Maybe This Time (6 page)

“Did you ask
Ryan whatever you needed to?” he asks with a smirk.

I look at
Ryan. “Oh, right. I was wondering if you had any job openings?”

Reid looks
surprised for a moment, but I don’t have it in me to care why right
now.

“Sure, you can
work in the bar,” Ryan offers, giving me a smile. Ryan is so easy
to be around, I’ll be glad to have him as my boss. Reid, on the
other hand…

He watches me
carefully, as if looking for a reaction from his little office
romp. But he isn’t gonna get it. My body reacts to Reid, that much
is certain, but I’m not one to play these games. I may not have
that much experience, but I know I deserve better than this.

I ignore Reid
for the rest of the night, but I can feel him watching me. I’m
doing a shot with Ryan and Dash when Xander walks over, looking
sheepish. He rubs his jaw, looking at me.

“What?” I ask
him warily, rubbing the alcohol off my bottom lip.

“I’m not
coming home tonight. Ryan or Reid will take you home,” he
announces. I look behind him to see the girl he was watching
earlier. I decide not to make this easy on him. What are big
sisters for, right?

“So, where are
you going then?”

“To her
house,” he answers, his eyes narrowing.

“Do you even
know her?”

“Summer…”

I cut him off.
“What if she takes advantage of you?” I say it louder than
necessary. The guys burst out in laughter, and Xander just shakes
his head at me, amused.

“That’s the
plan, sis,” he smirks.

“Hey!” I call
out to the girl. She looks at me, looking a little frightened.

“No glove, no
love,” I remind her. Xander instantly grabs her hand and pulls her
away, saving her from me.

“They grow up
so fast,” I muse, earning more laughter from the peanut gallery.
Reid walks up to me, leaning on the bar facing me.

“We needa
talk,” he says, crossing his arms over his chest.

“We don’t
needa do anything,” I return, looking at the dance floor which is
suddenly very interesting.

“Summer, we
can’t just…”

“Can you call
me a cab?” I ask him, interrupting his speech.

“I’m taking
you home,” he says, sounding irritated.

“Where’s
Ryan?” I ask, looking around. I swear he was here a second ago.
When I see him heading to the office with a different chick, I
gape. Again? Really? Reid chuckles at the look on my face and I
hate that the sound sends shivers up my spine. I wobble a little,
feeling tipsy.

“Give me
thirty minutes and I’ll take you home,” he says, his tone
final.

“I hope
someone disinfects the surfaces in that office,” I say, more to
myself than him.

“Well, when
you start working maybe that can be your duty,” he says dryly, a
scowl etched on his face.

“If I’m
cleaning it, I get to use it, too,” I say, looking up at him.

He’s so
handsome it hurts.

“I’m sorry,
what?” he growls.

I shrug, as if
I don’t care either way.

“You think you
can take some guy, fuck him in there and then I’ll let him live?”
he says with a humourless chuckle.

“Don’t think
it’s any of your business,” I say.

He smiles
evilly. “Xander, Dash, Ryan, your father… Do I need to keep going?
There's no way any man you decide to get with will survive the
night.”

“Why do you
care so much?” I snap at him.

“That’s the
question of the hour, isn’t it?” he says dryly.

“I don’t get
you!” I say, frustrated. I head for the dance floor and stay there
for a few more songs. When I return to the bar, I walk up to Reid
and say, “I need another drink. Want one?”

Reid is about
to reply when he looks towards the entrance. I lean to the right to
see what he’s looking at, gaping when I see it’s my father. I flop
down on the bar stool. My father is kissing a woman. Or maybe I
should say a girl, because she looks no more than twenty five. I
grimace, turning away from him, and ask Ryan for another shot.

Ryan grins and
pours me two. What a legend. I down one shot, frowning when Reid
takes the other away from me.

“I’m cutting
her off, Ryan,” he tells his brother. Ryan gives me a sympathetic
glance, leaning over and patting me on the head.

“Ry, stay with
her here for a sec,” he says, walking off towards Jack. He says
something to him, and then my dad glances towards me, looking
surprised to see me here. He says something to his girl and she
nods slightly, sending a glare my way before walking to a table
filled with girls. I look away, and concentrate on Ryan
instead.

“How was your
second go?” I blurt out.

He chuckles.
“Better than the first.”

“Really?” I
ask, a vision of his sexy ass coming to mind. I wonder if Reid’s
looks the same. No, probably sexier.

Ryan bursts
out laughing. “What were you just thinking about?”

“Nothing,” I
say quickly. “When do I start work?”

“You can come
in tomorrow, alright. We actually do need someone. As you can see
it’s just Reid and me here tonight. We have another guy who works
here, but today’s his off day,” he explains.

“Interesting,”
I muse. Ryan laughs, putting his arm around me and pulling me
close.

“Jack’s coming
over,” he says. I notice a lock of his hair out of place, so I lift
my hand up and fix it.

“Good for
him,” I say dryly.

“Hey, don’t be
judgemental,” he says softly. Is that what I was being?

“Summer, I
didn’t expect to see you here,” my dad says, coming and standing
next to me.

“Well, here I
am,” I say in a fake cheerful tone.

“Nice to see
you again, sweetheart.” He sounds like he really means it.

“Where did
Reid go?” I ask him, looking around.

“Why?” His
eyes suddenly turn hard.

“Cos he’s
taking me home,” I say, tilting my head. Why the questions?

“I can take
you home,” he offers.

“No, thanks,”
I politely decline, looking around for Reid, desperate to get away
from the man in front of me. When I see him in a heated argument
with a petite girl with short blonde hair, I change my mind. I wait
until my dad is busy looking at the girl he came in with, then I
walk outside and call a cab, which luckily arrives a few minutes
later. I almost fall asleep on the drive home, but manage to stay
awake. I pay the cab driver, and hop out, walking quickly to my
front door. I unlock the door, which takes a few tries, and lock it
behind me as soon as I enter. I undress and walk to my room, not
caring right now where my clothes land. Tying my hair out of my
face, I get up on my knees on my bed, and face plant into the
mattress. Sighing in contentment, I finally let myself fall
asleep.

I flop over
onto my stomach, and groan. I can hear someone banging on the door.
Why? Why me? My throat is parched and my eyes won’t open. I put the
pillow over my head to block out the banging, but it doesn’t stop.
I will myself out of bed, throwing on an oversized T shirt, and
tripping over my handbag on the way to the front door. I look
through the peep hole, only to see Reid standing there. Unlocking
the door, I pull it open and come face to face with an extremely
pissed off alpha male.

“What?” I ask
grumpily, not waiting for his answer as I turn to head back to bed.
Surely he has a key? He’s over here all the damn time.

“Where the
fuck did you go last night?” he booms. I wince as my head
throbs.

“I caught a
cab home,” I say, rubbing my eyes.

“You caught
a…” he trails off, laughing humourlessly. “Next time tell someone
where you're fucking going so we don’t have to spend the night
worried about you,” he growls, walking to the fridge and helping
himself to some orange juice.

“Why didn’t
you just come here to see if I was home?” I ask.

“Of course I
fucking did that! No one answered the door and there were no lights
on,” he practically growls at me, and if looks could kill I would
surely be dead right now.

“Can you
please yell at me later? I’m hung over and I have the worst
headache,” I sulk. His expression softens a little at what I assume
is my pathetic appearance.

“Go to bed,”
he says. I don’t need to be told twice. I’m warm under the covers
when he walks into the room holding a drink, and two pain
killers.

“Thank you,” I
tell him gratefully, swallowing the tablets with some orange juice.
I’m surprised at his thoughtfulness.

I yawn and
offer him a smile. “Is Xander still out?”

“Yup,” he
says, popping the p.

I frown. “I
should call him.”

“You should
let your brother be,” he says flippantly, sitting down on my
bed.

“Where’s the
fun in that?” I say, my lips curving.

“I almost got
into it with Jack last night.” He's staring at my stuffed unicorn
on my shelf, not looking at me.

“What
happened?” I ask, raising my head.

“Just an
argument.”

“How do you
know Jack?” I ask him.

Reid collapses
on my bed next to me and stares at the roof. “He used to be friends
with… my dad.”

“Where’s your
dad now?” I ask him softly, hoping he hadn’t passed away.

“In jail,” he
huffs, and I can feel the anger lurking behind his words. I think
he expects me to pry, and ask why he’s in jail, so I don’t.

“Okay,” I
whisper, leaving it at that.

“Why did you
leave? I told you I was gonna take you home,” he says, biting out
each word.

“You were busy
talking to some chick, and I just wanted to get away from my dad,
so I left,” I admit. I didn’t want to bring up the girl because I
didn’t want him to think I was jealous. There's clearly nothing
between us, especially after what he did last night. We're just
friends, and I suppose I could always use more of those. Truth be
told, I like being around Reid. Sure, he may be surly and brooding
sometimes - okay, most of the time - but he has this quality about
him that I can’t help but be drawn to.

“About last
night...” he starts, but doesn’t say anything else.

“You don’t
need to explain anything, Reid,” I say softly, my eyelids feeling
heavy.

“Why haven’t
you asked me about my scar?” he asks, changing the subject.

I shrug. “I
don’t even notice it anymore,” I say, meaning every word.

It’s a part of
him, and it’s neither ugly, nor beautiful, it’s just him.

I wake up
suddenly, sitting up in bed. I almost squeal when I see a blond
head poking out of my leopard print sheets.

Reid is in my
bed, fast asleep.

He looks so
huge in my bed and he’s taking up a good three quarters of the
space.

I lean over
him, smiling to myself. He looks so peaceful and serene, I don’t
want to wake him, so I quietly leave the room, heading straight for
the shower. I take my time in there, dry myself and then stand
naked in front of the mirror staring at my reflection. I've
definitely seen better days. I grab a makeup wipe to remove the
black under my eyes from my mascara, and put moisturizer on my
face.

“Yep, this is
as good as it’s gonna get today,” I mutter to myself, throwing on
my pink fluffy robe. I open the bathroom door and walk out, the
steam escaping the room with my exit. I take two steps down the
hall before I face plant into a rock hard wall of muscle.

Reid Knox,
shirtless.

I swoon.

His arms
instantly come around me to stop me from falling over, and my face
rests against his chest, his scent engulfing me.

“Morning,” I
mumble into his chest. His body shakes with silent laughter.

“Morning,” he
says huskily, as he steps back so our bodies are no longer
touching.

“You slept in
my bed,” I point out.

“I did,” he
says, suddenly frowning.

“What is it?”
I ask, curious at the flash of confusion I see in his eyes.

He clears his
throat and shrugs his shoulders a little. “It’s nothing.”

“Yeah, I’m
gonna need a little more than that.” I cross my arms over my chest,
staring him down.

Reid scowls.
“Can I go to the bathroom without being asked a million questions?
Fucking Spanish inquisition.”

“Okaaaay,
then,” I drawl, stepping around him and storming to my room. I lock
the door behind me, letting my robe fall to the floor. I put on a
pair of red panties and a matching bra, followed by some distressed
light denim jeans and a white V neck top. Shoving my feet into my
fluffy pink Ugg boots, I open my door and walk into the kitchen.
I’m in the middle of frying some eggs and bacon when Xander walks
in, gracing me with a huge smile when he sees I’m making
breakfast.

“What? Your
woman doesn’t feed you?” I ask, raising an eyebrow. Xander sits
down at the breakfast bar and eyes the frying pan.

“Why would she
have to? I knew I had my own little chef at home,” he teases,
pulling off his shirt and throwing it on the counter.

“How was your
night?” I ask, making a face when I realize what I asked. Xander
laughs, looking amused. Reid walks out, freshly showered and
wearing nothing but his jeans, which aren’t even buttoned. They're
riding so low on his hips that I can see he’s going commando from
here, and the thin trail of blonde hair from below his navel,
disappearing into his jeans is enticing enough to lick.

“What are you
doing here?” Xander asks, standing up and eyeing Reid.

“Who do you
think kept an eye on your sis when you bailed last night?” Reid
says, his narrowed eyes showing his unhappiness.

“Sit down,
both of you,” I command, serving three plates. I take my own to the
couch and turn on the TV. Moments later they both join me. We all
eat in silence, and I watch as the boys both polish their entire
plates in minutes.