Chapter 27 Reid
TWENTY-SEVEN
Reid
Armchair_Detective: Did you hear back from the camera company?
ReidingRainbow: Not yet, but it’s looking promising.
WhiteKnight31: I can’t believe we missed this at the beginning.
Armchair_Detective: I blame the office manager. How could he have not shared this vital information?
ReidingRainbow: Either way we should find out by tomorrow.
WhiteKnight31: If they actually get back to you on time.
Armchair_Detective: Yeah, those big companies are terrible with shit like this.
ReidingRainbow: If they don’t get back, I’ll call.
Armchair_Detective: When does the money hit Hazel’s account?
ReidingRainbow: Next week.
WhiteKnight31: You think she’ll really give him the money if it comes down to it?
ReidingRainbow: If it comes down to it, I do.
A looming headache squeezed at my temples.
I lifted my glasses to pinch the bridge of my nose.
There was no doubt in my mind that Hazel would hand over her winnings if push came to shove.
It didn’t matter that we had no way of knowing whether the perpetrator would even give Vermont back.
He was Gran’s, and if I knew one thing about Hazel, it was that she was sentimental.
She couldn’t get rid of a single thing her grandmother owned; she wasn’t about to part with her beloved pet.
It got me very anxious thinking about her credit card debt and financial troubles. The number of times I’d thought about asking her to show me her bank account was embarrassing. It was none of my business. We’d just started seeing each other.
It wasn’t my job to save her…but I wanted to.
I wanted to help. To get her out of this hole.
I wanted her to take that money and make good decisions.
But I loved the part of her that wouldn’t keep it even more.
Not if it meant losing something she loved.
The part that thought with her heart and not her head.
I could only hope that it wouldn’t come to that. I had to keep telling myself that we would get answers. We’d solve this.
“Hello?” A voice called out from the end of the hallway. I pushed back my chair and stood, leaning out just far enough to see Hazel waiting there, all the way at the far end.
“Hello?” I said it back to her like a question.
“I was about to leave for work and wanted to say goodbye.”
A grin spread over my face. A goofy, ridiculous one I hadn’t been able to control much since Hazel had come around. “Why didn’t you come say bye?”
She twirled a piece of hair in her fingers. Damn, she was cute. “I didn’t know if I could just waltz into your wing of the house uninvited.”
Her use of the word “wing” made me laugh. “Hazel, you’ve spent every night this week in my bed. You don’t need an invitation.”
She held up her hands, a smile now on her lips too. “Hey, I don’t know what stringent rules you have. I’m trying not to step on your toes.”
I stood, taking a few long strides until I was in front of her. I wrapped my arm around her waist and bent down to kiss her.
“Please, step on my toes. I’d love nothing more.”
“Good, because stepping on toes is pretty much my main personality trait.”
We kissed again before I let her go, trailing behind her into the entryway where she started to pull on her boots. “I can’t wait to get this shift over with so I can spend the rest of the night refreshing that fake email address every five seconds to see if they sent the camera footage.”
“You’re still coming tonight, right?” I asked.
She paused, staring up at me. I couldn’t blame her for forgetting. She had a lot on her mind right now.
I ran a hand along my jaw. “Just that family thing Ruby brought up the other day. It’s a silly tradition. You don’t have to come if you don’t want—”
“Yes! Tonight? I totally forgot that it’s already Friday. I wouldn’t miss it.” She beamed up at me and my heart practically cartwheeled. “Sorry, was that too eager?”
I chuckled. “I like your eagerness.” I gave her one last lingering kiss on her forehead before she rushed out the door, running late as usual.
Lateness used to drive me insane. It still did with most people, but not so much with her.
Maybe it was because I knew that she wasn’t being disrespectful.
She had terrible time management skills, and doing daily tasks like having more than a bowl of cereal for breakfast seemed to overwhelm her.
Maybe it was because we were still in the early days, but I found everything about her endearing.
And I was so fucking glad she wanted to spend tonight with my family. They were a lot. Suffocating, even. I was well aware. It was something my ex used to bring up often. I hadn’t wanted to scare Hazel off, but she’d seemed to genuinely embrace them right off the bat.
I was already mentally calculating where this was headed. I liked relationships. I craved exclusivity and emotional closeness. It had been a while since I’d experienced it, and I knew I wanted it with her.
Everything in my gut told me she was falling for me too.
We still needed to talk, though. Discuss some foundational stuff. I wanted her to be my girlfriend, and I hoped we could establish that sooner rather than later.
Tonight, if possible.
She made me excited about life again. It might be time for her to move back into her apartment, but I didn’t love the idea.
I liked having her under the same roof as me, knowing she was safe.
Knowing her schedule. I liked just popping back from an errand and having her already curled up on the couch.
Hazel made this place feel like home. It never had, before her.
It freaked me out a little, but not enough to back away. At this point, it was full steam ahead. Hopefully she felt the same way.