Maybe This Time (4 page)

“Reid,” I say,
smiling when he trails his gaze from my thighs to my face, his
perusal bold. “Not one for subtlety, are you?”

He leans down
onto the kitchen bench, his lip twitching. “I can’t help it. It’s
been so long since I’ve seen something I wanted this bad.”

“Umm,” I
mumble, the look on his face leaving me incoherent. I don’t think
any man has ever looked at me like that. Like he’s dying of thirst
and I’m the iced water. I shift on my feet under his scrutiny.

“You’re not so
bad yourself,” I finally reply, leaning on the bench, so our elbows
are almost touching.

He tilts his
head, regarding me. “I told you… trouble.”

I roll my
eyes. “How so?”

“I’m standing
here right now, watching you. Pretended I came here to see Xander,
when I knew he was already gone, just so I could get a few minutes
alone with you. I can’t seem to stop thinking about you.
Trouble.”

My eyes widen
in surprise. “You came here to see me?”

“I did, and
now I can see it was a mistake. You’re not for me, Summer, I
shouldn’t have come here,” he says, pulling back to stand straight.
His eyes are now shuttered, his expression closed off.

Having no idea
what to say to that, I stay quiet.

“I gotta head
to the gym,” he says, turning his back on me and leaving.

My first week
living with Xander passes quickly. He goes to work, or goes to the
gym with the guys. Most days they come here to hang out, and I cook
us all dinner. They act like they haven’t had a home cooked meal in
years, and it feels good to be making myself useful in the
house.

Reid doesn’t
come over as much as Dash and Ryan, and when he does, he's his
usual charming self. We never mention him coming to see me.
Sometimes I catch him staring at me when he thinks I’m not looking,
but then his trademark scowl takes over, and then I think I
imagined the moment we had when he came over altogether.

I glance down
and look at the newspaper once more, hoping I missed something.
There are hardly any jobs available for an unskilled worker like
me. I was hoping for a waitressing job or something like that, any
place that would take me on.

Giving up on
the job ads, I decide to fill out my application for the course I
want to do. After changing my mind several times, I’ve settled on
nursing. I’ve heard it’s a very competitive course to get into, but
I have good high school grades, so hopefully it will be enough for
me to gain entry to the Tafe course. After that I can continue on
to University, which is my plan.

“What are you
doing?” Xander asks as he walks in, shirtless and sweaty. He went
for a run about an hour ago. That must have been one long ass
run.

“I was looking
for a job, but nothing. So now I’m filling out the Tafe forms,” I
tell him, looking back down at the application.

“Why don’t you
ask Reid or Ryan for a job?” he says, shrugging like it’s no big
deal.

“Why would I
ask them?”

“They own a
bar. You could work there whenever you wanted, it'd be flexible for
you with school, and there'd be people there to keep an eye on
you,” he says, lifting a brow.

“I didn’t know
they owned a bar,” I grumble, not wanting to ask Reid for anything.
“And why do I need someone to keep an eye on me?”

Xander shrugs.
“Dad has a motorcycle shop you could work in, too. I work there a
few days a week. And because you’re beautiful, and new to
town.”

My eyes widen.
That I did not know. Why did he seem so evasive about it before?
“I’m sure I’ll find something, and I don’t need a babysitter.”

“Stubborn.” He
chuckles. “The Kanes are all stubborn.”

“Apparently.”

“Yep, it’s a
fact,” he says, smiling.

“I’m sure the
Kanes are a lot of things,” I say with a smirk.

“Yeah, all
good things, of course.”

I roll my eyes
at him.

A knock on the
door disturbs our banter, and Xander goes to answer it. As soon as
he says the words ‘hey, mum’ I freeze. I don’t want to meet his
mother. I quickly stand and head towards my room. I’m halfway
there, almost safe, when Xander calls out my name.

“Summer, come
meet my mum,” he says. I close my eyes for a second, before turning
around. I try to smile but I think it comes out more like a
grimace.

“Mum, this is
Summer. Summer, this is my mum, Daria,” he introduces. She is
pretty, with mousy brown hair and clear blue eyes. She’s a little
on the thin side, and looks to be in her late forties or early
fifties.

“Nice to meet
you,” I say, hoping they'll start to talk so I can sneak away. All
I can think is, this is the woman my dad cheated with when he was
married to my mother. I don’t know how to feel. Daria’s eyes seem
kind as she watches me, before she finally speaks.

"Nice to meet
you too, Summer, I’ve heard so much about you over the years.”

“Really?” I
manage to say, feeling surprised. I wouldn’t have thought they
would have discussed me at all. My eyes dart to my brother. He must
see the look on my face because he frowns, and then starts to take
Daria into the kitchen, offering her some coffee.

He glances
back at me, so I attempt another smile before walking back into my
room and quietly closing the door. She might have heard about me,
but I’ve heard nothing about her except that she’s a home
wrecker.

Xander walks
into my room an hour later without knocking. “What was that?” he
asks, sounding confused, and a little angry.

“What was
what?” I ask, closing my laptop.

“You looked at
my mum like she was the devil,” he says dryly.

“I don’t know,
I just don’t know her,” I lie.

“Summer, she’s
a nice person. She'll take care of you if you let her,” he says,
his voice gentling.

I can just
imagine my mother turning in her grave right now.

“I don’t need
a replacement mother,” I snap, losing my patience with the
topic.

“Fuck, I know.
I didn’t mean that. You just looked upset, and…” he trails off, a
look of realisation taking over his expression. “You’re holding a
grudge over something that happened what, nineteen years ago?”

“If dad didn’t
cheat with her, maybe I would have actually had a father growing
up,” I tell him, deciding to be honest. I know my feelings aren’t
fair. But that doesn't change the fact that I have them.

“So, you'd
rather I wasn’t born at all,” he snaps back at me, making me wince.
I didn’t even think of that. In fact, I was just thinking of
myself, no one else.

“Of course
not, Xander,” I say, rubbing my palm on my forehead.

He doesn’t say
anything, so I try again.

“I’ll try next
time, okay. I can’t help how I feel, Xander, but I’ll try,” I
promise him.

“Okay,” he
says, seemingly satisfied. We hear a knock on the door and Xander
leaves to answer it.

I prop the
pillows up, and lay back on them so I’m in a sitting position.
Opening my laptop, I start to check my emails when Reid walks in.
The door was left open, so he clearly didn’t feel the need to
knock. He’s wearing basketball shorts, a tight white V neck T-shirt
and sneakers.

“Hey,” he
says, a little warily.

“Hey.”

“You okay?” he
asks, looking concerned.

“I’m fine,
why?” I ask. “You can sit down,” I offer, pointing to the end of my
bed. He hesitantly sits down, then looks back at me.

“Xander said
you were upset about something,” he says kindly. He sounds genuine,
like he really cares about what I have to say.

“I’ll be okay,
I’m just trying to be a better person and not let my mother control
or define my actions anymore,” I say honestly. As it leaves my
mouth, I can’t believe I told him that. It's one of the most honest
things I’ve ever said.

He nods, like
he understands. “The fact that you’re acknowledging it is a step in
the right direction.”

“I guess so.
It’s just messing with my mind right now,” I admit.

“Trust me, I
know the feeling,” he says, scowling a little.

“I just don’t
want to hurt Xander. It’s hard, though, when you grow up being told
one thing, and then you find out it’s not the truth at all.”

“You’re a good
girl, Summer, forget about what you’ve been told. Start fresh and
figure it out for yourself. Things aren’t always what they seem,”
he says, looking down at the floor.

“You’re being
nice again, why?” I ask, closing my laptop.

He smirks.
“Calling me out, are you?”

“Yeah, well,
the hot and cold act is really getting old,” I say, pursing my
lips.

He nods twice.
“Yeah, it would, wouldn’t it? Look, I have a lot of shit going on
in my life right now. I’m not in a good place. That doesn’t mean I
don’t… care about you.”

Then he stands
up and walks away.

“Get dressed,
I’m taking you out.” Xander says the next day when he walks into my
room. "Dress in workout clothes," he adds before he closes the
door.

‘Out’ ends up
being me going with him to his gym. The gym is a warehouse, but it
looks pretty decent. It has an octagon shaped cage, a boxing ring,
and then a section with weights, a treadmill and other gym
equipment.

I blink twice
as I take in Ryan and Reid, boxing in the ring. They're both
wearing nothing but basketball shorts and boxing gloves, oh my. I
can’t seem to tear my gaze from Reid, his body slick with sweat,
his muscles rippling with every movement. I don’t even know how I
can tell which one Reid is from here, but I can. Reid purposely
trips Ryan over, and I can hear them both laughing. They're
obviously just messing around.

“What’s with
the weird shaped boxing ring?” I ask, curious.

Xander eyes me
for a second before replying. “We like to fight.”

“I can see
that,” I murmur, my eyes still locked onto Reid. I notice that Reid
and Ryan have similar tattoos that start from their shoulder and
finish above their elbows.

“Quit
drooling, Sum.’ Xander chuckles. I don’t even bother denying
it.

“Come on, this
is women’s porn right here,” I tell him, swallowing hard when Reid
throws off the gloves and runs his hand through his hair.

His impressive
back is to me and I watch his muscles flex as he lifts his hands up
behind his neck, talking with his brother.

“Ryan isn’t
the settling down type.” He smirks. Who said I was checking out
Ryan?

“And Reid?” I
ask, trying to act casual.

Xander laughs,
and I wince knowing this isn’t gonna be good. “Reid screws around
less than Ryan. A lot less. He has a couple of fuck buddies he
sticks to, but they know the deal. No commitment, no emotional
attachment. He’s cold, sis. Please tell me you’re just asking out
of curiosity, not interest.”

I look at
Xander and roll my eyes. “Of course I’m just curious. A man like
that would eat me alive.” And he would.

I hope.

Oh, hell.

“Good,” Xander
says, sounding relieved. “Come on, get on the treadmill.”

“Are you
hinting that you think I’m fat?” I gasp, just to annoy him.

Xander
cringes, instantly backpedalling. “Of course not. You’re perfect,
but you still needa exercise. I thought we could teach you some
self-defence, too.”

“That actually
sounds fun.” I always wanted to learn self-defence. In the world we
live in, every woman should know how to defend herself.

The twins walk
down towards us. I stare at Reid. Seriously. Shorts slung so low I
can see the sexy V of his hips. Tall, blonde, blue-eyed, he looks
like a sexy Viking.

“What's she
doing here?” Reid demands. Of course he has to open his mouth and
ruin it.

“
She
is
right here, and can talk for herself,” I snap. His eyes connect
with mine, and I can sense his irritation, and his… lust.

Shit.

“She’s allowed
to use the gym, Reid. It does belong to her father,” Xander says
calmly, slapping Ryan on the back in greeting as he walks towards
the equipment.

“It does?”
This is news to me. Reid’s gaze softens slightly, probably feeling
sorry for me because I know nothing about my own father.

I don’t want
or need his sympathy.

“Hey, Ryan,” I
greet, taking off my jacket, and putting it in the corner with my
phone.

“Hey, Summer,”
he says, his eyes roaming over my black tights and tank top. They
leave nothing to the imagination, even though most of my skin is
covered, you can still see the shape of my figure. I suddenly feel
a little self-conscious, so I walk in the direction Xander went. I
can feel two matching sets of eyes on me as I walk away. Xander is
on the phone, having a hushed conversation with someone, as I get
on the treadmill and set it to a slow pace.

A very slow
pace.

I used to
dance in school, and that's the only form of exercise I’m really
used to.

“Summer, I
gotta go,” Xander says, looking distracted.

“What?
Why?”

“Jack rang, he
needs me for something. I’ll tell the twins to keep an eye on you,”
he says, kissing me on the forehead before leaving. He says
something to Reid and Ryan, and to my dismay, Ryan leaves with him.
They leave in a rush. I hope everything is alright. Reid walks
over, looking put out that he has to babysit me.

The feeling is
mutual.

“They had to
go, so I’ll take you home when you’re done,” he says, getting on
the treadmill next to mine. Great, now I have to run right next to
him. I layered on two sport bras hoping they would contain my
breasts. Reid is about to have a first row seat to my DDs jiggling
and bouncing as I jog. We exercise in silence for a few minutes,
until I hear a soft groan escape Reid’s mouth. I turn to look at
him only to catch his eyes on my boobs.