The Perfect Emotion (23 page)

“It’s me… how are you?”  I ask, knowing that I won’t be able to deter the conversation. 

“Kate, tell me what happened… Kyle?”  He asks firmly.  I fidget in my seat wishing I could see his eyes right now.  Breathing low and shallow I rake my hand through my ponytail at the base of my neck. 

“Yes.”  I don’t further the explanation because it’s really not necessary.  I know that just knowing this has something to do with Kyle is enough for Reed to be upset.  As much as I’d love it to be anything else I can’t change it. 

“Fuck,” he mutters, and I can almost imagine the darkness shading the blue in his eyes.  I squeeze my eyes shut and flinch knowing that this causes him pain too.  “I’m sorry.  I’m so sorry I wasn’t there for you.  Did he hurt you?”  I think about his question and realize he did hurt me.  Not physically, no, but mentally.  Reed doesn’t need to know how deep Kyle can cut me though. 

“I’m fine. I just was shaken up and scared. I shouldn’t have called you like that-,” I try to continue, but Reed interjects with a sharp bite in his voice.

“Yes, you should have. For Christ sakes, you’re my girlfriend.” The brashness in his tone catches me off guard, but when I hear him say that I’m his girlfriend it fades. I guess I hadn’t realized how badly I wanted to know if that is how he thought of me now.

“I’m your girlfriend?”  I ask with as much certainty and poise as possible. 

“Yes, I mean, if that is what you want. God, Kate, I want you to be mine more than anything,” he confesses and I find myself exhaling in relief.

“I do too. I want that more than anything, but I f-feel horrible about how Kyle is still an issue. It’s not fair to you.”

“Trust me this is more than fair for me.  And the only reason Kyle is an issues is because he won’t leave my girlfriend alone.”  I can’t stop the smile that traces my lips.  “Please, just please, promise me you won’t run from me again.”  Knowing that he still hurts from when I left him last semester stings still.  I swallow down the bitter taste of guilt and decide to tell him where my intentions lie.

“I don’t want to run, especially from you. My past makes things difficult for us and I hate that, but please know that I am trying… I want you.”

“I want you too, baby.  God, I know I’ll never want anyone else like I want you.”  The sound of my gasp echoes around me in the silent car.  “Now tell me what happened with Kyle or else I’m going to have drive down there right now and that will not make my father happy,” his low chuckle resonates through the phone, but it’s short lived as I tell him how Kyle followed me out to my car.  I tell Reed everything that happened except for my feelings about the affect Kyle had on me.  He listens and grunts in between, but doesn’t interrupt me.  When I’m done telling him everything that common feeling of relief fills my chest.  It’s still difficult to open up completely, but once I’m done I feel like one brick is removed from my chest.  The weight becomes lighter.  No tears come and I don’t hear the voice in the back of my mind that may feel pity for Kyle.  Reed comforts me at first telling me that he is sorry and that he is proud of me.  He tries to restrain himself from expressing his anger about Kyle, but it doesn’t last long and says that he is going to pay Kyle a visit.  He’s on a rant and I can’t tell if he’s seriously going to confront Kyle again.  I remember him talking to Officer Larkin when I was in the hospital that he couldn’t press charges because of his dad.  I’m sure it has something to do with Reed’s schooling and career.  His dad’s practice is well known and I’m positive has a strong reputation to keep up. 

“I wish you were here,” I say, interrupting his rant knowing that I can distract him from thoughts about beating the shit out of Kyle.

“Me too, Kate, more than anything.  Actually, I want to come down tomorrow night if that’s okay.  Could you ask your dad if I could take a rain check on dinner with your family?  I need to take you out on a date… and I have plans for us.”

“Really!” I squeal out more of an excitement than a question.  “Yes, I’ll talk to him tonight.  What do you have planned?”

“It’s a surprise. What are you doing to me, Kate? I can’t stand the thought of waiting until tomorrow to see you.” I laugh and tell him I feel the same way. We say goodbye and I drive home a little faster to tell my mom about Reed coming down tomorrow. He’ll come down tomorrow and then the next day I’ll be back up at school.

Glancing at my phone I see Reed’s text that he just finished up stuff with his dad and should be here in a couple hours. That gives me plenty of time to jump in the shower and fix myself. Mom took me shopping to get something new to wear today. We spent the afternoon talking, shopping and I found myself enjoying my time with her again. The dress is a classic black dress and my mom even talked me into a cute pair of heels to go with it. I never wear heels, but these are comfortable and cute. It made it hard to resist getting them. The nude heels lengthen my legs even more and are a nice contrast to the black dress.

The hot water of the shower runs over my skin causing it to flush from the heat.  I take my time washing my body, shaving and letting the conditioner settle in my hair for more than a couple minutes.  Anticipation for the evening makes me jittery.  As I think about Reed’s arms wrapping me up and the smell of his masculine scent a flutter fills my belly.  When I think about his lips on mine and his tongue tasting me I become light headed.  I wonder if I will always feel this way about him and hope that I do.  It’s hard to remember if I had these feelings with Kyle.  Then again there were always a lot of nerves in general when it came to Kyle. 

After my longer than usual shower I take my time to fix my hair using some of the techniques that Quinn taught me.  I highlight my eyes in a shimmer shadow that make them pop a little more, especially after I coat my lashes in mascara.  I spritz some of my perfume on and stand to look at myself in the full-length mirror.  Slipping on my heels I’m grateful they are only two and half inches instead of one of the many others that were three plus inches. 

When I open my bedroom door to head down my dad is coming out of his bedroom and stops in his tracks to take me in. He smiles brightly and walks towards me.

“Wow, Katherine, you look beautiful sweetheart.  So grown up.”

“Thanks, dad,” I say as I hug him. “I hope Reed thinks so.”

“Oh, I’m positive Reed will think you look beautiful.” We continue down the hallway to the stairs and start our decent. “I wish we could be here when he came to pick you up, but make sure to have him come in when he brings you back. We’ll wait up.”

“It’s okay. I hope Daniel has a good game though.”

When we get into the family room and kitchen my mom stops to look up from the sink and when our eyes meet we both smile.  She dries her hands off on a towel and comes over to me giving my dad a glance.

“I know, Karen. I probably shouldn’t let her out of the house… until she’s thirty,” my dad says to my mom.

“Oh Kate, you are stunning. What a beautiful daughter we have and not just on the outside. Sweetie, Reed is going to be speechless when he sees you.”

“Thank you, mom.  Thank you for getting me the dress and shoes.  I love them.”  She kisses me and then hugs me carefully to not mess my dress.  When Daniel turns around and sees me he laughs and then tells me I look nice after my dad shakes his shoulder.  They head out and I sit at a stool along the breakfast bar going through my purse.

Reed should be here any minute now.  The excitement I feel makes me a little giddy.  He is not even here yet and I already feel like the luckiest girl.  I head over to the hall bathroom to check myself one more time and apply my lip-gloss.  Running my fingers through the ends of my long hair I take in my reflection.  It’s now past the time that Reed said he’d be here and I start to pace around the kitchen.  I end up in the family room and turn on the TV to distract myself from staring at the clock.  This only works for a short time.  After about twenty minutes, I text Reed because I’m starting to get worried.  I don’t get a response and I hesitate to call him afraid that I’m just overreacting.  Finally, after about thirty minutes from when he was suppose to be here the doorbell rings.  I jump from my seat and practically trip over my heel adorned feet.

When I open the door the smile I have plastered to my face quickly fades. Shock fills me and I gasp with a wince at the same time. Reed is dressed in a suit that fits him perfectly. He looks above averagely handsome… except that there is blood dripping from his mouth. His eyes hover downward avoiding mine and I practically fall to my knees when I see his face more closely. His bottom lip is split open and blood covers his hand that wipes at it. I grasp the doorframe to keep myself upright. Before I can get any words out Reed grabs onto my elbow and moves me closer to him.

“Hey, I’m okay… it looks worse than it is, I promise,” he whispers.

“Oh my God, Reed!  Are you okay?  Where were you?  I’ve been so worried,” I say through my quivering lip trying to keep my tears at bay.  I bring my hands up to cup his face and examine his face more closely.

“I’ll be fine, but you should see the other guy,” his lips turn up in a slight smile, but he winces with pain making them straight lined again.

“What do you mean?”  His eyes hit mine and I instantly know.  “No, please tell me … no, no, no…”  I trail off holding his face tighter than I want to.  He scrunches his face from my pressure and I release my hold. 

“Are your parents home?  I don’t want them to see this.”

“No.  Come in and let me fix your lip up.  You might need stitches though.”  I grab onto his hand pulling him inside and then shutting the door.  His fingers trace mine and latch onto my pinky, which calms my racing pulse. I stop at the half bath in the hallway and turn around and throw my arms around his midsection hugging him as tight as I can. “I was so worried about y-you,” I mutter. He hugs me back with his one clean hand and then pulls me back to look into my eyes.

“I’m sorry, beautiful.  I’m fine I promise.  God, you look gorgeous in this dress.  You look perfect.”  His hand lets go of me and slides down until it touches the bare skin of my leg and then starts to travel back up lifting my dress up along the way.  “And these legs go on forever.”  He stops before my dress lifts inappropriately high.  Not exactly the right time to be thinking this, but I am glad that I got these heels.  I tell him to go into the bathroom and wash his hands.  I head upstairs to grab stuff to clean his lip up and examine it better.  Shock and fear grip me, but I force myself to not shut down. 

We make our way into the kitchen and I sit him on stool.  Lucky for the heels I can examine his face at perfect level.  I notice that he is swelling slightly around his left eye.  Running my fingers over the bump his head pulls back.  With my hands on his thighs I push up on the balls of my feet and kiss him lightly on the swollen bump.  Carefully, he circles me with his arms causing me to lean in firmly to him.  The side of his face that is not beaten is pressed against my chest.  I let him hug me and I do the same.  We have to talk, but right now I just need to feel him in my arms.  I’m scared to ask the questions and hear the answers.  Deep down I know what has happened and it frightens me, but I don’t want to run from it or avoid it. 

“You’re mine?”  Reed says questioningly.  His breathing is roughly coming out against my chest and I can feel him shaking ever so slightly. 

“Yes… yes, no one else’s,” I assure him. We stay embraced in each other’s arms for countless minutes shifting our arms over and around each other. I trail kisses across his face while his hands caress me over and under my little black dress. Tears of sadness, fear, and the unknown stream out of the corners of my eyes, but mostly they are tears of … emotional bliss.

C
HAPTER 18

I don’t want to take my hands off her.  Ever, for that matter.  I know we need to talk and I have to tell her what happened, but the thought of seeing her upset will crush me.  This date I had planned is ruined.  I hadn’t completely thought through how wrong things could go before I came here.  I’m just praying that things don’t back fire on me and make things worse for Kate.  God, she’s breathtaking in this dress and the heels just about do me in.  This isn’t how things were supposed to happen for tonight.  I need to make it up to her.  She deserves so much more than this.  I cringe at the thought of her sitting here waiting her for me to take her on the date she deserves and then when I finally show up I’m a mess.