Maybe This Time (8 page)

“Okay. Is
everything alright?” I ask, worried. Something feels off.

“Its fine,
don’t worry. Tag is gonna keep an eye on you.” He places a chaste
kiss on my temple. I look back at Reid who is standing at the door
watching us. I look down when it looks like he's just going to
leave without saying a word.

It really
hurts.

The night goes
slow as ever, even working with Tag, which is usually a heap of
fun. Reid is right about Tag and women, he makes even Ryan look
good. A man walks up to the bar and waits for me to serve him.

“What can I
get you?” I ask him.

“You can give
me your name, for a start,” he says, leering at me. Working at a
bar, being hit on is kind of expected. But I still don’t really
like or welcome it. Some men can take for no for an answer, but
others…

“What can I
get you to drink?” I ask again, emphasizing the drink part. I’m not
on the menu, and neither is my name or any other knowledge about
me.

“I’m surprised
you’re not there with them,” he sneers, his face scrunching.

“What?” I ask,
completely confused.

“What, aren’t
you one of Reid’s bitches? I know how they all like to hang around
after and wait for him,” he says, staring at me accusingly.
Ignoring the douche bag, I walk over to Tag and stand next to
him.

“Problem?” he
asks, instantly scanning the bar. When he sees the man that spoke
to me he walks over. I start to serve another customer, waiting for
Tag to come back so I can ask him what the hell is going on.

The man leaves
and Tag returns, but he ignores me. I corner him when all the
customers are gone.

“Explain,” I
demand, crossing my arms over my chest.

“Not my place,
Summer,” he says.

I don’t say
anything.

“You wanna
head home early? I’m gonna close up now,” he says, avoiding looking
at me.

My nails dig
into my palms. I inhale and exhale, trying to calm myself down.

Everyone knows
what’s going on except for me.

And these
people are meant to be my friends and family.

“Yeah, I’ll
go,” I say quietly, getting my handbag.

“Straight
home, Summer,” he says. “Wait, I’ll walk you out.”

I nod my
head.

I can hear
banging on the front door, followed by the sound of masculine
voices.

“Don’t fucking
start, Xander,” I hear Reid snap. Reid? What's he doing here?

I sit up in
bed and watch as my bedroom door opens and Reid walks in.

“What are you
doing here?” I ask, my voice thick with sleep. He remains silent,
taking off his shoes and his T-shirt. When he lifts up the covers
and slides into bed next to me, my mouth is hanging open so wide
I’m sure he'd get ideas if he was able to see it.

“What do you
think you’re doing?” I grate out, pissed at his audacity.

“I need you,”
he says quietly, his voice sounding hoarse. He pulls me closer to
him, and cocoons me in his warmth. Why was I angry at him
again?

“I don’t like
you,” I mumble, as I dose off back to sleep.

I wake up with
a hand on my ass, squeezing one of the globes. I lean into Reid’s
touch, moaning when his hands move to cup both of my breasts.
Reid’s satisfied chuckle pulls me out of the moment, making me
remember exactly what’s going on right now. I pull away and sit up,
gasping when I take in his face.

“What
happened?” I ask taking in his cut lip, and bruised eye.

“Got into a
fight,” he says, shrugging his shoulder. When he grimaces at the
movement, I know he's probably been hit in the ribs.

“With who?” I
demand.

“Don’t worry
about it, Summer,” he says softly, taking my arm and trying to pull
me closer.

“So what, you
think you can ignore me for as long as you want, and then just come
over and hop into my bed?” I snap, getting out of the bed and
looking around for some pants. I’m dressed in just an oversized top
and panties.

Not even sexy
panties at that.

“Beauty.” He
sighs, running his hands through his messy hair. I see my pink
track pants thrown over my chest of drawers and grab them, shoving
them on angrily.

“I don’t get
you, Reid, either you want me or you don’t. And if you don’t,
that’s fine. Just let me go so I can find someone who does!” I
yell, my anger over the last few days erupting.

“Does this
look like I don’t want you?” he says dryly, moving the sheet aside
so I can see his straining erection.

Holy shit, he
is huge.

I open my
mouth. And then close it. And then open it again.

“Don’t try to
distract me with that thing!” I yell, pointing at it
accusingly.

“Summer, you
don’t understand…”

“You’re right,
I don’t. If you think your morning wood is supposed to be a
compliment, you’re mistaken,” I growl.

Reid's lips
tighten, and for a moment I think he wants to laugh at me.

I am so in
over my head with him.

He makes me
stupid.

He makes me
forget myself.

He makes me
want him more than my own sanity.

“Where were
you last night?” I ask, enunciating each word. He rubs his face,
not even wincing when he touches his injuries.

When he
doesn’t reply, I walk out of the room and head for a shower. When I
return to the room thirty minutes later, Reid isn’t there.

“Dinner’s
ready!” I call out to the guys, who are playing video games and
drinking beer.

“Smells good,
sis,” Xander says as he walks up, kissing me on the top of my
head.

“Of course it
does,” I brag, placing all the plates on the dining table. Dash and
Ryan walk over, taking a seat, serving their plates and digging in.
I look at the spare seat that would be occupied by Reid if he was
here. It had been two days since I saw him last.

“Seriously,
this is the best steak I've ever had,” Ryan says as he takes a huge
bite. I take a bite of mashed potatoes and wonder where the hell
Reid is.

“I’m moving
in,” Dash says, his mouth full.

“Where's
Reid?” I blurt out, not being able to hold it in any longer.

The table goes
silent.

Ryan keeps his
gaze trained on his food when he says, “He’s at home.”

“Why didn’t he
come over for dinner?” I ask, noticing Xander frowning from the
corner of my eye.

“He has
company,” Ryan says reluctantly, finally lifting his head to look
at me.

“I see,” I
mumble, now looking down at my own plate. That’s Ryan’s nice way of
saying Reid is at home, screwing another woman.

Fuck.
This.

Xander gets up
and heads into the kitchen, walking back and putting a drink on the
table next to my plate.

“Thanks,” I
tell him as I open the cap and skull it. It’s one of those girly
vodka mixed drinks that Ryan bought for me since he knows I don’t
care much for beer.

“Dad says he
wants you to go over to his house tomorrow for dinner,” Xander
announces to the table.

“Why didn’t he
tell me himself?” I ask.

“He said you
wouldn’t answer your phone,” he says, eyeing me knowingly.

Oh yeah.

“I’m not
sitting there with him and that bitch,” I say bitterly, finishing
my last bite.

“What?” my
brother asks, sitting up straight in his chair.

“She came up
to me and said some shit. I can’t stand her, and frankly I’m not
too fond of Jack either,” I say, looking down.

“Summer…”

“Can we go
out?” I ask, standing up and clearing mine and Ryan’s plates. I
don’t wait for an answer because I’m going out with or without
them. I walk into my room, closing the door behind me with a push
of my foot. Knowing exactly what I'm going to wear, I strip off my
top and unbutton my jeans. I’m about to push the jeans off when
Ryan walks in without knocking. I squeal a little, covering my bra
clad breasts with my hands. Instead of being embarrassed, Ryan
grins and closes the door behind him.

“You have a
smoking body, Summer,” he says, approval dripping from his
tone.

“I’m glad you
approve,” I say dryly, opening my wardrobe and pulling out my
little black dress. Or should I say
the
little black
dress.

There is
little this dress
can’t
do.

“Are you
alright?” he asks, taking a seat on my bed.

“Are you just
gonna sit there and watch me undress?” I ask as I let my hands drop
from my breasts so he has a plain view of my bra.

“Hold on a
sec,” he says as he lifts his phone to his ear. “Hey, bro.”

My heart stops
beating.

“Just wanted
to see where you are tonight cos I’m taking Sum out and I don’t
want her to run into you,” he says into the phone, smirking at
whatever Reid replies . Ryan stares up at me, a mischievous look
taking over his face.

“You can take
the bra off, too, Summer, nothing I haven’t seen before, trust me,”
he says, I’m sure so that Reid can hear. I roll my eyes at his
antics and take my dress into the bathroom so I can undress in
peace.

I exit the
bathroom twenty minutes later, dolled up and ready to party. With
my black dress, I’m wearing my strappy platform heels that make my
legs look longer than they really are. My brown hair is down and
ironed dead straight, and my makeup consists of a brown smokey eye
and a nude lip.

“Someone’s
dressed to kill,” Ryan says as I walk back into my room, doing a
little turn to show him the back of my dress, or lack thereof. He
stands up and walks over to me.

“You look
beautiful. My brother’s a dumbass,” he says, checking me out
again.

“Thank you,” I
tell him, meaning it. That was the perfect thing to say. I walk
out, frowning when I see Xander and Dash missing in action.

“They had to
go somewhere, they'll meet us out. Come on,” he says, heading to
the front door. I lock up the house and slide into his car,
wrinkling my nose.

“This car
smells like… sex,” I say, looking at Ryan’s profile. Ryan laughs
but doesn’t explain. Knowing him, he probably got some action
before he came for dinner.

“How come I’ve
never seen Dash hook up?” I ask, suddenly curious.

Ryan shrugs,
keeping his eyes on the road. “That’s Dash’s story.”

I make a
growling sound in my throat and Ryan laughs. “So glad to amuse,” I
deadpan. When we pull up into a car park of an apartment complex my
head snaps to Ryan.

“What the
f…”

“I have to
stop by and get dressed, I’m not going out like this,” he says
gesturing to his jeans and T-shirt. He looks fine to me.

“Fine, go on,
I’ll wait here,” I say, pulling out my phone from my handbag to
keep me amused.

“I can’t just
leave you here,” he says.

“You can.”

“Reid isn’t
here. When I rang him he was at the bar, so you don’t have to worry
about seeing him,” he says, getting out of the car and walking
around to open my door for me.

“Promise?”

“I promise,
babe, come on.”

We walk up the
stairs and to the front of apartment number twenty eight. Ryan
unlocks the door, and gently pushes me to enter before him. He
turns on the lights and I walk in, checking the place out. It’s
spacious and beautifully decorated, sparsely but lovely just the
same. The kitchen is black and white, with red bar stools.

“This is my
room,” he says opening the door to a large room, with a huge bed
and probably the largest TV I've ever seen. He turns the TV on and
tells me to sit, leaving the room, and returning minutes later with
a vodka orange for me.

“Thanks,” I
say, taking a sip. I cringe when I realise it’s mainly vodka. “If
this is how you pour your drinks at the bar no wonder so many women
want to go home with you,” I joke. Ryan messes my hair up with his
hand and then leaves to the bathroom. I finish my drink slowly,
smiling when I hear Ryan out in the kitchen. I stand up, and wobble
slightly, before walking out to the kitchen to ask for a
refill.

“Ryan, I…” I
trail off when I see Reid standing there. What the hell is he doing
here? Yes, I know this is his apartment, but come on.

“What are you
doing here?” he demands, eyeing my bare feet and my empty glass. I
took my shoes off and left them in Ryan’s room. When Ryan walks out
a few seconds later, shirtless, I’ll admit it doesn’t look good.
But when a girl walks up and stands next to Reid, I could care less
how it looks.

I give Ryan
the dirtiest look I can muster, but he just shrugs. “Reid, I
thought you were at the bar.”

Well, at least
Ryan didn’t lie to me.

“I’m sorry, I
didn’t know I was gonna be interrupting something,” he says in a
cold tone. He looks gorgeous as always, wearing faded jeans and a
black shirt. His hair is dishevelled, like someone was running
their hands through it…

“Ryan, get
dressed, and let’s get out of here,” I say, putting my hands on his
back to push him towards his room door. I grab the bottle of vodka
from the table, realising there's no way I’m standing here with
Reid and his piece of ass, so I follow Ryan into his room.

“You gonna
watch?” he teases, pulling a fresh shirt out of his cupboard and
shoving it on.

“Turnabout is
fair play,” I joke, not wanting to think about Reid.

Reid and
another woman.

How stupid am
I?

“Hey, you
alright?” Ryan asks softly, doing up the buttons on his shirt.

I swallow hard
before answering. “I’m fine.” I take a sip of vodka straight from
the bottle.

“Does this
shirt look okay?” Ryan asks me. I can’t help it, I start
laughing.

The door
suddenly bursts open, the sound making me jump.

“What are you
doing here, Summer?” Reid asks, his teeth clenching with the
effort.