Chapter 18 #2
His jaw cracked as a massive yawn overtook him. I had more to say about the way he’d talked down about himself, but that could wait. Right now, Reid needed a hot bath and a comfy bed. Fortunately, I knew where to find both.
“Come on.” I turned in the direction of home. “Let’s get you comfy.”
He wriggled in my arms. “I can walk. Or drive, even. You don’t have to carry me.”
I didn’t break my stride, just raised a brow at him. “Are ye uncomfortable with me carrying you?”
“Well, no, but it’s not fair.”
I rolled my eyes. “You’ve just had to experience what I imagine to be your worst nightmare. Let me coddle you a little.”
“That wasn’t my worst nightmare.”
“Oh?”
“No.” He tucked his face into my neck, like he couldn’t cope with looking at me as he spoke. “That would’ve been you getting hurt too.”
I had nothing to say to that. Nothing I was ready to say, anyway. And certainly nothing Reid was ready to hear.
But as drops of rain began to fall from the sky, I didn’t feel a single one. The fire Reid’s words had ignited was enough to burn for a thousand days.
And then a thousand more.
It wasn’t until we stepped out of the trees that a pertinent detail made its way to the forefront of my mind. “Um, you should probably know that I don’t live alone.”
Reid stiffened, gaping up at me in horror. “Oh my god. Are you in a relationship? Did I…did we cheat on someone?”
I couldn’t help it, I burst into laughter. The idea of me being able to see anyone else with Reid in my life was nothing short of hilarious. “No, sweetheart. I’m painfully single. I live with my parents.”
“Oh.” Reid chewed on his bottom lip. “Will they be okay with me gatecrashing? I know some shifters are funny about having humans in their space.”
I silenced him with another kiss. Seemed that was my new favourite thing to do. “You won’t find a single one of those shifters here, Reid, and certainly not in my home.”
“I’m sorry.” He ducked his head in embarrassment. “I shouldn’t judge others by what my family put me through.”
“It’s natural when you don’t have anything to compare it to, but that’s partially why I want you to stay here. This clan…it’s what a clan should be.”
“Okay. If they think I’m an imposition at all though, I’m happy to go somewhere else.”
“They won’t,” I said firmly, resuming my march towards my childhood home. “If anything, Ma is going to spoil you rotten, and Pa will just be glad of someone new to talk to.”
“Sounds like you have some good parents there.”
My heart clenched at the wistful note in his voice. “Aye, Reid. I do.”
Not wanting to put him down, I kicked the door open. “And, considering they’ve made themselves scarce for our arrival, I can confidently say they are the best.”
“They didn’t need to do that,” Reid murmured, a blush spreading over his cheekbones once more. “This is their home.”
“And you’ve been through a traumatic experience,” I reminded him. “What you need is peace and quiet to decompress. Ma and Pa know that. They’ll likely come back later when you’re asleep.”
Reid looked like he was going to launch into another protest, so I pre-empted it with another kiss. When I pulled back, he was smiling at me wryly. “You can’t kiss me every time you want me to be quiet.”
I smirked as I headed for the staircase. “Maybe I’m just kissing you because I like it.”
My sensitive ears clocked Reid’s heart rate increasing. “Seems like awfully convenient timing to me.”
“It’s called killing two birds with one stone.” I didn’t stop at the top of the staircase, heading straight for the bathroom. “Speaking of which, why don’t you have a bath? Get clean and relax a little.”
I lowered him to his feet, making sure he was steady before releasing him. I wasn’t able to step away before he grabbed my wrist. “Wait, you’re not leaving, are you?”
Fuck, I shouldn’t love this neediness, but I did. If I had my way, I’d never leave Reid’s side again. “No, sweetheart. I’m going to run your bath and add at least three bath bombs.”
His lips quirked. “Three?”
“Logan keeps us well stocked,” I said wryly, opening the cupboard to show him the various coloured balls. “Ma made one comment about loving a bath bomb a decade ago, and he can’t resist getting her a few every time he goes to town.”
Reid smiled. “He’s a good friend.”
“He is.” I cupped Reid’s face. “And he’d be a good friend to you too, if you let him.”
His shoulders pulled in. “I know. I’m sorry. It’s just…”
This time, I didn’t silence him with my lips, just waited until his words trailed off before pulling him in for a tight hug. “I know, Reid. You don’t have to explain yourself to me or anyone else. Definitely not Logan. He just wants you to be happy. We all do.”
Especially me.
When the bath was run, I turned my back while Reid undressed. He snorted when he spotted me. “You do realise you’ve seen me naked before, right?”
I stared at a small spider in the corner of the ceiling. I was going to have to get Ma to move it later. “Aye.”
“And you’re aware that you’re naked right now too?”
Knowing Reid was nude was making me more aware by the second. “Aye, but Ma raised a gentleman.”
“Okay.” Water sloshed gently as Reid stepped into the bath and sat down. “Well, your gentlemanly manners are protected. I’m decent.”
My gaze raked hungrily over the few inches of skin that were on display, drawing a laugh from Reid.
“A gentleman, hey?”
I huffed. “I’m a gentleman, but I’m not dead.”
Moving to the head of the bath, I picked up the jug Ma used to use on me as a kid.
Like most of the stuff from my childhood, it was still hanging around.
Part of me wondered if my parents had hoped for another kid.
It was rare for shifters to have siblings, but not unheard of. Just look at Calan and Finlay.
I stared down at the jug with a lump in my throat. Fuck, I hoped this was one of the times where I was overthinking things. That they hadn’t longed for another child that’d never arrived.
“Ev? Are you okay?”
I turned to see Reid’s concerned eyes staring up at me. “Aye. Was just wondering if you’d like me to wash your hair?”
He blinked at me in confusion. “I…I don’t know.”
“That’s fine. If you’re not comfortable with it then we don’t have to.”
“No, that’s not what I mean.” He rubbed at his hair in frustration. “I’ve never had my hair washed by someone else before, so I don’t know if I’d like it.”
The plastic cracked under my grip. “What about your mother?”
Reid shrugged, tracing his fingers through the bubbles. “I think she was more disappointed in me than Clyde was. Handed me into his care the day I was born and barely bothered with me. I think she said maybe three sentences to me my whole childhood.”
“Didn’t she live with you?”
“No. She had her own place right on the edge of the lands. Sometimes I think she wanted to escape as much as I did.”
Feeling like that didn’t excuse the neglect she’d shown Reid. The abuse she’d allowed him to suffer under Clyde’s hands.
I didn’t need to ask Reid where he’d lived. I knew. Right in the clan house. The hub. Where he should’ve been safest. Most cared for.
Instead, it had been his prison.
Not liking how his shoulders were drawn in, I moved the conversation on. “Well, let’s find out if you like it. And while we do, how about I tell you about the time Logan pranked Finn into believing we had a ghost?”
A spark fired in his eyes. It wasn’t much, barely an ember of life, but I was going to nurture it until it became a blaze. Until Reid could let it burn on his own.
We were both drowning in the darkness. Maybe we could find our way back to the light together.