Maybe This Time (12 page)

“Don’t think
so babe, trust me, I’ve been getting no complaints,” he says,
wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

“Don’t you
have somewhere to be, Ryan?” Reid asks expectantly.

“Nope. I’m
good right here, with my two fave people,” he says, smiling.

Reid grunts,
and inserts himself next to me on the other side. “Hey, beauty,” he
says, his lip tilting upwards.

I get
butterflies every time he calls me that.

“Hey,” I say
in a soft voice, his scent engulfing me. “You smell good,” I blurt
out.

Reid’s eyes
smile at me. “What are we watching?” he asks, putting his arm
around me and pulling me closer towards him.

I press play
on the remote. “The Notebook.”

They both
object.

“This is our
punishment, isn’t it?” Reid asks, heaving a heavy sigh.

I grin. Ryan
mumbles something about me being evil, while Reid raises an eyebrow
in amusement.

Then we watch
the movie.

Reid opens the
door for me as we walk into the restaurant. This is our first
official date, and I’m a little nervous. I play with the charm on
my handbag, twisting it around my fingers. We sit in a booth, side
by side.

“I’m pretty
sure you’re meant to sit opposite me,” I say, grinning.

“Then I can’t
touch you, so it doesn’t work for me.”

“Who are you
and what have you done with Reid?” I joke, nudging him with my
elbow.

“It’s me,” he
whispers into my ear, then proceeds to bury his face in the crook
of my neck and shoulder. A shiver of pleasure takes over my
body.

“Reid!” I
chastise, looking around to see if anyone is watching.

“So innocent,”
he croons, looking pleased. I realize that this is Reid with his
guard down. He's letting me see him, without all the shields he
usually has in place. The thought makes me feel lucky, that he
chose to share this side of himself with me.

“What are we
eating?” I ask as I look over the menu. We both order our meals
when the waitress arrives.

“Does it annoy
you that I’m older than you?” he asks once our drinks arrive.

“Does it annoy
you that I’m younger than you?” I return.

“No, nothing
about you annoys me,” he says, pausing. “No, that’s a lie.”

I slap his arm
playfully. “It doesn’t bother me. You’re what, twenty three,
right?”

“Yes. That’s
four years older than you,” he says, rubbing his hands over his
face.

“I know, I can
do math. And it’s not that bad,” I say defensively, sipping at my
apple juice.

“It doesn’t
matter anyway,” he says, staring into my eyes.

“Why?”

“In too deep,”
is all he says.

Our food soon
arrives and we dig in. I get a message from Ryan, who's mad he
couldn’t come with us, and is instead stuck at the bar. I start
laughing when I see the picture of him making a sad face. Reid
groans when I show him.

“I feel bad
he’s at the bar by himself,” I say around a mouth of mash
potato.

“We can stop
by afterwards.”

“Sounds good.
Where’s Tag tonight?” I ask.

“He has his
kid for the night,” Reid says, watching me as I lick my fork. My
eyes dart to the middle of the room when I hear my name being
called.

Lyle.

Oh, shit.

He walks over,
smiling warmly, until he sees who my date is.

“I guess now I
know why you were asking about him,” he mutters, clearing his
throat.

“Hey, Lyle,” I
say, not wanting to be rude. He did help me out the other night,
and he ended up being pretty cool.

“Reid, this is
Lyle,” I introduce, sighing when I see the daggers Reid is shooting
at Lyle.

Lyle shifts on
his feet, looking nervous. “I, uh. I just wanted to say hello. I
guess I’ll see you around, Summer,” he says, walking away as
quickly as he can.

“That was
rude,” I say, the air in the room so thick and uncomfortable, it's
making me feel awkward.

“That’s who
you went on a date with?” he asks incredulously.

“Yeah.”

“He’s a kid,”
Reid snaps.

“Actually,
he’s my age,” I say, cringing.

Reid curses
and stares down at his plate. His jaw tenses and he stays silent,
ignoring me.

“Reid. The
date didn’t work out, so we ended up hanging out as friends,” I say
softly, trying to diffuse his anger.

“You stayed
the night with him?” he asks, more like a statement then a
question.

“Well, yeah, I
slept in his roommate's
empty
bed,” I say.

“Fucking
hell,” he growls, his grip on the table turning his knuckles
white.

“Well, maybe
if you weren’t kissing Jade and keeping secrets from me, I would
have never gone on a date with anyone!” I yell, losing my
temper.

“You know,
Summer, when you forgive someone, the decent thing to do is not
throw it back in their face every fucking chance you get. You think
I don’t regret it? Don’t feel like shit about keeping you in the
dark? And having to see Jade kiss me, even though I pushed her off
me?”

His words make
me feel like complete shit.

“Reid…”

“Let’s go,” he
says, standing up walking to the register to pay. He doesn’t even
look back, or wait for me. I grab my handbag and walk to the front,
following him outside to his car. He opens the door for me, even in
his anger, and I get in without a word.

“Can you take
me home?” I ask, my voice uneven.

He drums his
fingers on the steering wheel, but doesn’t answer me. Then he
exhales loudly. “I don’t want you to go, yet.”

“You have a
funny way of showing it,” I say, looking out the window to distract
myself from his handsome profile.

“I just don’t
like the thought of you out with another guy, sleeping at his
fucking house. I’m sorry,” he says, his eyes on the road. I glance
at him, the scar on his jaw clearly noticeable from this angle. I
lean over and run my finger along it, hating that he flinches and
moves his face away.

“It’s clear by
all your shit I put up with that I only want you, Reid, no need to
be jealous,” I say, rolling my eyes.

“I’m not
jealous,” he huffs.

“Of course you
aren’t, baby,” I coo.

Reid grins.
“That’s the first time you’ve called me baby.”

“You like
it?”

He nods, the
shift in his mood obvious. “Okay, maybe I was a little bit
jealous,” he admits.

“Trust me, I
know,” I say with a smirk. Reid suddenly pulls the car over.

“What are you
doing?” I gape, my eyes going wide. He smiles at me before leaning
over and tangling one hand in my hair. His other hand tilts my chin
up, as he brings his lips to my own. He kisses me gently, three
times, before going in deeper, opening my mouth and tasting. When
he pulls his lips away I’m left breathless and wanting more.

“So
beautiful,” he murmurs, pulling back onto the road.

“What was that
for?” I ask, touching my lips.

“I’ve always
wanted to kiss that smirk off your face,” he says, grinning.

“Well, you did
just that.” Now it’s him looking smug.

He puts on
some music, and a Nine Inch Nails song flares through the
speakers.

“What music do
you like?” he asks me.

“A bit of
everything. But I mainly listen to rap music.”

“Rap?” he
repeats, cringing.

“Yes, rap,” I
say defensively. When he starts laughing I scowl.

“There is
nothing wrong with rap music,” I tell him.

He lifts a
shoulder in a shrug. “Just didn’t see you as a rap kinda girl.”

“What kinda
girl am I?”

“Mine,” he
says, smiling. I stare at his profile for a moment, a feeling of
contentment taking over me. This moody, amazing, sexy, sweet man is
all mine.

“Does that
caveman shit work on other women?” I ask.

“I wouldn’t
know, you’re the first one I’ve ever felt possessive of,” he
says.

“Hmm.”

“What are you
thinking about?” he asks, turning his head to me.

“You.”

“What about
me?” he asks.

“Are you ever
going to tell me how you got the scar?” I decide to ask.

Reid is silent
for a few minutes before answering. “I’ll tell you when I’m ready,
okay?”

“Okay.” I
smile when he takes my hand into one of his, threading our fingers
together. I know this is him telling me, although he may need time,
he isn’t going to shut me out, and I appreciate it.

When we arrive
at the bar, I find that it’s actually pretty busy. Poor Ryan.

“Maybe you
should hire someone else?” I tell Reid, eyeing all the cars parked
out front.

“Yeah, I had a
few people apply,” he says, opening the door for me to enter.

“What about
Xander or Dash?” I ask.

“Dash is a
full time mechanic, I don’t think he would wanna work at the bar. I
can ask Xander,” he says. We walk up to the bar, and I offer Ryan
an apologetic smile. Reid was meant to work tonight, but insisted
on taking me out to dinner, and Ryan said it was no problem. I tie
my hair up in a ponytail, and wash my hands before starting to
serve the few customers still waiting. Reid heads into the back,
needing to stock up on a few things.

“How was
dinner?” Ryan asks in between customers.

I make a vodka
sunrise as I answer. “It was good!”

“Didn’t even
bring any back for me,” he sulks.

“You guys
should start serving food here. Like chips, battered prawns and
club sandwiches,” I tell him, hoping for this outcome on one or
more occasions.

Ryan chuckles.
“We should, shouldn’t we? I’m sure if you ask Reid he might.”

Speaking of
the devil, Reid walks out of the office, holding a stack of bottles
and putting them in the fridge. When he bends over I get a nice
view of his ass, which I happily ogle. I sigh in admiration, until
Ryan nudges me, and gestures to a waiting customer.

“What can I
get you?” I ask the woman. She has red hair, and bright pink
lipstick on, most of it smudged onto her chin. Classy.

“Nothing here
I haven’t had before, sweetheart,” she purrs, her eyes on Reid’s
ass.

“I’m sure
there’s no one you haven’t had, now get your eyes off my man’s
ass,” I tell her calmly, facing her head on.

Her eyes widen
in surprise, and then narrow. “Never knew he liked them so
young.”

“Yeah, I guess
his taste has improved,” I mutter. She laughs, more like a cackle,
and I’m about to tell her to fly off on her broom when my brother
walks in.

“Xander, what
happened?” I ask, running over to him. He's definitely been in a
fight. His knuckles are bloody and battered, and his lip is cut and
swollen.

He shrugs,
playing off my concern. “Don’t worry about it, sis, just a small
incident.” Reid walks over and tells Xander to go into the
office.

“Reid…”

“Stay here,
beauty, let me talk to him,” he says softly, looking concerned.
Ryan gently takes my arm and leads me back behind the bar. I see
him do a double take when he takes in the face of the girl I was
about to serve before.

“What the fuck
are you doing here?” he growls at her, his face contorting in
anger.

She puts her
hands up in submission. “I’m just here for a drink.”

“You’re never
just here for a drink,” Ryan says, calming down.

“You think he
was gonna take me back after what happened?” she asks dryly.

“No, I guess
not,” Ryan says, reluctance in his tone. He pours her a drink
anyway, and doesn’t say another word to her.

“I still care
about him, Ryan,” she says, her eyes softening. She wait for Ryan
to respond, but after he gives her nothing, she turns her back on
us and leaves.

“What was that
about?” I ask him, pissed that I’m left in the dark
again.
When he doesn’t reply I storm to the office. Just as I pull the
door open, Xander walks out, bumping into me.

“You okay?” I
ask gently, lifting my hand to touch his face.

“Fine, Sum,”
he says with a smile. I look behind him to Reid, who has a pensive
look on his face.

“What
happened?” I demand.

“Went to a
girl’s house, her ex came over and we got into it,” my brother
answers, casual as ever.

“Do we have a
first aid kit here?”

“Sis, don’t
fuss over me. I’m going home, and I’m fine.” He kisses me on top of
my head. “Cute having you worrying about me, though.”

“I'm always
worried about you,” I say gently, eyeing his busted lip.

I look at Reid
and say, “I’m gonna go home with Xander, okay?”

He frowns, but
nods. I walk up to him and kiss him on the cheek. “See you
tomorrow?”

“Yeah, I’ll
come over and bring you lunch.”

“Sounds
good.”

Xander and I
go straight home, where I take care of his face and knuckles, and
tell him to go to bed. After grumbling and growling at me, he
finally listens, and I smile as his bedroom door closes.

I love being a
big sister.

After my first
class, I sit in the library, going over everything I learnt today.
My human biology is a little rusty, and I'm definitely going to be
doing a lot of studying.

Someone takes
a seat opposite me, which is a little weird considering there are
multiple empty tables. I lift my gaze and see it’s a guy who looks
to be in his early twenties. He has dark hair and eyes, a strong
jaw and high cheekbones. His arms are bulky with muscle, not my
type, but I can still appreciate his looks. My lip curving into a
slight smile, I turn back down to my books. When I feel his eyes on
me, I look up to see him studying me.

“It’s rude to
stare,” I whisper, raising an eyebrow.

He tilts his
head at me, and I’m curious about the indecision I see flash over
his expression. He looks down at his own book and opens it, not
saying anything back to me, so I continue with my own work. After
an hour, I stand up, flashing a smile before I leave. I get in my
car and drive straight to the bar. I have an hour before I start my
shift, so I have time to change and sneak in a few kisses with
Reid.