“Those shoes have to be killing you, if I know you at all,” he smirked, pulling at the straps on my feet to relieve their misery. He did know me so well. I couldn’t wait to be barefoot.

He started rubbing the arches of my feet as I snuggled into him. “Oh my god, you have no idea how good that feels,” I said. Reed laughed in response, a little sinisterly. I poked him in the ribs for his dirty mind.

“Sorry, it’s just…anyone walking by wouldn’t think I’m rubbing your feet,” he said, walking his fingers up my leg and tummy a little, flirting with the edge of my shirt. Suddenly, I stiffened. I know Reed could sense my hesitation from his touch, and I was a little surprised by it, too. I tried to play it off, sliding from his lap to lie back on his pillow. He quickly pulled his shoes off and slid next to me, propping his head up on one hand while his other stroked my hair behind my ears.

He was looking just above my eyes, his gaze a little distant. He was thinking, and I recognized his I want to talk expression. “You want to say something, I can tell,” I said, scrunching my nose because I knew what he wanted to talk about.

Reed let out a deep breath. “I do. It’s the draft,” he locked his eyes with mine. “I know we were going to wait to talk about it, but my mom’s in town, and she set up a lunch tomorrow with Dylan and…”

All I heard was Millie was in town. I always had an adverse reaction to Reed’s mother, but for some reason it made me shiver tonight. Like a child, I rolled to my side, looking away from him and cutting him off mid-sentence.

“I know, I know. I wanted to just spend the day me-and-you, too…but I don’t have a lot of time, and I need to talk with Dylan because I can’t talk with Brent, legally. And…” Reed was pleading with me. I wanted to be open to his needs, but the weight of my secret and the thought of having to make decisions and bring my news out for his mother’s judgment repulsed me. It made me irrational, and I was being a bitch. I couldn’t stop, though.

“It’s fine,” I cut him off. “Seriously, whatever. We’ll go to lunch with your mom, and talk about it tomorrow. Just not tonight, okay?”

Reed took a slow long breath, his arms falling away from me as he rolled to lie on his back next to me. I couldn’t turn to face him. I wasn’t sure my face could continue to bluff. “I’m sorry, I’m just really tired,” I forced out the words.

Reed rubbed my back a bit and then leaned over to whisper in my ear as he reached his arm around me to pull me close. “It’s okay,” he said, kissing my neck a little. “You go to sleep.”

Within an hour, I heard Reed’s breathing start to steady, and I knew he was fast asleep. I, on the other hand, was probably looking at pulling an all-nighter with my own thoughts. Again.

Chapter 4

Reed

I probably could have been smoother when I brought up lunch with my mother. I knew Nolan had strong feelings about my mom and how she treated her. But I wasn’t expecting her to completely shut down like she did tonight. And I didn’t get to explain who Dylan was, either. There wasn’t really a good time to squeeze in “Oh, by the way, Dylan is a really hot 24-year-old blonde, and she’s going to be spending a lot of time with me until I can sign with her dad, hope you’re cool with that.”

We were walking into the golf resort restaurant my mom had selected, and I had Nolan’s hand firmly grasped in mine, hoping like hell she’d let me hold onto it after she met Dylan. I saw my dad sitting in the distance at a table near the giant panoramic window, and as we rounded the corner, the two blondes with him came into view. I forced myself to remain calm, not show any emotion or worry.

As we got to the table, everyone stood, and I noticed Nolan’s eyes were just a little wider than normal. Her mind was putting this together, and I was anticipating the moment it all hit her. Making things worse, Dylan stood up from her seat and walked around my seated mother to me, her legs exposed in a short mini skirt and her br**sts out on display in a tiny tank top, ready to close the deal.

“Reed, so good to see you again,” she smiled, leaning into me for a hug and then giving me a small kiss on the cheek. Fuck!

Nolan’s hand dropped from mine immediately. I tried to get her to look at me, but she kept her eyes focused on the table in front of us. She was reaching to pull out her own chair when Dylan spun around and flashed her trademarked perfect smile. “And you must be the girlfriend?” she said, in a tone that was, I swear, a carbon copy of my mother’s. She reached out her hand and, by some small miracle, Nolan shook it rather than punching her in the face.