Reed's Reckoning (12 page)

It’s all I can do to step away from her and jog up the stairs to get dressed. When I throw my shorts across the bed, the note from my car falls out. I look at again and reluctantly dial the number. It rings a few times while I pull on my swim trunks and decide to leave off my shirt.

“Hello.”

“It’s Reed.” I try to sound indifferent.

“We need to talk privately.”

“Can this wait? I’ve got plans.”

“No, make time for me this afternoon.”

“What the fuck? You know I’m with Ari today.”

“That’s exactly why we need to talk. I know where you’re staying. I’ll be there at five.”

He doesn’t give me a chance to reply before he hangs up. Anger boils in my blood. What in the hell does Luke Adams need to talk to me about?

Ari’s on the porch when I get back downstairs. Irritation from my phone call with Luke disappears when I see her. She’s piled her hair on top of her head in a messy bun and removed her cover up. Her towel is wrapped around her waist. She turns when she hears me and my mouth goes dry. She’s a fucking vision. Red triangles barely cover her tits and the ties around her neck and back scream for me to untie them. Images of her sprawled on the deck while I rip the top from her body and devour her tight nipples flood my mind. My dick jumps and I instantly grab it trying to calm down. Her eyes flick from my hand to my face and she blushes.

“Come here.” My voice is rougher than I meant.

She walks inside and stops two feet away from me. I step into her space and run my hands down her arms lightly. Goose bumps trail my touch and I’m thrilled to have this effect on her.

“You’re fucking gorgeous. How do you expect me to behave when you look like this?”

She shrugs and grins.

Tugging at the towel, I watch it fall to the floor. Raking my eyes up her body reinforces my hard on. The red bottoms hug her hips perfectly. I lick my lips looking at her toned legs and flat stomach. She’s the only person in my life that makes me lose my mind without even touching.

I drop slowly to the ground making sure to be gentle on my bad knee. She bites her bottom lip watching me nervously. Without words, I grip her waist and move her to me. My face is at perfect eye-level with the red triangles that stand in the way of my lips connecting with her flesh. I blow a breath on her skin and feel her shutter. Her hands come up to my hair and I kiss every inch of exposed skin making sure to lick the fabric over her tits. I leave a trail behind and it’s obvious where my mouth has been.

She whimpers when I move my hands to her hips and slide my fingers under the sides of her suit then hold her against me. I kiss down until I reach her belly button. I’m so close to her pussy my mouth waters. Jesus Christ! Her smell alone can make me come in my shorts. I want to taste her right here, but I know I won’t be able to stop. Her body starts shaking against mine and when I look in her eyes, there’s need and longing.

Fuck it! I slide one hand down until I feel the skin against my fingers. Sucking in a breath, I try to calm down, knowing she is completely bare. The need to strip her and lick every inch almost overwhelms me. I test her entrance with one finger and find her soaking wet. Without warning, I slide in and suck at her skin gently. Her nails scrape against my scalp and she moans loudly. I add another finger and feel her flinch, I continue to move in and out, and slide my thumb to her clit. As soon as I touch the spot, she cries out and moisture coats my hand. Feeling her come against me causes my balls to pull up and I know I’m close too. Her moans fill the room as she convulses against me.

I slide my fingers out and look at her. She watches me as I lick each one savoring her taste. Heat creeps up her cheek and I notice small botches break out on her neck and chest.

“Angel, don’t be embarrassed. You taste amazing and it took every ounce of control I have not to lay you on that couch and rip this suit off.”

She grins and lowers herself to me. Her lips touch mine briefly but it’s not enough. I crush my mouth over hers and press her body against mine. The kiss is fast and deep and does nothing to help my aching erection.

“We have to stop.” I say against her lips. “Don’t test me.”

She leans back and sits on her heels panting. We stare at one another a few minutes until I help her off the floor and hand her the towel. I link our fingers together and lead her to the beach where I hope to God that there aren’t too many people around.

“Ari, I need to talk to you about something.”

“Okay, but first come here and let me put some sunscreen on your shoulders.” Her touch sends the familiar burning down my body that I have with only her. Thoughts drift to how right we feel together like this.

She lies down on her towel and I follow, propping up on my side to admire the view.

“I called my mom when I got home last night and told her everything.”

Panic crossed her face and I reach out to hold her hand.

“Ari, she was so excited. After I explained what happened and what you went through, she started crying. There was no judgment or anger at all. Just sympathy and concern. Then she became angry, livid really. She feels cheated out of the years with Davis as much as I do. My mom and sister watched how destructive I became the months after our breakup and worried about my life. You were the only girl I’d ever introduced to my mom as a true girlfriend. She liked you a lot and spent the last four years thinking terrible things about you. My sister always wanted to find you and kick your ass but I stopped her.”

“I’m not sure this is making me feel warm and fuzzy,” she says softly.

“Well, this might. When she finished crying and calmed down, she drilled me about you and Davis. She is so proud of you and what you did to raise our son. She asked for your number and then started talking about her trip up here. I tried to push her to Fourth of July, but she demanded to drive up in two weeks. We decided that I want to tell Cara myself because I need to explain what happened to us. So I plan on calling her tomorrow.”

“Why does your mom want my number?”

“Baby, I don’t know, but my guess is to talk your ear off. There are so many questions I couldn’t answer, she was relentless. I also think there’s a level of guilt. If I had given you a chance to talk to me that night at my apartment, things would have turned out really differently. I let my ego and fucking temper take over my judgment. She was really pissed at me about that. If it wasn’t for Davis, I think I’d get the silent treatment for a while.”

“Okay. Give her my number.”

“She’s going to be thrilled.”

“Reed?”

“Hmmm?” I run her knuckles across my lips and kiss them.

“Can we never talk about that night again? There are only two other nights in my entire life that were worse than that. One was the night I lost my parents.”

There’s pain in her voice and I want to ask her to clarify, but don’t want to upset her further.

“Yeah, we’ll never talk about it again. But are you okay with my mom coming in a few weeks?”

“Let me talk to her and think about how we’re going to tell Davis. But yes, she needs to meet her grandson.”

“Thank you,” I say as sincerely as I can, “it means a lot to me.”

She shakes her head and lies back, soaking up the sun’s rays, and holds my hand peacefully. I continue watching her and thinking about the feelings that overwhelm me when it comes to Arianna Williams.

After two hours, we pack up and I take her home. I don’t tell her about my meeting with Luke. He obviously has his reasons for wanting to meet privately.

“Baby, I’ll pick you up at seven-thirty. We’re going to a casual restaurant downtown.” I kiss her lightly outside her door in case Davis is inside with Katy. I don’t want to get caught mauling her.

“Okay, see you then.”

She goes inside and when the door closes, my heart jumps. She’s not even four feet away and I miss her.

I’m out of the shower and dressed for dinner when the doorbell rings. I take in a deep breath before opening the door, preparing myself for whatever Luke has to say.

He stands there with a six-pack of beer in one hand and the other braced on the doorframe. His gaze is indifferent with no signs of kindness.

“You serious about Ari and Davis?” he growls.

“What the fuck, Adams? Yeah I am.”

His face softens and he pushes himself past me into the house. “Then we need to talk.”

A car door slams outside and I stop pacing to try and get my anger under control. Anger isn’t the word for how I feel right now. Rage, fury, and murderous come to mind.

Luke spent an hour talking and when he was done, I wanted to kill someone. I knew I had to handle this immediately. The only way to do that is to confront Jack personally.

Ari sounded disappointed when I canceled our date, but I told her I would explain tomorrow. The insecurity in her voice killed me. The only thing that gave me any ease was that Luke was on his way to her house. He wanted her to hear it from him.

The knock at the door does nothing to calm my nerves.

“Reed, man, what the fuck? I haven’t heard from you since you called me to find you a PI. You fall off the face of the earth and move to the beach an hour away? Then call and demand I come up here? What the hell is going on?”

“Jack, we need to talk.” I step aside for him to pass and he notices the tone of my voice.

He whistles when he sees the view from my living room. “Must be nice to be a multi-millionaire. This place have any hot women—”

“I have a son.” I cut him off.

His expression changes to fear. “No shit?”

“No shit. He’s three and a half. He’ll be four in September.”

“Are you sure he’s yours?”

“I’m holding it together loosely, brother. From the look on your face, you’re not surprised.”

He plops down on the sofa and runs his hands through his hair, not looking at my face. I heard Luke’s side of things, but I’m going to give the man that has been my best friend forever a chance to explain. Then I’ll decide if I beat the shit out of him.

“Reed, I don’t know what to say.”

“Why don’t you start with the truth and we’ll go from there.”

He sighs and scrubs his hands down his face. “Our senior year, Luke something or other—”

“Luke Adams, his name is Luke Adams.” I growl.

Jacks eyes grow wide but he continues. “Okay, Luke Adams cornered me at the gym. I knew how tore up you were about he and Ari dating, so I tried to blow him off. I really wanted to beat his ass for fucking your girl but you had just started to move on. You’d been so torn up and we were only weeks away from the draft. He caught me alone after my shower and told me Ari was pregnant. I laughed in his face and congratulated him.”

My stomach feels tight. I stay silent waiting for more.

“He threw me up against the wall and told me the baby was yours. Even though you left her, he thought you had a right to know. I didn’t believe him. I’d seen them around campus, and knew how tight they were. It was too close to you getting a number one pick, following your dreams, and becoming a millionaire. The whole situation was too fucked up for me to believe it. So I told him no way was I going to help them scam my best friend. He backed off and told me I had a decision to make. If I was really your best friend, I’d let you know you were going to be a father.”

“And you didn’t think to tell me that shit? You think the draft and the money means more to me than flesh and blood?!”

I can’t hold in the anger pouring out of my body. Luke fucking Adams went against his best friend’s wishes to tell me about my unborn child. He risked losing her because he felt I had a right to know. He knew her hurt and humiliation could be stopped if I claimed the baby.

But my best friend since I was three years old hid the news from me. He made a decision that I may never forgive. At that point in our lives, the damage wasn’t done. I could have gone to her and known the truth.

“What the fuck? I was protecting you. Are you even sure he belongs to you? I saw Luke and Ari together. They were definitely more than friends. The way I saw it, he knocked her up and they wanted you to take the hit. It was too coincidental that you were about to be rich and famous and suddenly she was pregnant? Don’t you think the timing is questionable? I didn’t know Ari well, but I knew she didn’t come from much. With the way y’all broke up, I was convinced she was looking for a meal ticket.”