Maybe This Time (24 page)

“Mother
effer.”

With an
exaggerated groan I get out of bed, and get down on my knees
reaching under the bed blindly. I finally find it, only for it to
stop ringing. I slide back under my sheets, trying to get warm and
comfortable again, when it rings again.

“Yeah?” I
answer.

“River isn’t
mine,” Reid says, his voice cracking.

I’m suddenly
wide awake.

“What?”

“Jade, she
knew, fuck, Summer. I love him, I fucking love him,” he says.

I sniffle a
little. “He’s still your brother’s blood, it's okay to love
him.”

Silence on the
other end. “How did you know it was Reece’s baby?”

Fuck.

Fuck.

Fuck.

“Reid-”

“Great, my own
fucking woman knew, and I didn’t, and she didn’t even fucking tell
me,” he growls, his tone a mixture of hurt, pain and anger.

“I found out
the day after the fight,” I say softly.

“Can’t trust
anyone these days, can you? My brother was fucking my girlfriend
behind my back, and my girl knew and she didn’t even tell me,” he
says bitterly. Salty tears drop down my cheeks.

“I love you,
Reid, I’m sorry. I know you love River; I didn’t want to be the one
to break your heart,” I say.

“Yeah, well,
you just did break my heart, Summer.”

“Reid...” I
plead.

“I’m done,” he
says, and he hangs up on me.

He’s never
hung up on me before.

I quickly call
Ryan.

“You knew?” is
his answer.

Wow, Reid was
quick to tell him that.

“Yeah, I found
out the day after the fight,” I say.

“This has
fucked him up, Summer,” he says, sounding worried and a little
frantic.

“I’m coming
over,” I say as I hear a crash in the background.

“Come soon,”
Ryan pleads softly.

“I’m coming,”
I say before I hang up. I shove on some track pants under Reid’s
T-shirt I was sleeping in, and slip my feet into my flats. Grabbing
my keys and bag, I drive as quickly as I can while staying under
the speed limit. When I get to their apartment and I don’t see
Reid’s bike, I curse. He’s driven off somewhere, angry and
hurt.

I walk up to
their apartment and see their door left wide open. I run through,
to find Ryan sitting there at their dining table, his head in his
hands.

“Ry?”

He turns to
me, and I see the pain in his eyes. I rush over and wrap my arms
around him. “Where did he go?”

“I don’t know,
he just drove off.”

“He'll be
alright,” I try to convince the both of us.

“You didn’t
see his face, babe.” And I don’t think I’d want to.

Ryan and I
fall asleep on the couch, waiting for him to return.

But he
doesn’t.

I’m on my way
to work when I get an unusual call from Ryan.

“Have you left
yet?”

“I’m on my
way, why?”

“Well, it’s
kinda dead here right now, so you don’t needa come in,” he says.
From his tone alone, I can tell that he’s lying.

“Okay, I’ll
see you tomorrow.”

The relief is
his voice is palpable. “Bye, babe.”

I keep
driving, wanting to know what the hell is going on. After Reid left
that night he hasn’t been back to town. It’s been a month. He
called Ryan twice, and that’s about it.

He didn’t ring
me at all.

My
confrontation with Mia wasn’t a pleasant one. She came into the
bar, looking for Reid. I punched her in the face. Is there
underground fighting for women? I may have a career there.

When I see the
bar car park full of cars, I scowl. Definitely lying to me. That’s
when I see it.

Reid’s
bike.

I park my car
and run into the bar. As soon as I walk through the doors, I know
why Ryan didn’t want me here, and I love him for it.

I wish I'd
listened.

Reid is
sitting there, with a girl on his lap, straddling him. His hands
are on her ass, and his lips are attached to hers. They're
basically attacking each other, putting on a big show. His hair is
longer, shaggier, and he obviously hasn’t shaved since he left.

I look away as
I feel tears start to pool in my eyes.

Ryan and Tag
both spot me. Ryan’s face looks pale, almost as if he can feel my
pain. Tag looks straight out pissed off, throwing looks of anger in
Reid’s direction. What feels like an hour, but has only been a few
seconds, pass, and I turn around and leave, needing to get the fuck
out of there.

Is this what
he’s been doing for the last month?

While I’ve
been worrying about him every day?

Instead of
going home I go for a drive to clear my head. After driving for an
hour, I realise where I'm unconsciously heading.

To my home
town.

I message my
dad, Xander and Ryan, so they won’t worry about where the hell I
am. I know I’m going to lose reception soon because a lot of the
drive is going through nothing but farm land and bush. I message my
friend Sandra, too, to let her know I’ll be dropping in. She’s
gonna love it. I put my favourite car CD in, and continue to enjoy
the drive.

“What do you
mean she’s gone?” I ask, rubbing my eyes. I sit up on the bed,
ignoring the pain in my head.
Definitely drank too much last
night.

After spending
the last month driving from town to town on my bike, living like a
drifter, trying to get my mind straight, I decided to come home. I
can’t hide and run forever. It’s time to face the facts.

River isn’t
mine, but he is my brother’s.

There's a
piece of Reece left on this earth, and no matter how he came about,
I still love and adore River. He shouldn’t have to pay for the sins
of his parents.

“After she saw
you at the bar last night, she left town,” Ryan growls. He starts
to pace, running his fingers through his hair, a sure sign of his
agitation.

“Why did she
leave?” I ask, my mind still foggy from sleep.

Ryan gives me
a look I’ve never seen before from him, and for the first time in
my life I wonder if my brother hates me. He stares pointedly at the
bed, and I turn my head to see what the fuck he’s on about.

A woman.

In bed.

With me.

Fuck.

It all comes
back to me.

I’d come back
into town, and gone straight to the bar. Everyone had been there,
the usual crowd. Mia had also been there. She’d told me, in detail,
just how she and Reece hooked up.

How it
happened.

Why it
happened.

It seemed it
hadn’t even been a one-time thing. My brother and girlfriend were
having a full on affair.

And I had no
fucking clue.

Then I started
drinking. I glance down at the woman in my bed, wondering how the
hell I'd fucked up so bad. I put my hands in my face and groan.

Summer. My
beautiful Summer.

Fuck, how I’ve
missed her. She didn’t deserve this shit. For the first time in a
month, I begin to see things clearly. I might not be able to change
the past, but I can’t keep living there. I need to live for now,
for my present and my future.

Summer. I need
to live for my Summer.

I stand up
with renewed determination.

I gotta fix
this and get my girl back.

“I wasn’t the
one who got us in trouble, you were!” Sandra yells, followed by
giggling.

I laugh, and
lean back on the log I’m sitting on. We’re sitting outside around a
campfire, having a few drinks and reminiscing about old times.

“Is that how
you remember it? Cos it’s not how I remember it,” I say, laughing
some more.

Sandra tilts
her head back, taking a huge gulp from her bottle which is still
wrapped in a brown paper bag. We're so classy. Sandra’s short dark
hair is tied on the top of her head, her dark eyes framed in her
wide glasses.

“It’s so
boring without you here,” she says, sighing.

“I wish we
could see each other more often.”

“I know, I’m
always bloody working,” she complains, taking another swig of wine.
Sandra works as a personal assistant and is pretty much always on
call.

“Your boss
needs to loosen his strings,” I say, my mouth falling open when I
see the look on her face. “What was that face for? What’s going on
with your boss?”

She looks
embarrassed. “We slept together!” she blurts out.

I still.
“Sandra what are you thinking?” I scold.

“Like you can
talk!”

I think it
over. “Touché, Sandra, touché.”

We both start
laughing again.

“Well, here’s
a face I didn’t think I’d see again,” comes a sexy drawl from
behind me.

I turn my
head. “Quinn! How have you been?”

He looks the
same as he did the last time I saw him, except for the fact that
his lean, almost lanky build has filled out a little. Tallish with
dark shaggy hair, piercing blue eyes and a ring through his
eyebrow. Quinn is still a looker, and the boy I gave my virginity
to when I was eighteen.

“Good, when
did you get back into town?” he asks, kissing me on the cheek and
sitting down next to me. I broke up with him a month before I left,
after we’d dated for a year. We departed on good terms because I
think we both knew we loved each other, but weren’t in love with
each other. As cliché as that sounds, it was the truth with us.

“I kind of
just spontaneously drove up here today.”

“Homesick?” he
ask kindly, opening a can of beer from the esky.

“Something
like that. Thought I’d go to mum’s gravestone with some flowers.
And see how Sandra’s doing,” I add. “What are you doing here?”

“Sandra
messaged me,” he says, looking a little sheepish.

“We’re
friends, Quinn,” I tell him, wanting him to know that it’s okay for
him to want to see me.

“I know,” he
says, but I can tell he didn’t. He probably thought I’d be awkward
about it. My phone rings with a Kings of Leon song, which is Reid’s
ringtone. I press reject, and put my phone on silent. I just want
to forget about him for one night, and he decides to call. This
last month I would have given anything for him to call me, or reply
to one of my messages, and now I just wish he'd leave me the hell
alone.

“Boyfriend?”
Quinn asks, a sad smile playing on his lips.

“Not
exactly.”

“Complicated?”

“Isn’t it
always?” I say, a little bitterly. I look around. “Where the hell
did Sandra go?”

Quinn laughs,
a full on belly laugh. “She left as soon as I walked up.”

“She’s still
sneaky, I see. So what have you been up to, Quinn?” I ask, sipping
my drink.

“Still at uni
studying science, and working part-time,” he says, shrugging like
it’s no big deal.

“I’m proud of
you.”

He blushes a
little. He's so modest. “What are you doing these days? How’s
living with your brother?” he asks, sounding genuinely
interested.

“It’s awesome,
actually. Xander and I get on really well. And I’m studying to be a
nurse, and work in a bar for now.”

“That’s good.
I’m happy for you. When are you heading back?” he asks, bumping me
gently with his shoulder.

“Tomorrow.”

“That sucks.
You girls sleeping out here tonight?” he asks.

“Yeah, just
like old times.” We used to always camp on Sandra’s parents' land,
sleeping under the stars. Speaking of the devil, Sandra walks out
holding a large container, which I hope has food inside of it.

“I come
bearing food!” she calls out.

“Thank God,” I
reply.

“Sandwiches. I
made your favourite, Summer,” she says.

“Cheese and
tomato,” Quinn and I say at the same time. We share a look.

I help Sandra
set out the sleeping bags, and we all lay there under the stars,
chatting and eating.

A glance at my
phone shows eighteen missed called from Reid. I start to worry,
thinking something might be wrong, but there are no calls from
anyone else, just a message from Ryan saying to be safe. Dad and
Xander rang me before, and I told them I was visiting a friend and
will be back home tomorrow. They both sounded worried, so I assume
they heard the gossip already.

My last
thought is of Reid before I fall asleep.

Yellow
sunflowers.

My mother’s
favourite flower. I place down a solitary sunflower on my mother’s
gravestone. I miss my mum every day, but it hurts that she kept me
away from dad and Xander all this time. I think it was selfish of
her, and even a little vindictive. She gave me an amazing
childhood, though, so I guess I can’t really complain. Some people
aren’t that lucky, to have a mother and father who both love and
want them.

My mum died
from a heart attack. I still remember the pain of losing her, like
it was yesterday. There’s no point in looking back, thinking about
the ‘what ifs’. I decide to think of the fond memories I have with
mum, and there really are a lot of them.

“Love you,
mum,” I say softly, before turning and walking to my car. I slump
down into the driver’s seat, knowing that it’s time to head
home.

Exhausted, I
walk slowly to the front door. I have a moment of déjà-vu when Reid
opens the door before I can even pull my key out.

“What the fuck
are you doing here?” I say, too tired to be dealing with him right
now. He says nothing, but moves aside so I can enter. He’s shaved
the almost beard thing he had going on, but he still looks tired
like he hasn’t slept.

I walk past
him without a word, straight into my room. I slam the door behind
me, the force rattling it on its hinges. I quickly lock it, before
he can try and enter, and then pull off my denim jacket and fling
it onto the ground, and hop straight into my bed. A soft knock
alerts me of his presence at my door.