Maybe This Time (10 page)

“No chance in
hell, Harlen,” comes a growl from behind me. I exhale deeply,
causing my hair to blow in the air.

Harlen looks
surprised. “She yours?”

“Are you
questioning me?” Reid asks, steel in his tone.

Harlen shakes
his head. “See you on Thursday, Reid,” he says, throwing a longing
glance my way before walking to a table with a few other guys.

I sigh. “That
was really rude.”

“You want a
boy or a man, beauty?” he asks, his lips pursing.

“I just want
you, Reid, but I don’t always get what I want, do I? I learnt that
at a young age. You need to stop with the whole ‘if you can’t have
me, neither can anyone else’ thing because it’s selfish and I’m
getting sick of it.”

Reid scrubs
his hand down his face, staying silent for a second before he
replies. “You want me to say it's okay for you to be with another
guy? Cos that’s never gonna happen. Ever.”

I stomp my
foot in frustration. “Where did your girlfriend go?” I sneer.

“She’s not my
girlfriend, Summer,” he says patiently.

“Then who is
she?” I demand.

“Why, you
jealous?” he says, crossing his arms over his chest.

“What do you
think?” I snap, copying his stance.

“She’s not my
girl, I haven’t had a girlfriend since…” he trails off, looking put
out that he let that slip.

“Since who?” I
ask, dying with curiosity.

“No one,” he
says, avoiding eye contact.

“When?”

“About two
years ago,” he says. Two years ago? When he lost his brother?

“Okay,” I say,
stopping with the twenty questions.

“Okay?” he
echoes, looking suspicious.

“Sure. Hey,
tomorrow, can I come in to work a little late? I have a hair
appointment.”

“No problem.
What you doing to it?” he asks, sounding like he genuinely wants to
know.

“Cutting
it.”

He freezes,
turning to stare at me. “How short?”

I show him
with my hands. “Just above my shoulders.”

“You’re not
cutting it,” he says, frowning.

“I’m sorry?” I
say slowly, sure I didn’t hear him right.

“I love your
hair, please don’t cut it,” he begs, taking a lock of my hair and
staring at it.

I laugh at his
forlorn expression. “So what? If I cut it you aren’t gonna find me
attractive anymore?”

“Like that
would ever happen,” he mutters, running a finger down my cheek.
“You don’t know just how beautiful you are, Summer. Why do you
think I call you beauty? You are something else, something special.
A fucking treasure.”

I get goose
bumps from his words.

“Listen,
I…”

I stop talking
when I see a group of people walk in, the moment ruined.

“I don’t like
it,” Xander says for the tenth time.

“Can you act
your age? And not like my father?” I scowl, pulling up the
sweetheart neckline of my black dress. I run my fingers through my
freshly trimmed hair, loving the softness and the texture of the
layers.

“I’m your
brother, it’s my job to look after you. What if this asshole tries
something?” he demands, looking like he’s about to lose his
cool.

“It’s just a
date! I’ll be back in a couple of hours. I’m not gonna bone him on
the first date, Xander!” I explain, rolling my eyes.

Xander laughs,
breaking the tension. “Keep your phone on you. Is it charged?”

“Yes, I will,
and yes, it is. Calm down, baby brother,” I say, leaning up on my
tip toes and kissing him on the cheek.

“I’m never
having daughters,” he sulks, pouring himself a scotch.

I shake my
head. “You’re an old soul, Xander. Must have been that time you did
in jail,” I joke.

“Oh, come on.
It was just one night,” he says, his lip twitching.

“Well, you
sure know how to make a first impression,” I say dryly, causing his
body to shake with laughter.

“Reid’s not
gonna like this,” he states when his laughter subsides.

“Not his
business,” I say, my voice wavering a little.

“There’s
things about Reid you don’t know, I don’t think you should give up
on him,” he says in a gentle tone.

“I thought you
weren’t a fan of Reid and me?”

“I wasn’t. But
he’s different around you. And he’s a scary mofo, he'll always
protect you. I need my sister safe,” he says.

The doorbell
rings, and Xander rushes to answer it. Everyone is hinting about
Reid, but no one will give me answers. It’s driving me bat shit
crazy. When I see it’s my dad at the door and not my date, Lyle, I
frown.

“Good, I
caught you before your date arrives,” my dad says, smiling
evilly.

“This isn’t
prom, you guys,” I say, rubbing my temples. I swear I feel a
headache coming on.

“Yeah, but
this is our first time sending you off with another man,” Xander
scoffs.

“You look
beautiful, Summer Ray,” Jack says, smiling happily.

“Please don’t
use my middle name again,” I beg, causing both of them to laugh.
“I’m serious. Summer Ray, come on,” I groan.

“It suits
you.”

“Yeah, if I
was a hippie.” I slip my feet into my hot pink stilettos and put on
a black cardigan.

“You ready to
go, Xander?” dad asks him.

“Where are you
two going?”

“We have some
business on tonight,” my dad answers. I walk into my bedroom to get
my bag. When I walk back out I can hear them both whispering. I
lean against the door straining to hear.

“Reid doesn’t
know about her going on a date, right?” Jack asks Xander.

“Nope.”

“Good, he
needs to be on his game tonight,” dad says, sounding worried.

“He'll
probably come here tonight, though. He did last time,” Xander adds.
I walk out, narrowing my eyes at the two of them.

“What’s going
on tonight?” I demand. The doorbell rings, and they both look
relieved. When they both head to try and answer the door, I grab
onto their shirts.

“No way.
Goodnight, both of you. You have some explaining to do when I get
back.” I kiss them both on the cheek and then open the door. Lyle
stands there, in dark denim jeans and a tight white top. I guess
I’m a little overdressed.

“Hey, Lyle,” I
say smiling. He returns my smile, but then it suddenly drops. I
glance behind me to see dad standing there, an intimidating aura
surrounding him.

“I’m Jack
Kane, you heard of me, boy?” he asks Lyle. Lyle swallows and nods
twice. “Right. Take care of my girl.”

“Yes, sir,”
Lyle says, swallowing so hard I can actually see the bob of his
Adam’s apple.

“Good,” dad
says, the tension clearing. We walk to Lyle’s car, and I frown when
he doesn’t even bother to open the door for me.

“Where are we
going?” I ask him once we both get in.

“I was gonna
take you out to dinner. But I got an invite for an event, so you’re
coming with,” he says, glancing over at me like I should be
happy.

“Okay.”

“After meeting
your father, I know you’re gonna like it. Fuck, I can’t believe I’m
rocking up with Jack Kane’s daughter,” he says, sounding almost
giddy.

“What do you
mean?” I ask.

“What? Oh,
nothing.”

“Explain,” I
demand.

“It’s a
surprise,” he says, turning up the music so I can’t talk.

Douchelord.

We stop at one
of Lyle’s friends’ houses, where he makes me sit in the car for
fifteen minutes. This is the worst date ever. I didn’t even have
dinner. Lyle finally returns and we drive to a dodgy looking
warehouse.

“What is this
place?” I ask, my eyes darting around. We walk inside and I see a
large crowd of people. Lyle hands the door guy two tickets, and my
skin crawls when he puts his arm around me.

“Tickets are
normally two hundred dollars each,” he brags.

“Good for
you,” I mutter under my breath. Lyle leads me to a different
section, and when I look up I freeze.

There's a
caged octagon, similar to the one we have at dad’s gym, and right
in the middle is Reid.

“Reid?” I
whisper, my lips forming the word but no sound coming out. I watch
as he faces off with another guy, who seems to be a tiny bit bigger
than him.

“What is
this?” I ask Lyle, who flashes me a confused expression. The fight
begins and I close my eyes, leaning back onto a wall. I hear
cheering, and yelling, so I take a peak, just in time to see Reid
punch his opponent right in the face. I grin, but it only lasts a
few seconds, because then Reid takes a hit to his stomach.

I close my
eyes shut again.

I can’t watch
this. Can I?

When I open my
eyes, Lyle is lost, swept away with the crowd. He just left me.
Fucking asshole.

I watch as
they circle each other, bouncing on their heels. Reid suddenly
lifts his leg in a kick, pulls back, then comes at full force with
another punch. He gets his opponent up against the cage with his
arms around him, punching at the back of his head. The crowd goes
wild, and I turn my head to look for Lyle once more, but can’t see
him anywhere. I glance back towards the cage, where Reid is the
victor. He has blood dripping from his nose, but besides that, he
looks untouched. The other guy, however, looks completely
battered.

Why does Reid
do this?

And why keep
it a secret? Is this why he won’t be with me?

A growl
escapes my mouth when I see no other than Xander, Ryan, Dash and my
dad standing around Reid.

I see red. I
don’t think I’ve ever been so mad and hurt in my entire life. And
when the blonde chick steps up next to Reid, I lose it.

It takes me a
good ten minutes to walk over to them, the crowd bumping me and I
can’t walk as fast as I wish in these four inch heels. I’m tempted
to take them off, but looking at the floor I would probably need a
tetanus shot. When I finally near them, Reid's gone missing.
Cursing under my breath, I walk up to the group of men that have
become my life.

“Fancy meeting
you all here,” I say dryly, containing my emotions.

Four pairs of
eyes glance at me, with emotions ranging from shock to guilt.

“What are you
doing here?” My father growls, looking angry.
He’s
angry?

“This is where
my date brought me,” I say, sneering the word date.

“What the
fuck?” Xander roars, looking me over.

“I’m fine,” I
assure him, throwing accusing glances at each of them. My dad and
Xander look angry, Ryan looks apologetic and Dash is smiling at me,
looking like he’s relieved I finally know.

“Where is he?”
I ask, not needing to explain who I’m talking about. When they
don’t answer, I raise my voice. “Where the fuck is he?”

“Come on, I’ll
take you,” Ryan says, walking over to me. He tries to take my arm
but I pull away.

“Don’t be like
that, babe,” he says sadly, his brow furrowing.

“You guys all
lied to me. What, you don’t trust me?”

“Of course we
trust you, this isn’t exactly the place for a woman,” he says in a
gentle tone that grates on my nerves.

“I’m not
fragile, Ryan.” He opens the exit for me and I walk out.

I see Reid
leaning against the wall, wiping blood from his nose. He throws the
towel over his shoulder, and then the blonde leans up and kisses
him on his mouth.

I turn away,
as fast as I can, tears forming in my eyes. Ryan mutters a curse
behind me, and then I hear him yelling Reid’s name. I let myself
fall into the crowd, until I find the entrance we came in from. I
run out, into the car park, and look around, wondering what the
hell I’m supposed to do now. My phone keeps ringing and I see Reid,
Ryan, Xander, Dash and my dad’s numbers pop up. When I see Lyle
leaning against his car, I grin. What an unlikely saviour.

“Lyle, I need
a ride somewhere and you aren’t getting any action tonight,” I
notify him when I approach his car.

He scowls.
“Fine. Only cos your dad will probably kill me otherwise.” I get
into his car, exhaling in relief when we get onto the main road. I
put my phone on silent, not wanting to talk to anyone right
now.

“Why did you
bring me there?” I ask him.

“I always come
to the fights when I can, and I didn’t wanna miss it over a date.
Then when I found out who your dad was I figured you'd wanna go
anyway,” he explains.

“Why? What
does it have to do with my dad?”

“Your dad runs
the fights, Summer,” he says, looking at me like I'm insane. I take
a minute to absorb this information. Dad organizes these
fights.

Well, that's
fucking news to me.

“Where are we
going?” he asks, his eyes on the road.

“I don’t wanna
go home,” I sulk.

“You can come
crash at my dorm room,” he offers.

I must look
suspicious because he laughs at my expression. “My roommate is
away, you can sleep in his bed.”

“You
sure?”

He nods, his
eyes darting to me, then back on the road. "Don’t worry, I won’t
let anything happen to you. I actually like my balls.”

“Where was
that line of thought when you left me alone in the middle of the
chaos?”

“I lost you, I
tried to find you. I texted you, too,” he says.

I check my
phone and there's indeed a message from him asking where I am. I
ignore the twenty six missed calls and check my messages. Five from
Reid, which I don’t bother to read. Instead I text Xander and tell
him I’m safe, and I'll be home tomorrow. He replies instantly,
saying to call him and he'll come and get me, but I ignore it.

“So they fight
for money?” I assume.

“Yep. Entrance
is two hundred each, and that goes into the prize money for the
winners,” he explains.

“What do you
know about Reid Knox?” I ask.

“Besides that
I wouldn’t wanna mess with him?”