Atonement (19 page)

“Reese, we saw you with Tate. Maybe you should stay here with us, I don’t know if you will be happy with any decisions you make tonight. You, like us, aren’t thinking straight.” Elle said. I might be mistaken, but I think she basically slurred it all out.

“I’m fine girls. First time I’ve been this fine in a long time.” I chuckled out loud. Then out of the corner of my eye I saw Tate. He was whispering into someone’s…shit! It was Lisa. He was leaning over her in deep conversation. He looked serious… I made a loud ‘Humph’ sound. Well, two can play at this game. I looked around the room…oops, a little too quickly, I might add. I guess it took my eyes longer to catch up with my head turning. Maybe I should slow down. Finally my eyes latched onto the other waiter who had danced with me earlier. He was looking at me too. I motioned for him to come over.

“What are you doing Reese? I’m not sure this is a good idea.” I was glad they knew what I was up to. They saw me watching Tate too. “You guys aren’t together remember? I
know it still hurts to see him with her, but don’t do anything you would regret, okay? Maura said in a low voice.

“Awwe, you don’t need to worry. I’m just upping the ante.” Waiter guy had come back now and was standing beside me, staring.

I said “Hey…” and he filled in the pause with his name.

“Michael” he said huskily.

“Hey Michael,” what are you doing tonight? Us girls are having a Playdate…oops, I guess I shouldn’t call it that to a guy…you might get the wrong idea.” I said as I winked at Michael.

I heard Chloe say “Oh Shit…here we go”.

“Now Chloe, don’t be such a prude. It doesn’t become you…I learned from the best you know.” Now I was winking at Chloe. Man I was feeling dizzy…
way
dizzy.

“Anyway Mi-chael, want to slow dance?” There was a slow song playing. I couldn’t remember the singer, but it sounded like
Wild Thing
by Ton-Loc. Dang, could I have picked a better song to show off?

“Um, sure thing babe,” he said. I cringed when he called me babe, but he
was
pretty cute. Luckily, our booth wasn’t in front of the regular dining customers. The bar area was well separated from it. We were slowly moving and grinding, his front to my back, and I had my arm caressing his neck. He was grinning, I could feel it. I could hear my friends distantly joking, ‘that’s enough Reese’ but I was oblivious. My thoughts were scrambled. I somehow felt eyes boring into me…Tate’s. He had a seriously mean look on his face. Then he was coming closer.

“Hey dude, I’ve got it from here,” he said to Michael.

“Well,
dude
, she asked me to dance with her…so she would have to make that call.” Michael said matter-of-factly.

“You and I both know she isn’t capable of deciding that…now back off! Besides, you’re supposed to be working, not fondling the patrons.”

Michael backed away hands up in front of him as if to say ‘whatever’. “Reese, come sit down please.” Tate was sincere again. Man could he go from mad to sweet quickly. This I certainly remembered from when he used to be so over-possessive.

“Spoken like a man who thinks he can own someone.” He was raking his hand through his hair.

“You won’t remember any of this tomorrow Reese, but I’m not that person anymore. I don’t want to be that jealous, insecure guy....although if we were still together,
that
would have totally taken me to the edge.” He was pointing to where I was just ‘dancing’ with Michael.

“Well, lover boy, if we were still together,
that,
” I pointed to where he had been talking with Lisa, “would have pushed me
over
the edge!”

Tate’s eyes shot back and forth from me to Lisa. “Oh, so now I get it.” He looked pleased with himself like he knew now why I was acting this way. “Well, Lisa was asking if I could eat dinner with her, I told her no, she wasn’t taking it so well. I haven’t seen her in a long time. I guess she was surprised to see me here.”

I blew out a quick breath “Well she’s not the only one.”

Tate had a smile on his face. He was looking at me with his casual look. “Reese, can I please take you home? I want to make sure you get there safely?”

I looked over at my friends. Why didn’t they seem to be as affected as me? “Well, I don’t feel so well all of a sudden.” I actually felt like I might be sick…and already…Ugh!

“That settles it, I’ll take you home.” Tate stood and pulling me up by my hands ushered me over to the girls’ table. They weren’t happy with me for leaving, but they seemed to understand. I truly was wasted. This was certainly not a regular occurrence for me. It was crazy how my feelings changed so quickly from being super relaxed and having fun, to feeling like I was going to hurl any second.

I had to roll the window down on the ride home. I felt like a dog hanging its head out, panting and lapping up the wind. I needed the fresh air to keep from throwing up in Tate’s truck. Shit…this sucked. Oh God, I felt like…”Pull over Tate,” I said with my hand on the door handle. He quickly obliged, then he hopped out of the driver’s side and ran over to me. I was so embarrassed. My stomach heaved at least twice, all while Tate held my hair. “Please don’t look. I know it has to be so gross.” I couldn’t believe he was standing beside me witnessing this.

I wasn’t sure how long we were there stalled on the side of the road, but it felt like an eternity. He gave me a napkin to wipe my mouth with, and a water bottle he had in his truck to rinse with. “Oh God, Tate, I’m so sorry. I feel just rotten.” I could barely open my eyes, but I had to, because my surroundings were still spinning if I kept them closed.

“Reese, I know what you’re probably going to say, but I’m going to ask you anyway. Will you come home with me? We can stay in the pool house. That way, you don’t have to go home feeling and looking like this.” Crap! I must look really bad too.

“I…” I started to speak but Tate cut me off.

“Please Reese, I’ll take care of you…and no funny business I promise, okay? I hate you feel so sick and drunk. You got out of control tonight. I wished I could have stopped your
drinking before you got this bad. I’m going by the store and getting you water, Coke, and crackers, not to mention some Advil. No arguments, okay?

I didn’t say anything. I’m sure I looked as pale and sick as I felt. Tate stopped at the Circle K and ran in to buy me items to help my sick feeling. Even through my queasiness, I was thankful Tate was so attentive to my needs. When he came back out, he grabbed my cell phone and asked if he could send a text to my parents, that I was staying at his house and that everything was okay. I could tell this text made him nervous. I’m sure he was worried what they would say. But, they trusted me, and they knew they didn’t need to monitor everything I did. After all, I was in college pretty much year round without them there to police my activities.

woke to an alarm…crap, my phone alarm. When I looked at the clock, it was 9am. I jumped…where was I? The room didn’t look familiar, and I was suddenly scared. But, the more I moved around, the more I realized how crappy I felt. I was feeling sick. I needed water…and food. When I raised my head, the room still had a spin to it. This couldn’t be good. I must have fallen asleep…somewhere, but where? Crap, I remember drinking myself to oblivion.

Then it dawned on me...I sat up too quickly and felt immediately like I was going to hurl. As I was gaining my ground, I heard a voice. His voice.

“Good morning Reese. I thought you might sleep later than this.” He said.

My eyes flew open, and I immediately regretted it. Oh yeah. “My alarm went off. Tate?” My brain caught up to my surroundings.

“Hey.” Tate said. “I was getting worried about you. What do you need? You had more than your share of alcohol last night. I bet your friends aren’t feeling much better either.” I suddenly realized what all had happened. I had gotten too drunk at Ruckers with my girls, and Tate brought me back to
his house. Oh no! I also remembered just how sick I had gotten on the way home.

“Tate,” I squeaked out, “I hate you had to see me so sick last night in your truck.” My nose turned up at the thought of what he saw.

“Um, I don’t know how you have a stomach left after last night Reese. I was getting really concerned for how many times you threw up.” Oh God! It was more than on the drive home…it must have also been here, I thought.

“I must have been in terrible shape last night then. Thanks for helping me. I’m sorry I was so…nasty, Tate. I never planned to get that out of control. I’ll be glad to call Elle, or a cab, to come get me this morning.”

Tate stepped closer to me, and then sat down on the bed beside of me. “No way Reese. I plan to ‘nurse’ you back today, and spend some time with you, you know. By the way, you owe me lunch and ice skating.” Tate said.

My stomach churned at the thought of any activity outside of sleep. “I…I don’t know what to say. I really feel like total crap…I don’t think I would be very good company.” I squinted my eyes at Tate. He looked so dang adorable. Scratch that, he looked down right breathtaking looking up at me, almost enough to melt my heart. It was December, but he had a full out tan, and his eyes seemed to have gained even more golden flecks in the last few months while he’d been in California. I was smitten.

“Please, let me make that decision. I know you feel like shit, but you can stay in bed all day if you like. I’ll bring your phone over and you can text your parents.” Crap! I forgot about them.

“Oh no Tate, I bet they are worried sick about me.” I was suddenly frantic, which didn’t help my head out, not in the least.

“Calm down Reese. I texted them from your phone last night to let them know you were staying at my house. They texted back for you to be careful.” I knew what that implied. I felt myself blush. But, again, I remembered how Tate always took the reins with caring for me.

“Okay, I guess maybe I could stay here for a little while. I’m not sure how or why you would want to spend any time with me like this.” I just wanted to drink (I had a cotton mouth), eat, and sleep.

Tate brought me my phone. “Also, Elle texted you. She’s worried about what happened to you last night. You should text her and let her know.” Oh, I guess they probably do wonder what happened between Tate and me I thought. I wonder how
their
heads are feeling this morning?

After a sausage biscuit from McDonalds, and a latte (my favorite), I was feeling some better. I was just going to have to get used to my head having a heaviness with a little rotation in it all day.

Around noon, I was ready to get out of bed. Tate had been too good to me. It was so comforting to have him taking care of me again, even if it was just for today. That thought depressed me a bit, but I wouldn’t dwell. I had gotten tougher over the past several months, more independent.

“Reese, if you want to take a shower, feel free to. I can take you by your house to change clothes before we go to lunch if you like.” So he was sticking to our original plan. Was he expecting me to go ice skating too?

“Um, I think that’s a good idea. If you don’t mind, I would feel more awake if I could take a hot shower.”

{
Tate}

I’m about to lose it. Reese slept in my guest bedroom, with me, all night. Granted, she was passed out after being drunk, but she was here…with me…all night. The feeling was surreal. I knew the second I laid eyes on her yesterday, I wasn’t about to ever let her go again. The hundreds of other girls that have thrown themselves at me over the last few months don’t hold a candle to my Reese. I get a lot more attention now that I’m a well-known name in baseball, but I never caved. I was too busy anyhow, but I couldn’t possibly have been with another woman when all I could think about was Reese. I felt her, day in and day out, her skin, her hair, I even smelled her…I’ve been consumed with her.