Isabel gasps. “You want abartenderoverme?”
“Fuck you,” I whisper to my screen. At the same moment Reed says something I don’t catch because I was talking. I rewind the video to hearwhatever I missed, and what Reed says makes me smile from ear to ear: “Fuck you, Isabel.”Which he follows with, “I’m not going to talk about my girlfriend with you anymore. All you need to know is she makes me feel things I’ve never felt before.” He pauses for dramatic effect. “Ever.”
The meaning is clear.Not even with you.And, obviously, by the devastated look on Isabel’s face, his message has been received, loud and clear. She bows her head and bursts into tears. And, sweet man that he is, Reed wraps his strong arms around her and squeezes her tight. And, suddenly, I find myself quaking with dread about whatever I’m going to witness next.
They remain still for a long time, holding each other. They’re whispering to each other, but I can’t make out their words. Finally, Reed pulls back from their tender embrace. He takes Isabel’s gorgeous, iconic face in his hands and looks deeply into her eyes for a very long moment, causing her body to visibly wrack with sobs.
“If I could have flipped a switch and made myself fall madly in love with you, Isabel Schneider, I would have done it years ago. You’re gorgeous and talented. You’ve got the world on a string. I know what you went through as a kid. I know how bad it was, and I want nothing more than to see you safe and happy and successful, for the rest of your life. You deserve a happily ever after. But I’m truly not your Prince Charming, and I never will be.”
Isabel closes her eyes and tilts her face up. “Kiss me goodbye. One last kiss. Just so I can remember what it feels like to kiss you. What it feels like to actuallyfeelsomething with a man. Please, Reed. At least, give me that.”
Reed looks into her tear-streaked face for a long moment, and then leans in and presses his lips to hers. And, somehow, the vision doesn’t repel me. It doesn’t enrage me. No, in this moment I’m actually in awe of Reed’s kind heart. I know this isn’t a betrayal of me, as much as one final act of generosity toward a woman he’s loved for a very long time. Just like he told me, this truly is a goodbye kiss. Yes, he’s technically breaking his promise to me in this moment. That fact hasn’t escaped me. But seeing the way the kiss unfolded, I know he didn’t kiss her because he doesn’t want me. He kissed her because hedoes.Because he’s closing the book on their tumultuous relationship, forever.
Um...
Okay, Reed, this kiss is far lengthier, and more passionate than required to close that fucking book. Come on, now.Enough.
Finally, Reed pulls away, having given Isabel the kiss of her life. She swoons and wobbles, looking dazed, and I can plainly see Isabel is now wearing the same expression she wore when I stumbled upon her and Reed coming out of the garage. She looks like a woman who just got fucked.
Reed puts his fingertip underneath Isabel’s chin. “Don’t marry anyone who doesn’t kiss you likethat.”
I roll my eyes. Okay, Reed. That was wholly unnecessary, sweetheart. It’s time to move along now.
“How can you deny our magic?” Isabel chokes out. “You felt it, every bit as much as I did, during that kiss. Admit it.”
“No. The only thing I felt while kissing you was complete clarity that I’m head over heels in love with my girlfriend. I felt guilty while kissing you, to be honest. Because the only one I want to be kissing—the only one Ishouldbe kissing—is her.”
Isabel clutches her heart. And so do I.
Even in grainy black and white, it’s clear Reed just dealt her a death blow.
And I couldn’t be happier about it.
Reed is unmoved by the expression of pure devastation on Isabel’s face. She might as well be the blonde at the bar who tried to give him her demo. He looks at his watch, and sighs. “I need to get back to my party now. Come on. I’m sure your beloved fiancé is wondering where you are.” With that, he opens the door to the garage, his urgency to get the hell out of there wafting off him. With a heavy sigh, Isabel drags herself out the door, and Reed follows, at which point the surveillance video ends.
I look up from my screen, practically hyperventilating. Reed told me the truth about everything.Reed loves me. And he figured it out while kissing Isabel.
And that’s a damned good thing. Because, despite everything, I love him, too. With all my heart.
Breathing heavily, I tap out a text to my man, my love, asking him if he’s home. And when he replies instantly, telling me he’s not home, but can be there in fifteen minutes, myheart gallops with joy.
Me: Go home now. I’m coming home.
Reed: You got my email?
Me: Yes. Just landed at LAX and watched the video in my car. I’m coming straight to you now. See you soon! XO
Reed: I can’t wait to see you, my love. XOXOXO
78
REED
Saturday 4:23 pm
Ipeek down my street again, awaiting the appearance of Georgina’s convertible turning the corner. But, still, nothing. For the past ten minutes, I’ve been standing in front of my iron gate, staring down my street like a Labrador awaiting his owner’s return from work while trying not to freak out. Ithinkthe “XO” Georgina tacked onto the end of her “see you soon!” text message, combined with the exclamation point she used, and the fact that she said she’s coming “home,” meant she’s coming here to forgive me completely and pick up where we left off. But, when it comes to Georgina, and her temper, I never know for sure what she’s going to do or how she’s going to react. For all I know, after watching that surveillance video—and the whopper of a kiss I laid on Isabel—she’s coming here to take a golf club to another one of my cars.
Either way, I’m surely going to have to field a thousand questions from Georgina about the confusing, and highly intriguing, things Isabel and I talked about in that video. Things like “Troy” and “blackmail” and “Francesca” and “secret.” All the things that initially kept me from sending that damned surveillance video to Georgina in thefirst place, even though I knew it would prove I’d been telling Georgina the truth about that kiss, and what it made me realize. Although, yeah, if I’m being honest, I was also highly skittish about Georgina witnessing the actual kiss. It’s one thing for me to tell Georgina I “only kissed” Isabel, and to let Georginaimagineit, and another thing for her toseeit, and get confirmation that, to put it mildly, that smooch wasn’t a brotherly peck.
