of Penny race through my head as I drive along a road running alongside the beach.
The sun is beginning to set, the sky a mix of golden yellows and rich reds. Conscious of my surroundings, I snap a quick picture and put my phone back down until I reach Nikolai’s. When I pull into the driveway, a sleek silver sports car sits there.
Arun’s car.
What the hell is he doing here?
Before I head inside, I text the picture of the sunset to Penny.
Me: Beach looked pretty on my drive. Thought you’d wanna see
Penny: Did you pull over just to take a picture for me?
Me: I’m capable of romantic shit ok?
Penny: thank you. Made my night!
Me: See you at 11. Have a good shift
Me: Also are you spending the night again?
