Summer, page 23
part #3 of Seasons Series
Reed didn’t make a move to sit in his seat, nor did Jack make a move to leave. They were staring at one another until Knox got up and came our way.
He was met by Jax coming back from the bathroom. “What’s going on?”
“Douchebag Parker was bothering the girls.”
“I wasn’t bothering Emma, Reed. So calm the fuck down. I wanted to know if these other two were interested, until this one,” he jabbed his thumb in Rina’s direction, “decided to open her dirty fucking mouth.”
I could feel my eyes widen at what Jack said and get even wider when Knox took a threatening step forward and said, “You need to fucking leave. Right now.”
“Jesus Christ. You girls must have magic fucking pussies.”
I heard Sky gasp, I saw Rina rear back, and me? I quickly reached out and placed my hand on Reed’s arm halting his forward motion. I noticed that Sky quickly did the same with Jax.
Rina was too far away from Knox, but she held him back with her words. “Don’t, Knox. He’s not worth it.”
“And neither are any of you,” Douchebag Jack said as he stood up and walked away.
Jesus Christ. What the hell was all of that?
“That fucking guy needs to get his teeth bashed in,” Knox said, both fists clenched now.
“Or his nuts kneed into his throat,” Rina added.
“I don’t know how it hasn’t happened by now,” Zoe said, looking behind her to see where Jack went.
“He’ll get what’s coming to him one day,” Reed said as he sat down. He made it sound like a threat. A promise. Like he’d be the one doling out the douchebag’s due.
“One can only hope we’re there to witness his epic downfall,” Jax said as he clapped Knox on the back as Knox passed him heading back to his seat next to Bryce.
Everyone had just settled back in when the waitress and a few other servers arrived with all the food and drinks. Apparently, she has good timing too. We all filled our glasses, grabbed some food, and put Jack out of our minds. We were here to celebrate Bryce and hang out so that’s what we did.
For the next hour we drank and ate, teased, and joked with one another. We had a good freaking time. At one point, Reed laced his fingers with mine on the table and gave it a squeeze, asking me silently if it was okay. I gave him a squeeze in return and a smile letting him know it was more than okay and that’s where his hand has been most of the night—locked in mine.
We held hands, exchanged some touches and very heated stares, and we played the pair-game. Because of course.
“Mozzarella sticks or flatbread?”
“Bruschetta or sliders?”
“Darts or pool?”
“Upscale bars or dive bars?”
“Live bands or karaoke?”
“One more hour or two?”
One more hour…or two? Jesus Christ. I wanted to tell him to take me home already, that I didn’t want to stay one more minute—I wanted to tell him that I was ready already—that I was his—but it didn’t seem like the celebration was slowing down anytime soon. Bryce had just ordered another round of pitchers for the table and more apps. I knew we’d be here for at least another hour. But after that—winding down or still going strong—we were out of here. Reed and I had our own celebrating to do.
“You never told me why you and the girls were talking about ‘tits’ and ‘twats,’” Reed said out of the blue.
“Can you please stop saying that?”
“Which? Tits or twats?”
“Both, Reed. This isn’t the pair-game right now.”
“Why would I stop saying it when each time I do your face gets as red as Rudolph’s nose?”
“God, you’re such a dork.”
“Says the girl who called me a dork.”
“Dingbat.”
“Dope.”
“Goober.”
“Tit.”
What a— “Jerkoff.”
“I do. Every night to thoughts of you.”
I opened and closed my mouth. Once. Twice. I had no comeback for that.
Jesus Christ. If I flushed florescent before, I could only imagine what I was right now.
“Are you two done acting like children?” Reed and I both looked over at Jax and Sky who were unabashedly listening to us.
“Please, there was nothing childish about my jerking-off statement. It was the honest to God’s truth.”
“I really don’t think you should be using God’s name and jerking-off in the same sentence.”
“I mean, when I jerk-off its Em’s name I use, but I have been known to throw an ‘Oh, God’ in there.”
“Holy shit, you’re so going to Hell dude.”
“But what a way to go.”
Jesus, I needed to go. To the bathroom. To get a much-needed break. From Reed. From my friend’s prying eyes and big-ass ears. From myself and my wanting to pounce on Reed and tell him no jerking-off unless it’s with me present.
I shook my head at him and my wayward thoughts, let go of Reed’s hand and stood. He looked up at me in concern, probably thinking he pushed it too far, but I told him, “I need to go to the bathroom.”
What I didn’t say was, I’m going to the bathroom and when I get back, I want you to take me home. I was trying to convey all the things I wanted with my eyes. I stared at Reed. He stared at me.
One heartbeat.
One breath.
One demand.
I could see the instant it dawned on him.
No more playing.
No more word foreplay.
My limit was reached.
Staring into Reed’s eyes as I was, with everything passing between us, I was just about to say forget the bathroom when Sky chimed in. “I have to go too,” she said, standing. “Rina, you have to go?” I glanced at Rina, but she shook her head, not even bothering to look up from her cellphone. I looked down the table at Knox. He was glued to his phone as well. They’d been that way all night.
I wasn’t the only one who had some things to spill.
I had just taken a few steps away from the table when Reed said my name loud enough to get my attention. I turned and looked at him, but he wasn’t looking at me. He was looking at my feet. It was quite a few moments before his eyes met mine. He took a while traveling up my body from my feet to my eyes. I watched his path. He lingered on my chucks, my thighs, my breasts, my lips.
When his gaze finally met mine, he said, “You kept them.” There were so many emotions running through his eyes, laced in those three words. I kept them. Just like I kept him. Even when I thought I didn’t want him, even when I thought I hated him, I kept him with me.
And I planned on keeping him. Always.
“I did,” was all I said to him. I said the words, gave him a smile—a smile that if he looked close enough would reveal just as much as me wearing the shoes and the outfit did—and turned back around to head to the bathroom. I didn’t give Reed a chance to say or do anything else. From his look before I turned, I’m not sure he’d know what to say or do. I could tell he was trying to process what it all meant.
But don’t worry, Reed. I’ll tell you exactly what it all means in a few. I cannot wait. After you get the words, I have no doubt you’ll know what to say and do then. I know you’ll know exactly what to do.
Me.
Sky and I were in the bathroom for no more than five seconds before she started in. “When are you two leaving? I can’t take it anymore.”
“Take what?”
“All the flirting and innuendos and that crazy fucking heat. Please tell me you’re not only going to put that man out of his misery but that you’re going to jump his bones.”
“Sky!”
“Don’t ‘Sky’ me!”
“Jax really did corrupt you, didn’t he? You were never like this before.”
“You were never like how you are before, either.”
“And how am I?”
“Happy. Light. And…”
“And?”
“Free. You seem free. If that makes sense.”
It actually did make sense because it was the truth. For the first time in a very long time, I felt free and not chained by the past, or to the past in a bad way. I felt light like Sky said and incredibly happy.
I was in love with love and its possibilities.
“It does make sense,” I told Sky, before I looked at myself in the mirror while she did the same. Sky fixed her hair and makeup, but I just stared at my reflection not wanting to change a thing. Because I could see it. Clear as day written all over my face. The light, the happy, the carefree, the love, the hope, the desire, the passion.
“I’m leaving just as soon as I go out there. No more drinks and apps and waiting.”
“Hell yes! It’s about damn time. I am so happy for you, Em. You and Reed.”
I took a step away from the sink and turned to look at her. She did the same. “You know, this wouldn’t have happened again if it wasn’t for you.”
“I’ll gladly accept all the thanks with an expensive bottle of champagne and a box of macarons.” Done. I thought she’d at least try for our firstborn daughter to be named after her. She set her bar too low. I wasn’t telling her that though.
“I’ll order the macarons first thing tomorrow morning from Paris. And have the champagne ready for when they arrive.”
“Paris? Seriously, Em?”
“Seriously, Sky. Coming back here, having you to lean on, helping me see the light—macarons from Paris and the most expensive bubbly for you.”
“Yay! Yay, yay, yay!” This girl and her yay’s!
She keeps getting hers. Now, it was time to go get mine.
“Are you ready to go back?”
“Are you ready to rock Reed’s world?”
This freaking girl. She was never like this until she came here and met Jax and Reed. No wonder she and Reed ended up being friends. But she was my best-friend. So, I gave her something else she was after. The truth.
“Yes, Sky. I’m ready to rock Reed’s world.”
She gave me a huge smile, then said, “You might want to prepare yourself.”
What the hell? “For what?”
“Did you see the way he looked at your sneakers—which are totally awesome by the way, with the Reed hearts Em and the Em hearts Reed on the soles—that I am assuming are from teenage Em-and-Reed days?”
“They are. And I did.”
“Yeah, about all that. Be prepared.”
“You said that already, but not why?”
“Because the way Reed was looking at them, he might make you wear them while he rocks your world.”
Jesus Christ. Seriously, this girl. I absolutely loved her.
Sky and I were laughing as we walked out of the bathroom—my face probably ten shades of red at the vision she had me conjuring in my head—when we stepped right into the path of Douchebag Jack.
The asshole wiped the smile right off my face with his presence. He truly was a douchebag.
He was stumbling his way out of the Men’s Room, just our luck. “Well, well, well, if it isn’t Reed Brooks’ pretty pussy.”
I was momentarily taken aback by his words. Then I wanted to lay into him, but I could tell he was drunk and from the sneer on his face, I didn’t think he was a fun one. He was still looking for trouble and he had his sights set on me. I tried to slip past him, but it didn’t work. I thought I’d managed to get by, but he caught my wrist at the last second and yanked me around. He yanked me around so fast, my hair fanned out and I stumbled into him. He might’ve been unsteady on his feet, but he had an iron grip on me.
Until Reed grabbed ahold of his wrist and twisted, forcing Jack to release me.
As soon as I was loose, Reed slammed Jack against the wall and was in his face. It all happened in the matter of seconds. Reed must’ve been watching the hallway waiting for me to return when he saw what happened with Jack. He saw him manhandle me—and I didn’t think I could contain him this time like I did back at the table. Jack wasn’t only being rude or disrespectful with words this time. It was his actions. He touched me—he grabbed me and yanked me forcefully. There was no way in hell Reed was going to allow that.
“You must have a death wish, Parker. You don’t speak to her. You don’t look at her. And you definitely do not ever fucking touch her.”
“Reed, come on, man,” Jax said from behind us, but Reed paid him no attention.
“I told you the other night, motherfucker. Emma is mine. I had her first. I’ll have her last. You’ll never get the fucking chance. I was her first kiss. First suck. First come. First fuck. Every fucking where. You think you’re entitled to anything from her because she agreed to go on a date with you? A date she only went on to get back at me? You aren’t entitled to shit.”
“And you are? I’ve heard the stories—”
“I never said I was entitled to anything you prick. I fucking love her. She’s not some easy gash, a one-and-done, she’s for life. She’s forever. She’s absolutely everything. I want to earn the right to be with her again. To be her everything. To be her fucking last. I will be her goddamn last. And like I said to you before—and for the third fucking time now you piece of shit—you will be absolutely fucking never.”
After a few seconds, Reed let go of Jack’s shirt and moved a step back. I let out a relieved breath. I didn’t want Reed to end up fighting Jack. Not because I didn’t think Reed could win, but because I had no doubt he’d pummel Jack. I didn’t want Reed to get in trouble if he did. I had big plans for tonight.
“I’m not telling you this again. Stay the fuck away from her. I don’t know why you’re fixated on her and me, but it needs to stop. If you seek her out again, I will end you. Do you hear me?”
Jack didn’t say anything—but if looks could kill.
They’d both be dead.
There were a few tense moments before Jack finally nodded and moved around me and Reed—and Jax and Sky—and disappeared. Reed turned to look at me—and speaking of tense moments.
“Sky and I are gonna head back to the table now. You two good?”
I shook my head yes, while Reed said, “We’re good.”
I turned and watched as Jax led Sky back to the table. When they sat, I turned back around to look at Reed. His face was thunderous. For about a second. Then it morphed into a canvas of regret.
“Fuck, Em, I’m sorry about that. That you had to see me that way. That I said what I did.”
“You’re sorry that I saw you protect me from a man who had his hands on me when I didn’t want them? A man who roughly grabbed me, got in my face, and said disgusting things to me? A man who was intent on inflicting mental and physical harm? Jesus, Reed, you do not have to apologize for that. You don’t have to be sorry that I saw it. As for what you said—”
“It was the truth. But I shouldn’t have said it in front of Jax and Sky. And I shouldn’t have said it to Parker. Again. Or at all. The first time I said it, it was in anger and fucking jealousy. This time? It was in a blind-fucking rage. But that’s no excuse. I shouldn’t have said what I did.”
“You shouldn’t have said what? The part about being my first kiss? Or the part about being the one who introduced me to oral sex? Is it the part where you shared that yours was the first tongue that ever ate me out?” I heard Reed’s breath hitch at my words, I saw his jaw clench, his eyes flare. I knew I was playing with fire with the words I chose, but so help me, I fanned the flames and couldn’t seem to stop. I didn’t want to stop.
I took a step closer and continued. “Was it when you told him and everyone else that you claimed my first orgasm? Or was it when you told them you took my virginity? Which part shouldn’t you have said? The ‘every fucking where’ was a bit extreme, especially in front of him and our best friends, but it’s over and done with now. It happened.”
“You know what’s not over and done with?” Reed asked me as soon as I was done speaking. His voice was low, gravelly, gritty. It was rough with desire and need thanks to the picture I painted for him. A picture that was created from our memories of firsts. Our once-upon-a-times.
Our firsts flashed before my eyes. Then our seconds. Our thirds. Our favorites. Reed and me together, over, and over, and over. And then for me there was more. So much more. So much new. There was the not-yets.
When I responded to Reed’s question, my voice rasped out, just as affected, just as needy, as wanting.
For him, it was the once-was’s.
For me, it was the will-be’s.
“What’s not over and done with, Reed?”
Reed looked me dead in the eyes with his scorching blue ones, making me shiver on the outside while searing me within. “Us. We are not over and done. I want to add to that list, Em. I want you to have my ring on your finger. A huge fucking rock that blinds people, but also a tattooed one just for us. I want your last name to be Brooks like it was always meant to be. I want a fucking houseful of kids with you. I want to grow old with you. I want to have every fucking thing with you and to be together forever.
“We are not over and done with.”
Reed took a deep breath and raked his hands through his hair and said again, “We are not over and done.” He said it more to himself that time, but I heard him. Loud and clear. And to the depths of my soul.
I knew Reed didn’t ask for an answer, but I answered anyway. I answered everything all in one.
“I know.”
“What?” Reed looked at me like I wasn’t making any sense. A few seconds ago, he was looking at me like I was the answer to all his prayers, the reason for his breathing, his being. He was looking at me like I was his be-all, his end-all. Like I was in fact his everything.
And now?
Now, I needed to enlighten him and tell him that he was all of that for me.
In a hallway outside of the bathrooms at Molly’s, I gave Reed my answer and started our future. Was it how I envisioned starting the rest of my life? No. Was he who I wanted to be with for the rest of it? Yes. And that’s all that mattered. Me and Reed. I didn’t need hearts and fireworks and confetti and grand gestures. I just needed him to love me. And to catch me. To never let me fall or break.
