Snapshot

26. Reese

I remember the first time I ever got jealous of Winnie’s attention being on someone other than me. Elijah was having his fourteenth birthday at their house like he did most years. It was a pool party. His mom always went over the top for parties, and looking back now, it’s not that there was a lot of expensive shit, but I remember there being so much food. Mr. Lewis would make their cake, even though his wife is a professional baker—it was always their thing. I even got a cake on my birthday when it rolled around.

A bunch of us were in the above-ground pool, and a game of chicken broke out. It was one of those rectangle ones, so it was big enough for the twenty or so people who were there. A random girl from our grade was on my shoulders, and I remember being in the middle of playing when I saw Ryan Thompson swim up to Winnie. I couldn’t hear him, but whatever he was saying was making her smile, and it irked me. I didn’t understand what the deal was or why I was so pissed when she climbed onto his shoulders, but looking back now, I was jealous. I think in my head, I’ve always known Winnie was mine. The meaning shifted over the years, but I’ve never enjoyed when I wasn’t the one making her smile.

The same can still be said today as her teacher grins and she giggles into her hand. If you didn’t know their dynamic, you would probably think they were together, but they’re not. And apparently, rules don’t mean shit now because I’m pretty sure he shouldn’t be standing so close to her. If that’s not in the rulebook, it should be.

“Who’s the suit?” Gavin stops next to me.

I answer with a tight jaw, and his eyebrows inch up his forehead.

“He’s a little close for being her teacher, nah?”

It’s worse knowing he notices it too.

I’m across the ice from her, but I knew when she walked in. I could feel her in the building. What I didn’t expect to see with her carrying her camera shit was this prick.

“Yes.”

He claps my back before skating away. “Good luck with that one, bro.”

I don’t need luck; I need Winnie.

Knowing the issue between us, I know I can save it; I just need to get her away from Mr. Flirt. I don’t care about spilling everything in front of him, but I doubt Winnie wants her teacher in her business.

“Larson,” Coach booms.

Winnie and whatever the fuck his name is look toward the ice. We meet eyes for the first time, and she stiffens. I continue staring at her until she looks away; then I drift my eyes to the teacher and narrow them. He looks unbothered, and that pisses me off more.

Unwillingly, I skate over to the team but keep Winnie in my sight.

“Alright,” Coach snaps. “It’s obvious you guys have noticed the pu—girl in the rink. She is here in hopes to make you sorry saps look good. I expect you all”—he locks eyes on me—“to be on your best behavior. She’s here on a trial basis,” he reminds me specifically.

“Make us look good for what?”

“To grow our numbers. Ms. Lewis will be taking photos, videos, and whatever else she needs to at practice and games, and they will get posted wherever it is kids are into these days. A way to gain attraction and foot traffic.”

Winnie takes her first steps onto the ice looking so similar to the peewees we sometimes help coach. She used to be good at skating, but I guess Eli stopped, and she had no reason to skate anymore since I was hardly around.

With her arms held out to her side and her feet shuffling in her skates, she makes her way toward the group.

“Christ almighty,” Coach grumbles, followed by a few snickers.

Her teacher steps onto the ice, and I will him to be shit at skating, but of course he’s not. He reaches her in no time and makes a half circle around her, stopping when he is in front of her and holding his hands out.

Fuck no. Without another thought, I’m off and stopping at her side. I must startle her because she gasps, and the next thing I know, she’s going down. I grab one arm, and the stupid teacher grabs the other, stopping her from falling on her ass.

“Holy shit,” she breathes, pink creeping onto her neck. “Sorry, Neil.”

Neil? Did she just call her teacher by his first name? What the actual fuck?

“It is not your fault you almost fell.” His harsh eyes flick to me, and I glare right back.

As if just noticing her arm in mine, she pulls away from both of us, but me first. I’m going to kill this dude.

“Nice to see you again.” He dips his chin, but we both know it’s not.

“Can’t say the same.” I grunt as Winnie throws an elbow into my gut, shooting me a warning look, but I roll my eyes because I don’t fucking care what she says, I hate this guy.

She wobbles again, but when I reach for her, she shoos my hands away. “I’m fine.”

I fucking hate that this prick is watching her be cold to me, and even more that he seems amused by it.

“We need to talk.”

“No we don’t,” she hisses, shooting me another look that I ignore.

I lower my eyes to her feet and frown. “Why are you so bad at skating? You were never this bad.”

“Thanks, asshole, but it’s been a while. I just need to get used to it again.” Hopefully she gets used to it soon so this fucker can back the fuck off my woman.

Coach calls for her, but she doesn’t let me help her up in front of the group. As soon as she’s out of earshot, I look over to her teacher since he’s still standing next to me, watching her struggle to the front.

“She’s taken, you know?”

He smirks but quickly wipes it away, and I want so badly to throw a punch in his pretty-boy face. “That is not what she told me, but nonetheless, I have no interest in being a stereotype and starting something with a student.”

“Could have fooled me,” I murmur.

He chuckles as if I said something funny, but I didn’t. “Winnie reminds me a lot of my baby sister.”

I eye him, waiting to call his bluff, but my attention is pulled away when Coach speaks.

“This is Winnie. Everyone say hello.”

Her cheeks bloom a bright red at the team’s attention and them all saying her name.

She stumbles, and he grips her shoulders, holding her steady. “You sure you’re going to be able to stay on your feet and not your ass?”

“I’m a fast learner,” she assures him, but I’m almost positive he can see through her bullshit. Winnie is a fast learner, but it’s easy to tell how nervous she is waiting for a skate to kick out or something.

“Prove it,” he gripes before turning on his heel and walking away.

We know what to do without needing him to direct us, and while the guys head to start warm-ups, I skate up to her, making sure not to cause her to fall this time.

“You need to warm up.”

“I will.”

Her chocolate eyes flick up to me, worry resting deep in the depths. “I’m on a trial basis here, Reese. I can’t have your coach getting mad at me because you’re distracted.”

I know she’s right, and maybe this wasn’t the best idea I’ve ever had. Having Winnie here might be more of a distraction than I expected. Especially with Mr. Flirt following her around. “Why is your teacher here?”

She rolls her eyes. “He’s coming to the first few practices in case I need help. Which”—she gestures to her pigeon-toed skates—“I’m obviously going to need.”

“Stay after practice today. I can help you get back into skating in no time.”

She eyes me curiously, and I wonder if she’s going to say no, but she must have decided better because she nods her head, and I let out a deep breath.

“Fine, but only for skating lessons. I don’t want to talk about anything besides hockey, skating, and ice.”

I don’t know how realistic that is for us, but I’m willing to try anything, so I agree, and we shake on it. Winnie and I have never had a surface-level relationship. Even as kids, I was constantly catching myself spilling my deepest secrets.

The moment Coach releases us, I drop my gear on the bench and hurry over to Winnie. She stayed off the ice most of practice after I saw her struggling to get anywhere. I actually preferred when she wasn’t out here because it allowed her teacher to back the fuck off, at least a small amount. He was still around, looking like he was directing her at some points, but at least that didn’t require him touching her.

“Ready for your lesson?” I butt in on their conversation, not giving a shit.

Winnie shoots me a dirty look, but he has the audacity to smirk.

“Sorry, Neil.”

I fucking hate her apologizing for me as if I’m some kind of inconvenience in her life. And I hate her calling him Neil.

“It’s not a problem, Winnie. I need to get home anyway. I promised my wife we would head to the pumpkin patch today.”

Winnie’s eyes light up, and my jaw clenches.

“Oh, I love the pumpkin patch. Have a great time.”

He smiles and turns in my direction. “See you both Monday.”

I grumble, and he chuckles before walking away.

Winnie zips her bag up and spins to me, placing her hands on her narrow hips. “Stop being rude to him.”

“Why? He’s a douche who is flirting with someone who is not his wife. That should bother you.”

“He’s not flirting with me, Reese. He’s helping me so I don’t get sacked by your coach. He actually cares about my future.”

“So do I, Win. Who do you think got you this opportunity?”

She pauses while reaching for her skates, and I reach down and lift them to her frozen hands.

“No one cares about your future more than me, Winnie, because I’m going to be a part of that future. Remember that.”

I can’t believe Reese did that for me. No, I can believe it, and that’s the worst part. Reese has always gone out of his way for me. Any opportunity he thought I would enjoy or that would benefit me, he got it for me. Like when I was in middle school, and the local animal shelter was looking for volunteer dog walkers. I was too young, and even with Reese’s convincing, they weren’t budging on that, so he asked if I could help as long as he was there. We spent the summer walking dogs, even though Reese is allergic. He showed up to help every day simply because he knew I would enjoy getting to be with dogs. And he was right. Dad always said we were too busy to have one, and he wasn’t wrong, but like most kids, I always wanted one.

It wasn’t hard being around Reese during practice. I was distracted enough trying to get the best shots and basically just staying on my feet. But now that it’s just us on the ice, it’s a lot more intimate than I am ready for. It’s not like I can move away from him, either. I can hardly move at all.

“I can’t believe how bad you are.”

I scowl, but he’s not wrong, and I can’t believe it either. I didn’t grow up on the ice like Elijah and Reese, but I was on it enough I shouldn’t suck so bad.

“You were never good, but you could at least let go of the wall.”

I’m only holding on to the wall because I don’t want to hold him.

No matter how mad I am at Reese, my body doesn’t seem to agree, and watching him today didn’t help any. Mr. Hudson’s words were loud and clear in my head during the entire practice to the point it was like foreplay watching Reese, and I worry if I touch him now, he will somehow be able to sense the heat for him between my thighs.

“I thought you were here to teach me, not make fun of me?”

“I’m going to need you to let go of the wall and look at me if I’m going to teach you, Win.”

I turn my head enough to see his weary smile. He grips the back of his neck, and I’m able to see the veins in his forearms, still bulging from his workout. Why does he have to be so ridiculously hot? It’s so unfair. His light-brown hair flops over his forehead, and his smile is crooked. His honey eyes look more golden than ever despite the shitty fluorescent lighting over us.

But he fucked Zoey and lied about it.

“Start teaching. I have plans tonight.”

I don’t. I have no plans or anyone I would even have plans with. I’ve gotten a few texts from Emma wanting to hang out and explain, but I don’t think I want to hear it. Seeing Reese here is enough. I don’t want to risk seeing him at his place, too. Or Sawyer. I saw the black eyes, and I’m sure those are from my brother. And I’m not interested in explaining any of that to them. Laney has also messaged me a few times, but she’s asking questions I don’t have the answers to, nor do I care to find out.

It’s occurred to me that there could be something growing inside me, but I’m not willing to find out for sure just yet.

“With who?”

“Myself.” There’s no point in lying; he would know I was anyway.

His shoulders relax and he nods a few times. “I was planning on grabbing a bite after. I thought maybe we could talk?”

“There’s nothing to talk about.”

“Yes there is, Win. I know Zoey got to you, but whatever she said was a lie.”

I tense hearing her name fall from his lips. Everything Elijah told me comes flooding back full force, and it takes everything inside me not to cry. “I can’t do this.” I look around for the closest door and head for it.

“Win.” He catches my arm, and I wobble but don’t fall. “Please, you gotta believe me.”

“Do I?” I whip around now that I’m on solid ground. Dropping onto the bench, I quickly rip my skates off as fast as the stupid laces allow.

“I love you,” he blurts, and if I wasn’t sitting, I would have fallen over. “I know I’ve fucked up—a few times—but I do, Winnie. Zoey and I have never been anything. The only reason you saw us at the store together was because her dad had to stick around here after a summer practice, and he asked one of us to bring her back to the dorms. She needed to stop by the store, but that was it. We’ve never been together and we aren’t now.”

It takes everything for me to lift my eyes to his. Reese is a lot of things, but a liar isn’t one of them. At least I never thought so. “Why does Elijah think you fucked?”

“Because he caught us in bed together.”

“Naked?”

His head falls, and he nods.

“And I’m meant to believe you didn’t fuck?” I snort a humorless laugh. “Come on, Reese.”

“I know.” His voice is low, and I have to force my body not to tremble from his deep, masculine tone. “I know how it sounds and how it looked to him, but I fucking swear, Winnie.”

I stand, making sure not to get too close to him because his natural, manly scent is potent and not helping with the dampness down below.

“Believe it or not, Reese. But I don’t really believe your swears anymore.”

“I don’t have anything else, Win. If I had proof we didn’t other than my word, I’d give it. But it’s not as easy to prove we didn’t as it would be to prove we did. All she had to do was strip and it was believable.”

The thought of Reese naked with another girl, especially Zoey, isn’t a nice one. Anything I was feeling during practice is gone. The only thing I feel now is my heart breaking. He seems genuine, but it could be guilt. “I’d love to believe you, Reese, but I can’t.”

He slumps forward, crowding my space, and cups my cheek. I want to push him off, but I don’t.

“Please. I lost my best friend because of her. I can’t lose you too.”

A battle rages inside me. A part of me wants to believe him, because I’ve known Reese for over half my life and used to believe everything he said, but there is the other part. The part that remembers how heartbroken I was after he left for college without a goodbye.

How I felt seeing him and Zoey at the store.

How I felt that night in Sawyer’s apartment when he pantsed me.

And how I felt when my brother told me the story.

If I believed Reese, what would that tell Elijah? That his word means less than Reese’s? I can’t do that to him. Elijah is the only family I have here. We’ve only just gotten close again, and if I don’t take his word, it would crush him. He wouldn’t show it, but I know him well enough, and he would probably never speak to me again. He’s already not happy about me being here in the first place.

I step away from Reese, and his body shakes.

“I can’t do this to him. Even if I did believe you, Elijah never would. He knows what he saw, and no one can convince him otherwise. I’m sorry, but I can’t lose my brother, Reese.”

“I can’t lose you.” His voice cracks, right along with my heart. “I’ll do anything, Winnie. I’ll fucking swear on a Bible. Take a lie detector right in front of Elijah.”

The faintest of smirks tilts my lips as I back away more. “I don’t even think God himself could convince Elijah he didn’t see what he thinks he saw.”