Reclaimed Hearts: A second chance, forced proximity romance

Treasures Untold

After we backtracked to the cafe for Reid’s car, leaving my bike to come back for later, we stopped by the store and grabbed some food and drinks. Even though it was going to be a low-key party, we still needed some things. Neither of us had been good about stocking the fridge or pantry over the last few weeks, mainly living on takeout or food I brought back from work.

Reid went to take the dogs on a beach walk while I sat at the edge of the pool blowing up inflatable rafts and inner tubes. As I did, a thought came over me. While this technically was a Baysider party, it was nothing like the one I went to earlier this month with Declan.

There would be no buffet. No DJ. Not a million people milling around.

It would be just us. My best friends.

It already was way better.

I had just finished blowing up the last tube when Reid and the dogs returned. He took them off their leashes once they passed through the fence, letting them run around the grass to get the sand off their paws.

When he reached me, he wound an arm around my waist and pulled me into his shirtless chest. I still hadn’t gotten used to the new view, but I didn’t hate it.

I looked up, and the second I did, Reid dipped down to kiss me, planting a soft, brushing kiss over my lips.

I rolled my eyes. “We’re never going to finish setting up if you keep doing that.”

He gave me another peck. “I don’t care.”

“Well, I do,” I chastised, while taking a small step back, not meaning it even in the slightest. Our friends wouldn’t care if we didn’t set anything up.

I swatted at his chest, my hand instantly stopped by his hard pecs. I stepped back and scanned him from top to bottom, not ashamed of doing so.

“Someone likes what she sees,” Reid said. He wound a leash around my back and pulled me into him again, where he traded the leash for his arms, picking me up and twirling me around.

We danced dangerously close to the edge of the pool.

“Don’t you dare,” I threatened, knowing exactly what he was thinking.

“Oh, I dare. I so dare,” he answered with a wicked grin.

I gripped his arms as tight as I could. If I was going in, he would go with me.

Thankfully, we didn’t get a chance. A second later, the door banged open, a blur raced past, and within half a second, a giant splash came out of the pool, soaking the two of us.

“Liam! You’re such an idiot!” Livvy’s voice rang out from my left.

Liam surfaced as Reid put me down. I scurried a few feet away, leaving Reid to take the brunt of Liam shaking his shaggy blond hair like a dog, drenching Reid again.

“Oh, it’s on!” Reid exclaimed. He pushed his dark ringlets away from his forehead and took a flying leap into the pool, tucking his legs under his arms mid-air and landing in a perfect cannonball.

Unfortunately, I hadn’t backed away enough to miss that splash. I attempted to gather my curls in a bun, but they were already knotty and unruly. I gave up and looked over my shoulder at the girls.

Norah, Emma, Livvy, and I all seemed to be on the same page. I didn’t even have to count before they dropped their stuff and all four of us rushed toward the pool together, jumping in around the guys, and creating the biggest splash yet.

I kicked off the bottom of the pool and surfaced face first to let my hair fall behind me and not in my face. As soon as I did, Reid was there.

He grabbed my jawline and ducked his head, kissing me hard. Instinctively, and so I didn’t drown, my legs wrapped around his waist as he moved one hand to my back, holding me up. All while not letting go and not stopping kissing me.

His lips traveled, placing soft kissing across my cheek and down my jaw, eliciting a round of oohs coming from our friends around us.

I blushed hard, biting my lip and wrinkling my nose.

“Hey! Guys, what the heck? You’re already in without me?”

Collectively, we all turned toward the house, finding Caleb weighed down with a cooler in his hands, a bag of stuff hanging over one arm, a few towels over his shoulders, and a floatie around his neck. The exaggerated frown on his face only made us laugh harder.

Reid cupped his hands over his mouth like a megaphone. “Show us what you got!”

It took a minute for Caleb to untangle himself from all his stuff, but once he did, he took a few giant steps and launched himself into the deep end, twisting in some sort of sideways somersault motion mid-air.

It wasn’t quite the cannonball splash, but we all clapped appropriately when he came up.

We played a few games of chicken, floated and chatted, then the boys decided they wanted a dive contest off the diving board. The girls were the judges, so we sat on the edge, in the shallow end to avoid more splashes, and held up fingers with our scores.

After about eight rounds of that, the boys were wiped and everyone was starving. The sun had already set, leaving the floodlights in the backyard to brighten up the pool area.

I walked behind the main table on the patio and started putting the food out for everyone. Reid came to join me, grabbing the drinks and making sure there was still ice in the cooler Caleb brought.

“Hey, do you—” but the ringing of his phone on the table behind us interrupted him. He reached over and glanced at the screen, his brows furrowed. “I’ll be right back.”

I frowned, but let him go, attending to the other guys whose stomachs needed to be filled instead.

Once the boys had their food, the girls wandered over and we filled our plates, taking them back to the lounge chairs. Reid still hadn’t returned.

“So…” Emma started, popping a chip into her mouth and biting down with a loud crunch. She stared at me as if she expected me to understand where her mind was.

I didn’t.

She rolled her eyes and sighed. “What’s up with you and lover boy? Are you two official now? I mean, the way you were sucking face earlier says if you aren’t, then we’re about to throw hands.” She gestured to Livvy and Norah, who nodded in agreement.

“Yeah, I mean, you two sure look just as adorable as you did last year. But if he’s playing with you, obviously we take sides,” Norah added, her lips snarling in jest at the end.

I laughed. “It’s fine. He’s not playing me. I mean, I don’t think he is.”

“That’s not his style,” Livvy agreed. “Besides, anyone who knows him knows he’s head over heels in love with you. Always has been. That boy gave you his whole heart a long time ago and won’t ever ask for it back.”

Emma pushed Livvy’s arm. “When did you become such a hopeless romantic?”

Livvy sneered at Emma, and gestured toward me. “Um, hello. Have you seen these two? They’re like the perfect second chance love story. Their relationship last year was absolute couple goals, and the tragic breakup was just one to move their plot forward. They had to mature. They had to grow. They had to—”

“Okay, okay, I’m right here, you know,” I interrupted, waving a hand in her face. “But sure. We matured. We grew. Yadda yadda yadda. Our story continues, it seems. Whatever you want to say.”

“As long as you’re happy, Marlowe,” Norah chimed in. “That’s what matters.”

“But if he breaks your heart again, my fist meets his face this time. Mean it. Love you. Mean that too,” Caleb yelled from the table a few feet away. Liam held up his sandwich, as if agreeing with Caleb, but his mouth was too full to verbally agree.

I sighed, shaking my head in disbelief. My friends were great, but I didn’t need them to go punching people in my defense.

“Marlowe?” Livvy asked a minute later, after we all had fallen silent while eating. “Are you scared about what’s going to happen at the end of the summer?”

I frowned. I had pushed that thought to the back of my mind, not wanting to even consider it. It did scare me a little. Last summer the possibility of breaking up because of distance hadn’t been on my mind at all. Which was what made the break up even harder—for me, it came out of nowhere. I didn’t see it coming.

After a minute of pondering, I answered with the most confidence I could summon. “No. We’ll figure it out.”

As I said the words, I tried to commit them to memory. We would figure it out. I wouldn’t be blindsided this time. The two of us would talk about it when we got closer to the end of the summer.

Until then, we would enjoy moments like this. Time with our friends. Being together on the island in the summertime. All the things we used to do, but this time, being more cautious about the future.

It didn’t mean I wasn’t slightly terrified, though.

The sound of the door opening across the patio took my attention away from my friends and food. I glanced over, finding Reid in the doorway.

An uneasy expression had settled on his face, two little worry lines appearing between his eyes.

But as soon as he caught my eye, he plastered a smile on and waved. He jerked his thumb over to the table of food, silently telling me he was going to fill up before coming over.

I couldn’t stop thinking about that troubled expression, though.

Who had he been on the phone with?