Chapter 24 Hazel
TWENTY-FOUR
Hazel
After dinner we retired to the living room to play a rowdy game of dominos. Well, rowdy if you were Regan and Mrs. Mitchell. They got way too into it, while Reid repeatedly apologized for their competitiveness.
Even though he acted like he didn’t care, Reid won every time, to the point where I started accusing him of cheating. Regan was more than happy to join in on that accusation.
We laughed so hard my stomach ached.
His dad insisted I try his barrel-aged, something something—whiskey he’d imported.
We all had tumblers with a thimble-full in them.
The sip warmed my entire soul. I hardly drank, mostly because I knew what vices had done to my mother.
But a sip of whiskey every once in a while was pleasant. Certainly on a night like tonight.
We were all lounging around the living room, chatting aimlessly, when Reid’s mother pulled away the curtain to assess the weather outside.
“Okay, there is no way you two are driving anywhere tonight. I don’t care how close Reid’s house is.”
“We’ll be fine,” Reid said, but as soon as he stood to look out the window, he brought his hand to his face, rubbing it along his jaw. “Shit. It’s a mess out there.”
The snow was basically blowing sideways by the bucketful. The roads weren’t even visible.
“It’s not worth it,” his dad said. “You can take your old room downstairs.”
“I have sweats you can borrow, Hazel,” Regan offered.
“That would be great.” I wasn’t at all eager to leave the comfort of this house. A little sleepover sounded nice.
Reid’s mom pushed herself off the couch. “I’ll go throw clean sheets on the bed. Regan, why don’t you take Hazel to your room?”
Regan waved for me to follow her to the front of the house, where narrow wooden steps led to the second floor. More family pictures lined the staircase, and I stopped when I spotted what must have been Reid’s senior portrait. He wore a buttoned-up white shirt and no trace of a smile.
“He looks so serious,” I said with a laugh.
“That’s Reid for you. He picked out that shirt himself. Mom asked him to go more casual, but he wouldn’t budge.”
I continued following her up the stairs. They let out at a short hallway with four identical doors.
Regan walked to the one on the end and opened it. It was small, with a twin bed and posters lining the wall. “Here’s the room. Don’t get jealous of the glamorous life I lead.”
“I lived with my gran until I was twenty-two,” I offered. “Honestly, I kind of wish I’d have lived with her longer, instead of shacking up with my ex.”
“Yeah, it’s not so bad. I moved out for college, so sometimes I miss my independence, but Mom and Dad are alright. Can’t beat the savings of living at home.”
“Exactly,” I said.
Regan rifled through her top drawer before producing gray sweatpants and a maroon t-shirt. “These work?” she asked.
“Perfect.”
“I’m sure my mom will supply a toothbrush and all that. She loves company, so you two being forced to spend the night is, like, her dream come true.”
“Reid doesn’t stay here much?”
“He does more now…now that he’s single.”
“Oh, got it.” I didn’t want to pry.
Thankfully, Regan didn’t seem to like to stay quiet, because I didn’t even have to push for her to share more on the subject.
“Meghan—his ex—was fine. She just wasn’t very…
warm. She didn’t like to do stuff with the family.
Her own parents lived across the country, and she only saw them for holidays.
I hate to say that I was relieved when he got the divorce, but…
it’s like I got my brother back. He’s here every week now and I can go over to his house whenever. ”
“She didn’t let you come over?” The idea shocked me.
Regan shrugged. “Not really.”
Family was important. I’d always been desperate for a big one, but the little one I did have, I cherished.
And even Paul, for all his faults, had never denied me that.
He was actually really great with Gran, albeit irresponsible.
He’d drive her to the casino, they’d hit the slot machines until past midnight, and be excited about winning twenty dollars—even though they wouldn’t tell me how much money they put in.
Honestly, the way he had been with her was one of the main reasons I’d stayed with him as long as I had.
The memory was welcome. It had become so easy to remember the bad that I’d forgotten there had been good parts to that relationship, too.
“That sucks. If I had a family like yours, I’d be over here all the time.”
She laughed. “You’re welcome to them.”
“I appreciate your willingness to take in strays,” I said with a self-deprecating laugh.
She eyed me. “You’re more than a stray. Reid really likes you.”
That caught me off guard. I wasn’t sure how to respond.
“I-I don’t know,” I said. Even though I kind of did.
Despite all of my insecurities, there was something undeniable there.
The chemistry practically crackled. And now that he’d kissed me, it felt like we were both ready to face whatever was going on between us.
“He likes having you around. Which is a surprise, because he hates houseguests. He even told us explicitly not to stop by unannounced while you’re staying with him, so you don’t feel uncomfortable.”
My face twisted into one of horror. “Oh no, please stop by.” The last thing I wanted to be was the reason Reid spent less time with his family. “Seriously, any time. I would have been happy to meet you, or get out of your way, or whatever. Don’t not come over on account of me.”
She laughed. “Don’t worry about it. He hates when we come over without warning, or at least he says he does. I’m not sure I buy it.”
“You’re family. You don’t need an invitation.”
A slow smile crept onto Regan’s face. “Exactly. You get it. I knew I’d like you.”
I stepped into the upstairs bathroom and changed into the sweats Regan had given me. Regan came out in her own flannel pajama bottoms, and we went back downstairs. Reid and his parents were all scattered around the living room.
“Hazel, would you think it’s the most boring thing in the world if we all watched a movie together?” Reid’s mom looked at me expectantly from where she sat on the sofa, curled up next to her husband, with a blanket across their laps.
“We can just go to bed,” Reid added from the oversized armchair.
I smiled, taking it all in. “I’d love to watch a movie.”
Regan pulled a pillow from the couch and dropped it on the floor, laying down and nestling into it. They’d turned on the electric fireplace, and flames danced around.
Reid shifted over on the chair and patted it. “There’s enough room here.”
It took everything in me to force the blush from spreading to my cheeks as I sat next to him. There was hardly room. Our entire thighs and hips pressed tightly against each other.
“Is this okay?” he whispered. “I can sit on the floor.”
“It’s fine.” ‘More than fine’ would have been the appropriate answer.
I leaned back into the chair so that our shoulders pressed together, too.
He lifted the arm that was between us and rested it along the back of the chair.
The movement made my head kind of naturally settle into the crook of his arm, and I didn’t fight it.
His mom put on an old John Hughes movie. When I said this was one of my gran’s and my favorites, Reid squeezed me tightly.
We made it about halfway through the movie, and to my delight, I learned that Reid’s family loved talking through movies almost as much as I did.
Well, his mom and Regan did. Reid and his dad kept trying to shush them.
But once I joined in, quoting lines and pointing out the outrageously good outfits I wished I could still buy today, they finally gave up and let the commentary roll.
This was what feeling at home was like.
It had been a minute.
“Your bedroom is in the basement?” I asked, eyebrows raised. Reid hovered behind me in the doorway. The rest of the family had already said their goodnights and headed upstairs.
“Once Regan and Ruby were too old to want to share a room, our parents finished the basement so I could move down here. As a teenager, I wasn’t about to complain. It was like having my own apartment.”
We made our way down the carpeted stairs, and at the bottom, I found a surprisingly cozy basement.
Not a hint of dampness in the air, just a comforting, lived-in sensation.
There was wall-to-wall beige carpet against blue walls and a worn leather sofa that sagged in one corner, facing an ancient TV that looked like it had been there forever.
“There used to be another bed down here. West stayed with us our senior year when his parents moved away.”
He led me to a door off the main room. Inside was a small bedroom, just big enough for a full-size mattress, two end tables, and not much else. There was a dog-eared book sitting on one of the end tables. I picked it up. IT Architecture for Dummies.
“You spend a lot of nights here?” I asked.
“Not really. Other than holidays, there’s no need to since we all live so close.”
“It seemed like your mom was really excited to have you under the same roof.”
He chuckled. “I guarantee my mom will make a ridiculous breakfast spread in the morning. Sorry in advance.”
“There’s nothing to be sorry for. I love your family.”
His smile spread before he dropped his chin and rubbed the back of his neck. “The bathroom is just through there. My mom has spare toothbrushes in the drawer. Oh, and here.” He handed me a small towel, rolled into a neat spiral.
Our fingers brushed as I took it. Sparks.
I ducked my head and rushed into the bathroom. I brushed my teeth with the new toothbrush before evaluating myself in the mirror. My bangs lay flat against my forehead. I tried to fluff them out, even though the basement was dark and Reid was already quite familiar with how I looked.
My heart pounded thinking of the one bed just beyond that door. One bed, and just one tiny full-sized mattress.