Chapter 19 Reid
NINETEEN
Reid
“You look great,” I said, as Hazel came out in what must have been at least her seventh outfit change of the evening.
“Is it too casual?” she asked, running her hands along her light-washed jeans. “It’s too casual. I’m going to change.”
I leapt up from the couch and raced after her to her room. I grabbed her hand, spinning her around to face me.
“Hey.” Her hand was clammy beneath mine. I gave it a squeeze. “You just changed out of that black dress because it was too dressy. I think you’re going in circles here.”
She nodded, but her eyes were a million miles away. My chest tightened at the panic I saw there.
When I’d encouraged her to go out with her friends tonight to get a read on Kiara, I hadn’t realized how much I was asking of her.
I’d thought this would be the easiest lead to check out so far.
But judging by how anxious she looked right now, I couldn’t have been more mistaken.
I wanted to ease her discomfort, but no matter what I said or how encouraging I tried to be, she still vibrated with nervous energy.
“I swear I always make the wrong call.” She pulled at the tight top that hugged her frame.
“Last time, I wore a dress, because the time before that, I’d worn jeans, and they dragged me to some fancy club.
But that time? We ended up at a stupid pop-up carnival, whatever the hell that’s supposed to be. I can never win.”
“Can’t you text them and ask?”
“Zoe isn’t answering.” She bit her lip, and I was about ten seconds away from telling her to call the whole thing off, throw on some sweats, and let me wrap her up in a blanket. Would she let me cuddle her? Was it weird that I was thinking that? Probably.
She pulled away from me to examine the contents of her closet. There were already so many discarded items on the bed that you could barely make out the color of the comforter.
“What about this.” I snatched a black top she’d been wearing earlier and a pair of darker jeans. “This is safe. Could be casual, but it also wouldn’t stand out if the others were more dressed up.”
She eyed it before taking the pieces. “It’s perfect. How did you do that?”
“Two sisters,” I said with a smirk.
She tore off into the bathroom. I leaned against the wall, twiddling my thumbs and waiting while she changed.
When she stepped out, I had to fight the urge to tell her exactly how beautiful she looked.
The jeans hugged her curves like they were made for her, and that small sliver of exposed stomach was seriously testing my self-control.
Her hair was wild and curled, and the smoky makeup around her eyes was different than the natural look she typically wore.
I shifted, trying to ignore the sudden tightness in my jeans.
I cleared my throat. “You look good.”
“You think?” She stood in front of the mirror, tugging at her top.
“Definitely.” My voice sounded gruff. I cleared my throat.
She gave a final nod of resolution. “Okay, okay. I should just get in a cab before I change my mind again.”
“And you’re headed downtown, right?” I asked, following her out of her room. She’d told me the plan earlier that day, and I wanted to confirm. I felt better knowing where she’d be.
“Yep. We’re doing dinner and then Zoe wants to check out that new cocktail bar. We’ll probably just stay there all night.”
“Tell me if you end up moving, okay?”
“Alright,” she said pulling on boots and checking her phone again. I hoped she really would remember to text me. She seemed all over the place right now.
“Hey, wait,” I said.
She turned, her expression frazzled.
I pulled her in for a hug, rubbing what I hoped was a soothing circle against her back. She was stiff for a second before melting into me. “Try to have fun, okay? Don’t stress. Call me if you need anything.”
She pulled away from me, and I forced myself to let her go.
“Thanks, Reid.” She gazed up at me with the first genuine smile I’d seen out of her all evening.
It hit me then, watching her go. I kind of knew it, but I hadn’t accepted it until now—just how completely gone I was for her.
My phone vibrated in my lap. I pulled it out and set it onto the table, but it wasn’t Hazel, just my sleuthing group chat. I muted it.
It had been approximately three hours since I’d ushered Hazel into a rideshare and told her to have a good night. I hadn’t stopped thinking about her from the moment the car left my line of sight. I’d never seen her so nervous. Had high school been tough for her? Were these girls bullies?
I kicked myself for not asking her more about the group dynamic, but it hadn’t even occurred to me.
I’d had a solid group of friends in high school.
West was the only one I still talked to regularly, but every now and then, we’d all meet up and shoot the shit.
It was easy. Chill. I’d taken that for granted, and just assumed Hazel had something similar.
But I couldn’t shake the look she’d given me, like she was a guppy being set loose in a bowl full of piranhas. Like she was scared and trying to put on a brave face just for me.
I hated it.
“A phone? Seriously, Reid? Pay attention. We’re never going to get through the game at this rate.” Regan tried to take my phone, but I snatched it away.
My mom gave a disapproving tsk. “A phone while we’re trying to learn a new game? You know better.”
“Sorry.” I stuffed it back into my pocket, but not before ensuring the ringer was turned to loud just in case Hazel tried to call me.
“It’s your turn,” my dad said.
I rolled the dice and moved my piece forward before passing the dice to West.
Game nights weren’t a regular occurrence in our family.
Occasionally we’d squeeze one in after family night dinners, but a whole night dedicated just to playing?
I couldn’t handle that on a recurrent basis.
Mom, Regan, and West were highly competitive, even going so far as to talk smack.
We’d had to outlaw rummy in this house following an especially heated game that ended with Regan yelling at the table and storming off to her room.
My dad and Ruby couldn’t care less about games and usually had to be talked through the rules every turn, somehow forgetting them.
Every. Single. Time. I didn’t mind games in theory, but the stark difference in the dynamic usually had me zoning out.
I could only sit through my mom and dad bickering about not knowing the correct strategy so many times. They sucked the fun out of it.
But tonight, Mom had begged us to come over to play a new game she’d bought, even bribed us with homemade cake. I couldn’t say no, but I felt bad for not being more into it. Usually, I at least made an attempt. But not tonight. Tonight, I was distracted.
West took his turn. My ringer went off again and I scrambled to check my phone, putting it away as soon as I saw it wasn’t Hazel.
“Well, that’s not distracting,” Ruby muttered,
“I’m waiting on a text from someone,” I said.
“A girl?” West demanded, eyes wide.
“A girl!” My mom gasped. I rolled my eyes. The dramatics in this family.
“It’s not a girl. We’d know about it,” Ruby said with confidence.
As if I told my every secret to them. In reality, they were just nosy.
Mention the tiniest thing to any one of them and all of a sudden, it was headline news.
West had been my confidante until he started to be a little too loose with his lips.
Especially where Ruby was concerned. The two talked more than they led on.
Everyone knew the only vault in this family was me.
“I’m waiting to hear from Hazel,” I said.
“Oh.” Ruby gave a sigh of disappointment. Like me harboring a secret girlfriend might be the most interesting possible turn of events.
“You’re still in the thick of that?” Mom asked.
“She’s been living with him,” Regan said.
“What?” Mom’s eyes went wide as saucers, and I shot my sister an accusatory glare.
“It’s nothing. The creep who took her cat is still out there, threatening her. She’s just crashing in my guest bedroom until we can figure this out.”
“Sure, she’s staying in the guest bedroom.” West waggled his eyebrows. I elbowed him in the ribs.
“How is this the first I’m hearing about this?” Mom demanded.
My dad rolled the dice, taking his turn—incorrectly—without looking up. “Let Reid be. You all are like vultures.”
“Yes, vultures is a great analogy. Circling, desperate to peck off the tiniest bit of gossip from my rotting carcass,” I said with a drawn-out sigh. “Hazel is just a friend and I’m helping her out. Absolutely nothing is going on between us.”
My mom frowned, refusing to take her eyes off me.
What I conveniently left out was just how badly I wanted there to be something between Hazel and me.
But there was zero fucking chance I was sharing that with my family.
If I told them how I felt before I told her, they’d somehow find a way to spill it to her first—even though more than half the people at this table hadn’t even met her yet.
Besides, could I really see myself with someone like Hazel?
All over the place, unfiltered, a bit frenzied?
Yes. Yes, I could. It freaked me out just how much I could picture it.
“She isn’t cute?” My mom raised an eyebrow while shoving the bowl of chips in my direction. I took it from her and shook my head.
“She’s fine, but she’s not for me. Believe it or not, I’m more than capable of having a woman as a friend.”
The words sat sticky on my tongue. My mind immediately drifted to the other night in her bedroom, while we were hanging those awful paintings she’d picked out.
I was ninety-percent sure I’d felt some sort of spark between us.
The tension had been thick after that. I’d become aware of exactly how far her face was from mine.
How all it would take would be the smallest dip of my head and I could find out what she tasted like.