Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
“What the hell are you two doing here?” I heard Reid say in the living room around lunchtime.
I got up and headed out of my room. I had pretty much spent all morning being lazy in bed watching TV after my phone call with Prue.
“Babysitting,” Bash said.
I stepped out into the living room, trying not to look annoyed by that response. Bash and Theo were sitting on the modular couch watching TV like I had been doing in my room. Reid was by the front door with a grocery bag dangling from his hand.
Reid noticed me first. His gaze dropped down to my body, eyeing the pajamas I had yet to change out of.
For a split second he looked angry before he masked it and walked toward me.
He came to stand so close, it was like he was blocking me from Bash and Theo.
“What are you wearing in front of these assholes?”
“Hey!” Bash protested.
Theo finally spoke. “We’re not supposed to let anyone inside.”
“I’m not anyone,” Reid shot over his shoulder.
“We’re not looking at your stepsister, Reid,” Bash said. “She’s Bram’s daughter. We don’t have a death wish.”
Reid and I both went wide-eyed before Reid turned to face them. “She’s not my stepsister.”
Bash grinned. “She kinda is.” He looked from Reid to me and chuckled. “I guess you’re the one with a death wish, Reid.”
Everything that came out of the man’s mouth rubbed me the wrong way. Not wanting to hear any more, I spun around and went back to my room.
“Roe’s gonna be pissed,” Reid said, sounding like he was right behind me as I entered my room.
I turned, facing him. “Is my shirt see-through again?”
Reid’s gaze dropped to my chest before he reached back and swung the bedroom door closed. “No, but your ass is almost out, and your shirt is leaving very little to the imagination.”
“I didn’t think my body offended you anymore,” I grumbled as I went over to the bed to grab the remote and turn off the TV.
He cursed as he set the bag he was holding on the armchair nearby.
“Or maybe it does,” I said as I tossed the remote back on the bed. “My back was to you that morning. You wanted me to stop moaning and begging. I guess you wanted to pretend I was someone else while I got you off.”
He went still as his eyes held mine. “And you wanted me to stop talking and called me a fucking asshole while I got you off.”
“Because you kept telling me to stop this and stop that. Do you know how awful it is to have someone touch you while expressing how much they hate it?”
He flinched as if my words wounded him.
I sighed, feeling frustrated and exposed. “Why are you here, Reid?”
“I didn’t hate it.”
“That’s not what I asked—”
“I didn’t hate it, Charlotte.” His voice was angry and sharp.
“I don’t believe you.”
He looked toward the ceiling like he was begging the heavens for strength. “You are such a pain in the ass, do you know that?”
“And you’re a confusing one,” I shot back, and my thoughts returned to the night he’d brought me to his loft. We had said something similar before. Nothing had changed. If anything, things were worse. “You say one thing and then do something that completely contradicts it. You’re driving me crazy.”
He huffed a humorless laugh. “Welcome to the club. You’ve been driving me crazy from the moment Roe called to you at that damn party.” He was talking about the night I’d stormed over and stolen their joint.
“Why?” I demanded.
He didn’t answer. Of course he wouldn’t. Done with getting nowhere with him, I headed toward the bathroom.
“Charlotte,” he called out to me.
I ignored him. He wouldn’t be the one to walk away this time. It would be me.
He caught me by my arm and spun me around to face him. Bracing for whatever non-answer he was about to spew, I was shocked when he knelt slightly to wrap an arm just under my butt. The next thing I knew, I was being lifted.
“Reid!” Scared of falling, I grabbed onto his shoulders as he carried me back toward the bed.
He sat me on the edge of the mattress before stepping between my legs.
His fingers snaked into my hair and cupped the back of my head, forcing me to look up at him.
“That morning…I didn’t hate it. I wanted to, but I didn’t.
This entire time I’ve wanted to dislike you.
I didn’t want to find you beautiful. I didn’t want to want you, but here the fuck I am.
Unable to stay away. I’m as fucking gone as Roe and Wyatt. Is that what you need to hear?”
“But why, Reid? Why did you want to dislike me?” I asked.
“Because you were going to change everything,” he finally answered.
His plan with Wyatt and Roe. As soon as Roe figured out which college he was going to, the three of them were leaving Summerhaven.
“I’m not going to change anything,” I protested.
He removed his hand from the back of my head and moved away. “You already have.”
I reached out and grabbed his shirt, stopping him from going any farther. I wanted him to elaborate.
He stared down at my hand. “I need to get back to work.”
I guessed I wasn’t going to get an explanation right then. “You never told me why you came over.”
“I knew Bram was returning to work today. I thought you’d be alone.”
I let go of his shirt. “Were you worried about me?”
“There’s lunch from Noble’s in the bag if you’re hungry,” he said instead of answering.
I glanced toward the bag he had set on the armchair, surprised. “Thank you.”
He nodded and headed for the door.
I sat there for a few minutes after he left, trying to process everything that had just happened. Then I got up to see what food he had brought me. It was a cheeseburger and fries. The same meal I’d had the first time I had gone to Noble’s.
As Reid had predicted, Roe was not happy about Bash and Theo guarding me. I didn’t see what the big deal was. They didn’t bother me all day and there was comfort in not being home alone. Plus, it wouldn’t be for long.
“You don’t understand,” Roe said, glaring at my bedroom door from where he sat in the armchair by the window. “We grew up with them. They’re what you would call…”
“Fuckboys,” Wyatt said bluntly. He was sprawled out along the foot of the bed.
Roe nodded. “They’ve been with a lot of women, and they’ve probably shared just as many.”
“As in taking turns with the same girl or having her at the same time?” I asked as I typed out a reply to Lemon.
We had been texting back and forth since the day Roe brought me her number.
She had just asked me for a progress report on the books she’d recommended.
I had only finished three out of the five, which we’d discussed already.
Her Dark Desires was included in those three.
As much as I enjoyed Roe buddy-reading with me, Lemon made me want to laugh when we debriefed after I was done reading it.
She cracked jokes on how big the male lead’s member was and said even though it was sexy in a book, she’d bolt if she was faced with such a monstrosity in real life.
She seemed like she couldn’t wait for me to finish the other two books she had recommended so we could talk about them, which was why she was asking for an update.
The text I sent told her I was still reading Book Four.
“Same time,” Wyatt answered as my phone buzzed with Lemon’s response.
She had sent me a GIF of someone impatiently waiting.
“Lucky girls,” I mumbled as I messaged her back, telling her I’d be done reading it tonight and we could talk about it tomorrow.
“What do you mean by that?” Roe asked.
I looked up from my phone and noticed both Wyatt and Roe staring at me. Then I realized what I’d just said. “I didn’t mean they were lucky to be with those two specifically. Also, I don’t see how the way they spend their personal time has anything to do with me.”
“In time, Bash will try to charm you,” Roe grumbled.
“He might even offer you that threesome you want,” Wyatt also grumbled.
Lemon sent me a text asking when I would return to school. Then sent another asking if I’d want to hang out sometime if I was up to it.
As I thought over my response, I distractedly answered, “But I’m not attracted to them, and I only want to have a threesome with you.”
It would be nice to hang out with Lemon.
Besides Mac, she was the only other girl I got along with.
I was also still feeling cooped up. I needed to get out of the house.
Maybe I could talk to Bram about borrowing some money and his truck to go out for coffee with Lemon.
Just thinking of asking for things soured the whole idea.
He had already bought me so much. I couldn’t keep being reliant on everyone’s generosity.
Feeling stressed, I set my phone down so I could rub my face.
“You know, I find it very disheartening when our girlfriend nonchalantly says she wants to have a threesome with us and then ignores us after,” Wyatt said.
I dropped my hands from my face. Roe wasn’t glaring at the door anymore. He was watching me, trying not to smile. Wyatt was lying on his side facing me with his head propped up on his elbow.
“Just like you nonchalantly said ‘our girlfriend,’” I pointed out. “Is that what I am?”
“Do you want to be?” Roe asked.
I thought about it. “I do, but I don’t know if it’s a good idea.”
They were quiet for a moment until Wyatt finally spoke. “Why?”
I had thought a lot about what Reid had said earlier. “Reid said I changed things. I’m starting to understand that he’s right.”
Wyatt sighed as if annoyed. “Fucking Reid.”