Chapter 8
eight
AFTER SHOWING NO mercy and handily kicking Reid’s ass not just once, but twice, we piled back into my car and I turned the heat on blast. The temperature had drastically dropped while we’d been inside, and we sat there shivering together and watching the lightest of snow flurries hit the windshield until the hot air kicked in.
Reid’s teeth chattered as we put our hands in front of the vents to warm them up. “I don’t think I’m cut out for cold weather. We should be on a beach somewhere.”
“I hear Miami’s nice this time of year.” I went to put the car in reverse, but Reid’s hand on my arm stopped me.
“Do you mind if we don’t go back yet?”
“Of course. Is everything okay?”
He nodded and let go of my arm, and I wished he didn’t have to do that.
I was hyperaware of every single time he touched me, and yet I knew there was nothing behind his gestures, nothing more than a natural friendliness from being comfortable with someone.
That he was comfortable with me should’ve been enough.
Let it be enough, Ollie, for fuck’s sake.
“It’s starting to feel a little suffocating at my parents’ house, is all,” he said, leaning back in his seat, looking out at the snow hitting the window. “They watch me like I’m gonna break any minute.”
“I’m sure they just worry about you. It’s been an adjustment on their part, too.”
“I get that.” He ran a hand over the stubble coating his cheeks, drawing my attention to his strong jaw.
The Reid before the accident had seemed meticulous about keeping his face cleanly shaven, but I had to admit, the bit of growth he kept now looked hot.
“I can see it in their eyes. The waiting. Wondering if I’ll ever get back to myself. ”
I stayed silent and listened, because what could I say?
There was no way to know whether he’d ever be able to fill in the holes in his memory, and I wasn’t about to give him any false hope.
Then again, sometimes it seemed like he’d rather not know who he’d once been, which made me even more curious about the man sitting beside me.
“I’m thinking maybe I should go to my place,” he said. “To live, I mean.”
“You could. If you feel you’re ready for that.”
“Hey,” he said, shifting in his seat to face me, his eyes alight. “You wanna see it?”
“Your place?”
“Yeah.”
Twist my arm, why don’t you. “Sure. Where to?” I said, putting the car in reverse and backing out.
“Oh.” Reid lifted his hips to grab his wallet out of his back pocket, and then he pulled out a piece of paper. “Sixty-two Lyons Drive in the Garden Lakes complex. Apartment 2A.”
“Smart of you to write it down.”
“It’s on my license too, but I wasn’t sure I’d remember the exact directions,” he admitted, as I steered us out onto the main road. “I’ve only been there a couple of times.”
My job meant I knew the town like the back of my hand, and I’d had to answer calls in Garden Lakes before, so I knew exactly where we were headed, but when Reid began to recall the directions—correctly, I was surprised to hear—I was content to let him take the lead.
After a few minutes, he pointed to a neighborhood entrance up ahead and told me to take a left, and I flipped on my blinker, pulled into the turning lane, and waited for the steady stream of cars to pass.
Garden Lakes was the upper tier of apartment living in Floyd Hills, gated and with several private lakes, hence the name. After we dialed in the code at the gate—also noted on the paper—I drove around the complex until Reid told me to stop.
“That’s it,” he said, nodding up at the second-floor balcony of a well-maintained building, blue with wood accents and white trim that reminded me of a cozy cabin I’d stayed in during a winter trip to Pigeon Forge one year.
“This is nice,” I said, cutting the engine.
“I thought so too.”
“Why do I hear a ‘but’ in there?”
Reid smiled, his face half in the shadows from where I’d parked under a street lamp. “You’ll see.”
I followed Reid up the stairs and took the opportunity to enjoy the view of his ass while no one else was around.
The bowling alley had been a test of self-restraint with all the bending over he did, and the athletic pants he wore hugged his behind in a way that made me want to reach out and touch him.
As we reached the second floor, Reid produced a key from his wallet, and as he turned toward me, I forced my eyes up.
“This is it,” he said, and then went about unlocking the deadbolt. “Home sweet home.” He pushed open the door and waved me through first, and as I went inside, the sleeve of my jacket brushed against him, and the warmth of his breath stroked my neck, sending goosebumps in its wake.
It was dark as I entered, and when Reid followed me in, he flipped a light switch, throwing the front-facing corner apartment into full view.
Reid ran his hand over his head, getting rid of the snow flurries that had landed in his hair and on his jacket. “See what I mean? The decorating is… I don’t even have words.”
I thought he meant the lack of decorating. Even though the apartment was large, open, and fully furnished, and there were paintings that hung on the walls, it was all so…bland.
“Well,” I said, strolling through the kitchen and into the living room. “You can always take it all down and get rid of it. Start from scratch.” I moved one of the heavy beige drapes aside, revealing a nighttime glimpse of the lake below. “What’s your favorite color?”
“Um…” Reid looked around at the beige walls, beige carpet, and beige furniture. “Not beige?”
I chuckled and let go of the curtain. “‘Not beige’ should be easy enough to find.”
“I guess, but I wouldn’t even know where to start.”
“Tell you what. I’ve got a friend at work who likes to do this kind of thing on the side. I can see if she can come help you flesh out some ideas.”
“Really?”
Shrugging, I said, “If you want to. No pressure or promises, but I can talk to her.”
“That’d be great,” he said, his shoulders sagging. “I think I’d go crazy if I had to live here as it stands now.”
“Oh, it’s not that bad.”
“You’re just saying that to be nice.”
“I’m not. I swear.”
“You’ve got a great place, like the kind you’d actually want to go home to.”
“Well, you can come over anytime you want.” Reid raised his eyebrows, and I said, “I mean, I’ve got an extra room if you needed to…get away…or something.”
He gave me a lopsided grin. “You shouldn’t go around making an offer like that to strangers. They may take you up on it.”
Trust me when I say I wouldn’t mind that at all. Really.
“I’d offer you a drink, but I don’t think I have anything— Wait. Maybe I do.” He took off for the kitchen and began opening cabinets. “I’ve never actually checked before, but twenty-seven-year-olds usually have a liquor stash, right?”
Oh God, I forgot. He probably never remembered having a drink before in his life, did he?
“Ta-da.” Reid held up a half-empty bottle of Crown Royal. “Found something.”
“Uh, you sure you wanna start with that?”
“Why not?”
“No reason.”
He found a couple of glasses in one of the cupboards and set them on the kitchen bar beside me, then proceeded to pour a healthy amount into both.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” I said, laughing. “Maybe try it out first. See what you think.”
Reid lifted the bottle again, and the remaining amber liquid swished inside. “I’m gonna assume I’m a fan.”
I had to press my lips together to keep from grinning. This is gonna be interesting…
“To your first drink,” I said, touching my glass to his. “Round two.”
“Round two,” he agreed. Then he brought the glass to his mouth, and just before he took a sip, he frowned and brought the glass to his nose. Then he jerked back and his eyes began to water. “Oh shit. That smells horrible.”
“It smells like whisky.”
“Whisky smells horrible. Hell. I bet it tastes awful too.” When he took the tiniest sip and his face scrunched up, I laughed. “Ugh. I don’t think I like that.”
“You might like it with Coke.”
Reid sniffed the glass again and made a face, but took another small draw of the liquid.
With a tsk, I said, “First you dis coffee and now whisky. Might have to revoke your adult card.”
“Surely I like beer. I think I’ve had that and liked it. Maybe.”
“At least I won’t have to worry about you drinking yourself to death when you move back in.” I went to take his glass and pour it back in the bottle, but Reid pulled it back.
“No, I’m gonna do it, and so are you.” Then he pointed at me. “Drink.”
My eyes widened as he forced back a big swallow, and I tried not to laugh as he shuddered.
“You really don’t have to drink that.”
“Yes, I do. I don’t need my adult card revoked.” Reid winked at me as he sipped again.
“All right, that’s enough, you lush,” I said, chuckling as I managed to take the glass from him before he finished it off. “If I take you back drunk and puking, you may never be allowed out of the house again.”
“Isn’t that supposed to be some sort of rite of passage?”
“Not when you’re twenty-seven, it’s not.”
He waved me off as he wandered into the living room and flopped onto the stiff-looking couch. “I think you were right. Maybe with Coke next time.”
I left my own glass on the counter, needing to keep a clear head around him, and chose the recliner closest to Reid.
“This is nice. I feel warm. Like the alcohol just spreads through your body, you know?” Scooting down the couch until he was lying flat on his back, he rubbed his hands over his stomach. “Like a blanket for your insides.”
Oh God. He was feeling it already.
“If whisky was a song,” he continued, “I think it would start with a punch and then simmer into something slow and easy.” His fingers danced in the air as if he were playing the song, and it was then that I noticed what was glaringly missing in the room.
“Where’s your piano?”
“Don’t have one.”
“Why not? Isn’t that kinda important for you to have?”
“Something about noise complaints.”