He huffed a humorless laugh. “Welcome to the club. You’ve been driving me crazy from the moment Roe called to you at that damn party.” He was talking about the night I’d stormed over and stolen their joint.
“Why?” I demanded.
He didn’t answer. Of course he wouldn’t. Done with getting nowhere with him, I headed toward the bathroom.
“Charlotte,” he called out to me.
I ignored him. He wouldn’t be the one to walk away this time. It would be me.
He caught me by my arm and spun me around to face him. Bracing for whatever non-answer he was about to spew, I was shocked when he knelt slightly to wrap an arm just under my butt. The next thing I knew, I was being lifted.
“Reid!” Scared of falling, I grabbed onto his shoulders as he carried me back toward the bed.
He sat me on the edge of the mattress before stepping between my legs. His fingers snaked into my hair and cupped the back of my head, forcing me to look up at him. “That morning…I didn’t hate it. I wanted to, but I didn’t. This entire time I’ve wanted to dislike you. I didn’t want to find you beautiful. I didn’t want to want you, but here the fuck I am. Unable to stay away. I’m as fucking gone as Roe and Wyatt. Is that what you need to hear?”
“But why, Reid? Why did you want to dislike me?” I asked.
“Because you were going to change everything,” he finally answered.
His plan with Wyatt and Roe. As soon as Roe figured out which college he was going to, the three of them were leaving Summerhaven.
“I’m not going to change anything,” I protested.
He removed his hand from the back of my head and moved away. “You already have.”
I reached out and grabbed his shirt, stopping him from going any farther. I wanted him to elaborate.
He stared down at my hand. “I need to get back to work.”
I guessed I wasn’t going to get an explanation right then. “You never told me why you came over.”
“I knew Bram was returning to work today. I thought you’d be alone.”
I let go of his shirt. “Were you worried about me?”
“There’s lunch from Noble’s in the bag if you’re hungry,” he said instead of answering.
I glanced toward the bag he had set on the armchair, surprised. “Thank you.”
He nodded and headed for the door.
I sat there for a few minutes after he left, trying to process everything that had just happened. Then I got up to see what food he had brought me. It was a cheeseburger and fries. The same meal I’d had the first time I had gone to Noble’s.
As Reid had predicted, Roe was not happy about Bash and Theo guarding me. I didn’t see what the big deal was. They didn’t bother me all day and there was comfort in not being home alone. Plus, it wouldn’t be for long.
“You don’t understand,” Roe said, glaring at my bedroom door from where he sat in the armchair by the window. “We grew up with them. They’re what you would call…”
“Fuckboys,” Wyatt said bluntly. He was sprawled out along the foot of the bed.
Roe nodded. “They’ve been with a lot of women, and they’ve probably shared just as many.”
“As in taking turns with the same girl or having her at the same time?” I asked as I typed out a reply to Lemon. We had been texting back and forth since the day Roe brought me her number. She had just asked me for a progress report on the books she’d recommended. I had only finished three out of the five, which we’d discussed already.Her Dark Desireswas included in those three. As much as I enjoyed Roe buddy-reading with me, Lemon made me want to laugh when we debriefed after I was done reading it. She cracked jokes on how big the male lead’s member was and said even though it was sexy in a book, she’d bolt if she was faced with such a monstrosity in real life. She seemed like she couldn’t wait for me to finish the other two books she had recommended so we could talk about them, which was why she was asking for an update. The text I sent told her I was still reading Book Four.
“Same time,” Wyatt answered as my phone buzzed with Lemon’s response.
She had sent me a GIF of someone impatiently waiting.
“Lucky girls,” I mumbled as I messaged her back, telling her I’d be done reading it tonight and we could talk about it tomorrow.
