When he’s finished, and our breathing is slowly coming down from a ragged pace, he flicks his gaze to mine before climbing off of me, bending over the bed, and angling my head to kiss me passionately.
“Towel?” he asks.
“Bathroom,” I say, pointing.
He slides his underwear back on and exits my room, heading to the bathroom. He’s back in no time with a wet washcloth, and he cleans up my stomach with a gentle touch. When he’s done, he tosses it in the hamper.
“This is not why I came over, I swear.” The guilt on his face makes me smile. He’s gripping the back of his neck and I can tell he’s about to start pacing.
“I know.”
“You do?”
I nod. I sit up and pick up my shorts, slipping them on. “I fully believe you came here for homework.”
“So you’re not mad?”
“No.”
He drops his hand and breathes a sigh of relief. “Okay, good.” He flicks his gaze to the floor then back to me. “What does this mean?”
I twitch my lips to the side. “I don’t know. I know it means something, but I’m…I’m so jumbled, Reid.”
“Okay.” He slowly nods. “So we don’t label it. It happened, we enjoyed it, and…maybe it’ll happen again?”
I know the meaning behind his question. He enjoyed the connection just as much as I did. I give him a small smile and say, “I’d like that.”
A grin spreads across his face, and then he looks around the floor for his jeans. He picks them up and puts them on. “Homework?”
I laugh and scoot over to my side. “Probably should.”
He settles in next to me, grips my chin, and presses a kiss to my lips. And then he gets to work, and I can’t help but stare at him a little longer. I know he’s trying not to make a big deal about it, afraid to scare me off, but I can’t help but wonder what it would be like to have him and call him mine.
CHAPTER 18
AVERY MOORE
“Who are you texting so much?”I ask Ivy. We’re on our way back from the college, ready to climb into pajamas and eat pizza until we’re so stuffed we’ll have to find someone to roll us to our bedrooms.
There’s an extra pep in my step, and though I haven’t heard from Reid in a few days, I’m still on the high of our…encounter. The way he made me feel. The things he said to me.
The more I think about it, the more I’m warming up to the idea of him, but there’s one problem. My brother said no to Reid at the beginning of all this, and when he finds out—because he will—it’ll be the ultimate betrayal from me all over again. I don’t know if I could go through him not talking to me for…forever. I would be breaking his rule even though that rule wasn’t given to me. Even if my brother doesn’t end up blaming me and not talking to me ever again, he’ll do it to Reid. The thought of those two not being friends anymore…I just can’t wrap my head around it.
That thought alone is something I have to consider. I may have warmed up to Reid, may have fantasized about what it would be like to have him, but would I really ask him—us—to give up our relationship with Dustin just to have one ourselves?
“Your brother,” Ivy says. There’s a look of concentration on her face, and red flags rise.
“Are you two fighting?”
She twists her lips to the side, but her fingers continue to tap on her screen. It’s amazing that she can even walk like this. I’d have tripped and fallen by now. “More like bickering.”
“Over what?” I’ve seen them bicker, but I can tell whatever they’re talking about is sapping her energy.
“Nothing,” she says, pocketing her phone with a grimace.
“Sure doesn’t look like nothing,” I grumble.
“So,” she says, pushing hair from her face that the wind whipped there and tightening her backpack straps. “Have you texted Reid yet?”
