Reed's Reckoning (19 page)

We remain holding each other, catching our breaths until he notices goose bumps on my skin. I get nervous at his silence as he carries me to the cabana and reaches for towels under the bar. He wipes me down and wraps us both up as I continue to hold onto him. When he’s done, he walks us to a lounge chair.

“There are no words right now to tell you how I feel. If I say I love you, it doesn’t seem like enough.” He lays me down and holds my stare as he undoes the buckle on the sandals still on my feet and places them on the ground next to us. “Tonight starts our future, Ari. No more questioning my intentions, no more hiding behind our pasts. There is no more separation. You are the only woman in the world for me—you always have been. Please tell me you understand what I’m saying.”

My heart races and tears spill over on my cheeks. Nodding my head slowly, I try to form words. His confession has sparked so many emotions inside my once hollow chest that I can’t think of what to say. He pulls me to him, rubbing his hands down my back trying to calm me.

“Reed, I hate to sound dense or presumptuous, but did you just say you love me?”

“I didn’t just say it, baby, I declared it. I cherish you. I’m enraptured by you. You are it for me. So yes, I love you.”

“Oh my God, I can’t believe this is happening.”

“Believe it. Now, it’s time for me to take you upstairs and show you how much.”

I can’t help the giggle that escapes and he raises an eyebrow at me. I pull the towel close and rub his cheek lightly. “Honey, even big, strong football players need some downtime.”

“Says who?”

I really don’t have much to compare it to so I shrug and make a move to get up. He stops me by picking me up and carrying me inside.

“I’m going to show you downtime isn’t necessary when it comes to us.”

“I look forward to it.”

“Angel, you don’t need to look forward to it because it’s happening right now.”

I didn’t realize we were already in his bedroom. He throws me on the bed and rips the towels away from both our bodies. I squeal but he holds me down and proves to me that he is indeed ready to make love to me all night.

I stir when the bed dips down and I smell coffee. The sheets surround me and I stretch feeling the ache everywhere on my body.

“Morning, beautiful, did you sleep well?” Reed says softly against my neck.

“Yeah, your bed is so comfortable. I’ve never felt anything so soft.”

“I’m glad, I didn’t know what to expect.”

“How do you not know if your bed is comfortable?”

“I’ve never slept on it before. It’s brand new. Had it delivered yesterday. My housekeeper met the delivery guys here.”

“Why?” I ask confused.

His face pales a bit and then it hits me. He must see the hurt in my eyes because he caresses my neck and holds it so I can’t look away.

“This was for us. I didn’t like the old one anyway and I wanted nothing but us in this room when I make love to you. I can’t change my past, but I sure as shit can erase anything that would make you question it.”

I feel sick thinking about him in this house with the barrage of women he’s had over the years. “It’s nice,” is all I can get out.

“Don’t shut down, Ari. For the rest of our fucking lives, it’s just us. We can replace anything in this place you want. But let me tell you, I have never taken a woman on the bar top or made love in my pool. I’m about to take you to my shower, which will be a first as well. So don’t let your mind wonder. 99% of this house is ours to christen.”

My stomach flutters at his words and I smile up at him. “We’re going to have shower sex. It’s been years for me.”

“Better fucking be, since I am the last guy you were with.” He growls.

“How much time till we have to leave?”

“We have forty-five minutes. I have your coffee ready.”

“Okay, then we better get started. I want to make sure I get the full experience.”

His lips twitch and he grins as he takes me to the massive bathroom.

“You’re going to need a permanent set of caps for your pearly whites if you don’t quit grinding your teeth.” Bobbie laughs at me.

I can’t help it, ever since we stepped foot on this boat today Ari has been swept away with the women and they have kept her busy. Even when we stopped for lunch, the two wives sandwiched her between them and I was pushed to the end of the table. Which sucked because everyone knows if you sit at the end you are responsible for paying.

Now we are at the sandbar and the girls are lounging on floats that are roped to the back of the boat. There are at least fifteen more boats around and most of them are full of guys. Bobbie’s boat is by far the biggest out here. Our crew is made up of four large football players both black and white and each of us has a woman. Even Bobbie brought a date. Two of the guys are married and Bobbie isn’t the jealous type. But I am and Ari is wearing a black skimpy bikini that shows almost everything she has to offer.

“Yo, jackass—you hear me or what?” Dwayne, an offensive lineman on the team asks.

“No, what?”

“What’s the deal? Honestly, I’ve never seen you like this. You had a pussy radar on you for years and suddenly you show up to a pre-season party with that arm candy and announce you have a kid? I don’t want to sound like a teenage girl, but what’s the fucking story here?”

I take a gulp of my beer and shrug my shoulders. “We were fucked over, man. She was my college sweetheart but that doesn’t even sound right. We were two months from me getting drafted and graduating. She agreed to move with me no matter where I was. I’d already decided we wouldn’t step foot into a new town without me putting a ring on her finger. Then some fucked up shit went down and we spilt up. I was a fucking idiot and let her slip through my fingers.”

“I knew it! I fucking win you losers! Pay up.” Lamar, a defensive end, raises his arms in victory.

“What the hell?”

“Matthews, I wasn’t kidding last night. When you get drunk you always babble about the one that got away. When I saw you last night looking at her like a puppy, I knew she was your girl. None of us ever asked, but coach knew the story. He told us when we all signed to watch out for you. He had a fear you would self-destruct. But you never did, so we never asked.”

“You’re shitting me?”

“Nah, man, we’ve always known there was a girl. We just didn’t know how special she was.”

“Is, how special she is.” I correct him and look at the other guys.

“Must had been some serious shit to let her go.” Bobbie says

“Like I said, I was an idiot.”

“What about the kid? How’d that happen? And are you sure—”

I throw my phone at him to shut him up. If one more person asks me if Davis is mine, I’ll punch them.

He looks at the picture on the screen and whistles through his teeth. Then he passes around to the other guys. “It’s literally like looking at a mini Reed.”

“Isn’t it fucking unbelievable? I told my mom and I’ll tell you guys the same, those two are my family. It took a while to convince Ari to take me back, but I finally got through. I’m not going to fuck up again.”

“How’d you find out about your son?” Lamar asks.

I open my mouth to tell him but here loud giggling behind me and see the girls smiling and watching another boat of guys playing around in the water.

“You know what; I think Ari should tell you that part. Let’s go out there with them. I also need to stake claim, that douche from the blue boat can’t keep his eyes off her.” I grab two beers and a koozie.

“Are you seriously putting your fucking beer in a koozie? Did you grow a vagina too?” Bobbie looks at me horrified.

“Nah, man it’s for Ari. She likes her beer to stay cold. I drink mine to fast to worry about that.”

I walk down the steps into the water and make my way to where the ladies have set up a small circle. Ari smiles when she sees me coming toward her. Her skin is pink from the sun but she blushes when she notices me staring at the triangle top. I see the outline of a bite mark I left last night that she tried to cover with make-up. She takes the beer from me and starts to say thanks, but I cut her off. Without warning, my mouth claims hers. I kiss her deep until a voice clears behind us and I pull back. Her face flashes red and she rolls her eyes.

“So what do we owe the pleasure of you guys joining us and ruining a perfectly good gossip session?” Lamar’s wife, Shani, asks.

“Sorry, Shani, but these idiots turned nosy. They want to know the story about finding Ari and Davis. I thought Ari should tell it.”

“Oooh, girl, do tell. I was saving that for the bottle of wine on the way back.”

Ari looks embarrassed but tells a little about our breakup and the misunderstanding. Then she tells how after I saw them on the beach then hired a private investigator and showed up at her door. Her story is short and rehearsed like she has been practicing it. She leaves out the most personal parts, specifically me declaring her mine and claiming her forever last night. When she’s done, a few of the girls wipe their eyes, but only Bobbie’s date has anything to say.

“I guess that’s why Tina had such a bitch fit last night. She heard Reed not only had a girlfriend, but a son.”

“What do you know about Tina?” Shani spews.

“Just that she was telling anyone that would listen that Reed got a girl knocked up and she was demanding that he bring her into his life. Tina said—”

“This before or after the dancing started?”

“After.”

“Skinny bitch needs to learn her lesson. I thought we took care of her in the bathroom.”

“What are you talking about?” Lamar asks his wife.

I look at Ari who has gone pale and is shaking her head at the other women. Shani doesn’t care and continues.

“That bitch cornered Ari in the bathroom last night and told her all sorts of lies. Then she accused her of trying to lock down Reed with a kid that didn’t belong to him. I’d already decided I liked Ari, so I stepped in and told her to back her skanky ass up. I threatened to tell all the rookies she had an STD and have her banned from any other player party. Then I told her that player pussy never becomes wife material and her days were limited since she insulted a player’s woman. She tried to back talk but Sassy stepped in and explained that if she didn’t shut up, she would tell Reed everything.”

Anger boils up from my stomach and I understand why Ari looked miffed last night when she came back from the bathroom. I expect this stuff from the public, but not some piece of ass with no self- respect. Sure, I’d fucked her once and let her suck me off a few times, but she never saw the inside of my car or my house. I didn’t even ask for her phone number.

“Hey, you okay?” Ari’s sweet voice breaks through my thoughts and her fingertips rub my cheek. I lean into her touch and kiss her lightly.

“Yeah, I’m pissed that it happened. Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because I knew she was trash the minute she opened her mouth. We were having such a great night, and I was meeting your friends for the first time. Then when we got home, things kinda got busy.”

“Got busy? Is that what we’re calling it now?” I tease her and watch a blush rise in her cheeks.

“Yoo hoo! Lovebirds—are you listening to me?” Sassy, Dwayne’s wife yells at us.

“No.”

“Well, I can see it won’t be long until Davis has a brother or sister.” This must shock Ari because she pushes me off her so fast I lose my footing and fall backwards under the water taking my beer with me. I flail around until I find the bottom and stand up soaking wet. My entire crew is laughing at me but I only have eyes for the woman a few feet away. I storm towards her as she tries to paddle away but I get close enough to jump on her float and sink us into the water.

“Reed! Stop! Please stop! You’re getting me all wet.”

My dick jumps to attention in my shorts and I lean down to her ear. “You don’t usually complain when I make you all wet. As a matter of fact, I can think of about six instances in the last three weeks you’ve screamed in pleasure from being wet. Four last night alone.”

Her nipples tighten against my bare chest and her breath catches in her throat. When I look in her eyes, they are the color of jade, which means I have succeeded in turning her on. I hold the stare until I can roll into the water without anyone seeing the raging hard on I have. Moving to the side, I keep my arms propped on her float and face our friends again.