Reed's Reckoning (13 page)

“You motherfucker! You don’t know shit. Ari may not have had much, but she wasn’t a gold digging whore. You knew how much I loved her. I was gutted for months over her. It wasn’t your place to keep this information from me. And as for Davis being mine, there’s no fucking doubt. She got pregnant the night of the Sugar Bowl win.”

Jack’s face falls and he stares at me with guilt in his eyes. “She named him Davis?”

“Yeah, you sack of shit. She did. He’s the spitting image of me.”

“Is this why you needed the PI?”

I nod my head.

“Reed, I had no idea he was telling the truth. Why did she breakup with you if she was carrying your baby?”

“She didn’t.”

He looks at me waiting on an explanation, but I’m not giving him one.

“What does that mean?”

“It means you are a sorry son of a bitch and I want you out of my house.”

He gets up and walks by me. Before he can pass, I grab his arm and let my fist fly to his face. He stumbles back holding his jaw but doesn’t lift a hand to hit me back.

He stares at me with eyes full of hurt and pain. A part of me feels guilty, but then I think about the little boy down the road.

“I’m sorry, Reed.”

I jerk my chin and watch him walk out the door. As soon as it closes, I reach for the bottle of Jack Daniels. Tonight it’s going to take the place of my best friend.

“Are you mad at me, Ari?” Luke asks softly.

“No. You did what you thought was right. As always, you were looking out for me.”

“I can’t believe what a dick Jack Stark is. How could he keep that from Reed?” Sophie asks.

“I don’t know? But I can tell you Reed is pissed. I’m not sure what he’s going to do but I have a feeling it’s not good.” Luke answers her.

I reach over the table to pour myself another glass of wine. When Reed canceled our date tonight, I was hurt. Even though he assured me he would explain, my mind immediately filled with bad thoughts. Luke showed up a few minutes later with two bottles of my favorite wine and I knew something was going on. Sophie was already here to help dress me, so she stayed and we listened to Luke’s story. Relief washed through me when he told me the note on Reed’s car was from him.

“Well, I’ll find out in the morning. He said we’d make plans again tomorrow. Maybe try to take Davis to the beach again.”

“Let’s talk about you and Reed. How are you feeling about everything?” Luke looks at me with concern on his face.

“Confused, scared, overwhelmed because his idea of taking things slow and mine are completely different. He told me his mom wants to call me to learn about Davis. She’s driving up in to meet him.”

“That’s a good thing. He’ll love it.”

“Is this too fast? He found out who his dad was last night. Now, I’ll be introducing a whole new family to him.”

“It’s not too fast. From the impression he gave me tonight, I don’t think Reed is going anywhere. Davis will adapt.”

“You’re right.”

“Another thing, Ari, I told him our story. I could tell he still has questions about our relationship. I wanted to set him straight when you told me he thought I was your rebound in college, but waited to see how serious he was about you. If he’s going to be in your life, I thought he should know.”

Shock hits me. Luke never talks about his past. He had a horrible home life and both his parents were drunks. We met in grade school and my parents knew right away that something wasn’t right. They tried several times to talk to his parents but nothing changed. They completely neglected him, unless they were beating him. By high school, his grades were low and he was fighting. It was then my parents moved him into our house and threatened to turn his mom and dad into child services. They filled out the appropriate paperwork to become Luke’s guardians. This was a wake-up call to Luke’s mom, who entered rehab the next week. His dad bailed. He sent divorce papers a year later. We thought this would send his mother back to the bottom of a bottle, but she surprised us.

Luke moved back home, but always had a room at my house. When my parents died, it hit him hard, but he was strong for me. We knew I had to move into Katy’s house, so Luke asked if he could come too. Katy gladly opened her home to him. He alternated staying with his mom and us. We met Sophie our freshman year and our trio was inseparable; it wasn’t even a question that we would all go to college together.

No one has ever understood the bond Luke and I share. But he really is like a brother to me. He credits my parents with helping him get on the right path and not throw away his life. He also believes it is their interference that helped his mother get sober. They never fully rebuilt a relationship, but he is thankful she didn’t drink herself to death.

“Enough of all this heavy shit. It’s been far too long since all of us had a Saturday night together. Let’s see if Katy will watch Davis for a while and go out.” Sophie breaks in.

“She’s out with friends.”

“How in the world did your grandma’s social life get more interesting than ours?”

I grin and shrug.

“How about I promise to keep your wine glasses filled all night and watch a chick flick?”

Sophie and I look at Luke like he’s lost his mind. Usually we have to threaten or beg him to let us pick out the movie.

“What? It’s been a while since I spent the night with two of my favorite girls?”

“I know what you’re doing Luke and you don’t need to feel guilty. I’m sure Sarah would be more fun than us.”

“Nah, I’m the reason your big date got canceled so the least I can do is suffer through.” He winks at me and gets up.

Grabbing our wine, Sophie and I follow him to the living room and pick out a comedy. I’m not going to make him suffer too badly.

“Shhh, baby, be quiet. We don’t want to wake anyone up.” I give Davis his cereal and juice and pour myself a generous cup of coffee. My phone rings on the counter and I lunge for it. Who is calling this early?

“Hello?” I whisper.

“Ari?”

“Reed? Is everything okay?”

“I can hardly hear you.”

I step to the back porch where I can still watch Davis eating. “Hey, sorry about that. Sophie and Luke are still asleep and I didn’t want to wake them. What are you doing up so early?”

“Sophie and Luke spent the night?” he sounds confused.

“Yeah, Luke came straight here after leaving your place. He brought over some wine and told us about your conversation. He was on a huge guilt trip. We ended up watching movies and they slept over.”

“You weren’t too hard on him were you?”

“No, I know why he did it. How’d you feel about it?”

“Needless to say, I’m pissed and hurt. I’ll tell you all about it when we see each other.”

“Reed, I really wanted to call and see how you were doing. I know how close you and Jack are and it must have been a huge betrayal. I was worried about you.”

“I would have loved to have heard your voice, but I knew you had your own things going on. We’ll talk about it later.”

“Okay.”

“Listen, Ari, I’m on my way to Orlando. My mom called a little while ago and my sister’s been in a bad accident. She’s really shaken up and I need to be there.”

“Oh my God! What happened?”

“It was a car accident after midnight last night. Someone else was driving. Cara was in the back and she was coherent enough to give the EMTs mom’s number.”

“I’m so sorry. Is there anything I can do from here?”

“Not that I can think of. I left a message for my physical therapist and my coach. I’ll know more by tonight.”

“Be careful.”

“I’m sorry I won’t be around to take you and Davis to the beach today.”

“Don’t worry about us.”

“I left you a key under the mat. Why don’t you ask your friends and y’all can go over and enjoy the place? If Davis needs a nap, use any room you want.”

“Don’t be silly, we can go to the public beach access.”

“Ari, one of the reasons I got the place, besides being close, was the convenience. Please enjoy it.”

I think about it for a minute and agree. “Alright, I promise we won’t make a mess.”

“I don’t give a fuck if you mess up anything. Help yourselves to whatever you want. Tell Luke there’s beer in the outside fridge.”

“Thank you.”

“I’m sorry I’ll miss it. Especially thinking about yesterday.”

Heat creeps up my cheeks and I can’t think of anything to say.

“Goddamn. I’m not even there and I can tell you’re blushing. Don’t, it was sexy as fuck, and remembering how you came apart in my arms makes me hard.”

My body hums with want and I squeeze my legs together. “Reed, stop.”

“Okay, baby, I’ll stop but know you are the reason I’m driving down I-4 with my hand on my dick.”

“Reed!”

He laughs in the phone and the sound fills my body. He used to love to talk dirty and make me wild with need. But he was always around to follow through.

“Angel, I needed that. Ever since I dropped you off yesterday afternoon, it’s been shit. First Jack, and now Cara. I promise to be back as soon as possible.”

“Okay. Call me when you can.”

“Count on it.” He hangs up without saying goodbye. This is another habit of his. He rarely says goodbye before he hangs up the phone. It used to drive me crazy, but after months of dating, I got used to it.

Luke and Sophie are getting coffee and starting breakfast when I walk in. I tell them about Reed’s offer and they think it’s a great idea. I call Katy and invite her since there is a covered porch and she agrees to come as well. When I mention to Luke that he should invite Sarah, he doesn’t comment but shakes his head.

Sophie and I exchange glances but we don’t say anything. After breakfast, we make plans to meet at Reed’s in an hour and everyone leaves. As I get Davis ready for the beach, a text comes through.

Reed— Don’t wear the red bikini today.

Me— Why?

Reed— Memories

Me— You’re a dork! Shouldn’t you be driving? Stop texting!

Reed— Voice text

Me— Huh?

Reed— I’ll teach you if you promise not to wear the red

Me— Okay, but you may not like my other options

Reed— Fucking killing me. Send pics, my mom may be worried but she’d love to see Davis.

Me— Got it. Good luck.

Reed— Talk soon, beautiful.

I smile to myself and warmth fills my body at his words. There’s no doubt that Reed Matthews has gotten to me…again.

I rush into the area where mom told me she would be. When I see her, my heartbeat increases. It’s evident she’s been crying.

“Reed.” She sighs against my chest when I hug her. Her arms wrap tightly around me and I feel her body shaking.

“Mom, tell me what’s going on.”

“Cara’s going to be fine, honey. The driver was a friend of a friend. Thank God, he was sober. She wasn’t, but her seatbelt saved her. They hydroplaned on a puddle and hit a pole then flipped a few times. She is banged up and has a broken wrist from hitting the door so hard.”

“Okay,” I say hesitantly. This is nothing to be bawling about, even with the scare. She must see the confusion on my face.