Our Kind of Love (17 page)

His eyes glide away from me when Micah adds,
“Who can blame her when she has a boyfriend like you.”

Nate brushes off my hand and marches over to
Micah. I hurry behind him. He pushes up into his face and grunts his next
words.

“I’ve been noticing the way you hang around
Reign, trying to weasel your piece of shit self into her life. Well, listen
good, stay the fuck away from my girlfriend, or I’ll make your life a living
hell.”

Laughing it off with his usual carefree self,
Micah glances at me then looks back at Nate, saying confidently, “Open your
eyes dude, she doesn’t want me to stay away from her.”

I hurry to squeeze in between the guys as Nate
grabs for Micah’s shirt. I press my hand against his chest and ease him back,
looking from one to the other. “Both of you stop it.” Then I focus on Micah,
telling him calmly, “Please go.”

He gazes at me confused, like he was expecting
me to say that to Nate instead. I can’t. Nate’s my boyfriend. Not Micah. I have
to remember that. I need to.

I turn away to avoid the disappointed look in
his eyes. The next thing I hear is his bike taking off, and Nate scoffing,
“What a loser. He can’t even afford a damn car.”

“Why does that make him a loser?” I counter,
defending Micah.

Nate looks at me hard, jealously still present
in his eyes. “Why were you driving him home, anyways? Is that why you couldn’t hang
out with me after work because you were busy playing chauffer to that…loser?”

“That’s enough!” I yell. “I wasn’t hanging out
with you because you’re always hounding me for sex.”

“Oh stop being so dramatic,” he fires back. “If
I wanted sex that bad I could get any other girl to give it up to me—”

“Wow! The truth comes out.” I tread past him
towards my car, hoping this time he’ll let me leave.

Only he starts to follow me again. “Reign,
wait.”

Sliding onto the seat, I slam the car door shut;
turn the key in the ignition, then put on my seatbelt.

Nate bends down at the window, tapping on it. I
keep it up more than halfway so he can’t stick his hand inside to try and turn
the car off.

“C’mon, don’t be like this,” he snaps.

“Is it true?” I finally ask.

He throws his hands up. “Is what true?”

“That you cheated on me?”

His face drops, and he backs away from the car,
twitching his mouth. Nate goes completely quiet, and that alone answers my
question.

Silence is admission.

Before pulling out of the parking lot, I ask
him, “Do I know her?”

He keeps his eyes on the ground, unable to meet
my gaze. “It was a mistake,” he tells me. “I was drunk…she was there…” He looks
up again as he says, “I’m sorry, Reign.”

I drive off, leaving Nate standing in the
parking lot of
Captain’s Choice
, with his hands on his head, fuming in
spot.

He doesn’t jump into his Porsche and follow me
home, and he’s not the one texting me an hour later, as I lie in bed and think
about our relationship from the day it started till now, wondering why I ever
decided to go out with him. He’s also not the one outside my bedroom window
now, hoping I’ll come down.

Micah is. He showed up ten minutes after
I
texted him my address.

TWENTY
-
ONE

Micah

“THIS IS NICE,” Reign says in a breathy tone, as
we sit on a grassy hilltop looking down at Newport harbor. I really wasn’t
expecting her to come out with me tonight, since she was upset with me earlier
for saying all that stuff to Nate.

But when I glimpsed the look in her eyes as she
snuck out her front door and hurried over to me, I knew I was in the clear. I
even got her to hop up on my bike so I could ride her out to this spot.

“I didn’t even know about this,” she tells me,
smiling as she meets my gaze.

“That’s an ego boost for me,” I grin. “It’s cool
knowing something about Newport that you don’t.”

We resume staring at the ocean, and then at the
same time glance up at the stars. Not too many to look at tonight though.

“I’m sorry,” I tell her. “I shouldn’t have said
anything. I shouldn’t have gotten involved.”

When she drops her head and looks at me, I add,
“I’m sorry I caused trouble for your relationship.”

“You’ve been doing that ever since you came
here,” she says.

“I know, and I’m—”

“Sorry?” she smiles. “You’ve said that so many
times.”

“It’s just…”

“Just what?” she prods, angling her head to one
side. Her gorgeous hazel eyes are darkened by the night, but the shade is embedded
in my head so much that I can even envision the sparkle in them.

It’s now or never. I have to come out and tell
her the truth.

“I lied, back at
Pure
. I wasn’t messing
with you, Reign. I really wanted to kiss you. I’ve wanted to kiss you since the
day I saw you in the park.”

I pause a moment to let her soak it in. She
keeps her eyes steady on me, never looking away. Because of that I’m motivated
to continue my confession. “I like you, Reign, a lot. And I know it’s morally
wrong to interfere with your relationship and I’ve tried to put you out of my
head, but I can’t. I’m too damn attracted to you and I can tell you’re not
happy with this guy.”

She’s still quiet, looking at me with an
unreadable expression. I wish she’d say something, anything.

Slap me.
Let me know you’ve heard
everything I’ve said.

“Choose me,” I let slip out. “Let me be the one
to make you happy.” I probably seem so damn desperate right now. I don’t care.
She needs to know how I feel about her.

Finally, Reign catches her breath and mutters in
a soft tone, “I shouldn’t be here with you. I shouldn’t be around you. I don’t
know why I let it get this far…I don’t think we should even be friends.”

Seriously?

My stomach sinks. That’s all she can say after I
spilled my guts? I’m practically lifeless here. My heart’s in my hands. I’m
willing to give it all to her. I’ve never done that before.

“Um…so, you don’t feel the same way, at all?” I
ask, feeling like a complete idiot.

Reign eases up on her feet and brushes off her
jeans and top. She shakes her head, then tells me in a shaky tone, “I don’t
know what I’m feeling right now.”

I stand up as well. Before I can utter another
word, she steps past me towards my bike, indicating she wants to go home now. I
suppress the hurt so I can ride her back with a clear mind.

When we approach her beach house, I slow down a
little from the fence in case her parents are awake and see her coming back
with me at this hour. Reign hops off the bike and lingers in spot.

She chips at her fingernails as she asks me,
“Are you gonna be okay?”

“Yeah,” I answer dryly, looking ahead. “Go on
inside, before your parents find you missing and freak out.”

When our eyes meet, excitement consumes me. My
heart hammers. Fire ignites in my stomach. I can see all she’s trying to hide.
Her emotions are beyond clear.

“I’ll see you tomorrow then,” she says coolly.

Reign turns and starts toward her gate. I spring
from my bike, hurry up to her, and grip her arm. Turning her to face me, I wrap
my arms around her curvy frame, bringing her in close—closer than we’ve ever
been. She doesn’t pry out of my grasp, confirming my suspicion.

“You do feel the same way.”

She gasps as I press my mouth to her soft wet
lips and
kiss
her hard, making up for all the missed
opportunities. Reign tips her head back and clutches my lower back, squeezing
me. Then she parts her lips to deepen the kiss. I tighten my hold on her,
caressing her body and running my fingers through her long hair. She smells
exotic; a mixture of fresh berries and vanilla. But she tastes even better, as
our tongues lock and I drown myself in the candy flavor of her mouth.

An intense moan rushes from her lips as I move
away from them and start to kiss her on the neck. Reign trails her hands all over
my body, aggressively stroking me.

She’s so warm. She feels so damn good! I can’t
control the bulge in my jeans with her pressed into me like this. I’ve never
wanted any girl as bad as I want Reign right now. The tension had been building
up since we met. Now I feel as if I’m about to explode.

“Come home with me,” I hear myself beg,
“Please.”

She groans before breaking out of my grasp. I
steady my breathing and reach a hand out to her. With no hesitation, Reign
takes it and guides me in the direction of her car. We’re almost there when her
phone vibrates.

I want to take it from her and smash it to
pieces when she pulls it out of her pocket and glances at the screen, saying
almost breathlessly, “It’s my mom. She’s wondering where I am.”

Just like that, our night together is over.

“Um…I have to go inside,” she murmurs, nodding
back at the front door.

I accept, because I know I really have to get
out of here before her mom catches us together. “Wanna meet up in the morning?”

She looks frightened by my question so I
clarify, even though I don’t understand why. “I mean to go running before
work.”

Peering at the ground, she answers without
meeting my gaze, “Um…Maybe not. I need to think all this through.”

I ease forward to give her a kiss on the cheek
goodnight, but she turns away before I can. She reaches her front door,
slipping inside without looking behind.

“Good night,” I whisper to myself. Letting out a
long breath, I walk back to my bike and look up at the house, hoping Reign
isn’t regretting our moment of passion. It would rip me apart if she wants to
pretend like it never happened and resume her relationship with Nate, because
that was the best kiss I’ve ever experienced in my life. Ever!

TWENTY
-
TWO

Reign

I RELEASE the breath I’d been holding the second
I enter my house. Frick! That kiss was fire! I’ve never felt the way I do now
after kissing Nate. It feels so much different, so much better.

“Where’d you go?” Mom asks, peeking out of her
bedroom the moment I reach upstairs.

“Next door,” I lie. “Claudia’s not herself. Boy
stuff.”

She bobs her head slowly. “Oh, well, I’m sure
she’ll be back to her charismatic self in no time. Just try not to stay out
this late after work, Reign.”

I smile at her as she goes back into her room. I
walk to mine, plopping down on my bed right after closing the door. My whole
body is boiling over in heat. If Mom hadn’t texted me, I certainly would’ve
gone over to Micah’s house and let him have me.

Funny how I’ve been apprehensive about sex all
this time, then suddenly Micah comes along and I want to toss my virginity at
him.