"How did I not know about this earlier?" Katie exclaimed. Reid cast her a threatening look.
"Shush, will you? I don't need the whole damn place to hear you," he said. Katie was smiling though.
"That explains everything," she laughed.
"How is this funny?" Reid asked seriously. Katie shook her head.
"Sorry. It's not funny, not at all," she said, failing to hide her smile. She covered her mouth with both hands, shaking her head.
"Don't you dare say a thing to anyone," Reid demanded.
"I'm not going to say a thing, Reid. Where would the fun be in that?"
Katie and Reid had stepped aside to talk in private, standing just outside the pavilion that had been set up for the reception. Read leaned against one of the sturdy beams while Katie bombarded him with questions, trying to determine if she believed him on the jealousy issue. In the end she had to admit that when it came down to it, jealousy wasn't the problem; the problem was Noah's lousy timing.
"You can't be mad at him for wanting to be here, Reid. Lily and Holden are like parents to him," Katie reminded him. Reid flinched.
"Yes, thank you Katie, remind me how my boyfriend's ex is practically family while I can't even get Lily to give me a genuine smile without Luke standing next to me," he frowned. Katie smiled sympathetically.
"Oh, she likes you fine, she's just not use to you yet," said Katie.
"Luke and I have been dating for a year. She's known about us for longer than that. How much more time could she need?"
"Holden likes you," Katie insisted. "He wouldn't have let you help carve the squash at Thanksgiving if he didn't," she teased.
"The highlight of my holidays," Reid groaned. It had been one of the most awkward moments in his life, helping Luke and Aaron to hold down the giant thing while Holden started in with a saw. Reid made sure to tell everyone how shocked he was that he walked away with all ten fingers.
"You really want them to like you, don't you?" Katie said admiringly.
"I don't care what they think," he said unconvincingly. Katie crossed her arms. "Alright, fine. I really don't care, at least not for my sake, what they think of me, but they're Luke's parents. I don't want him to feel torn between me and them," he frowned.
"You're tired of being compared to Noah," Katie said quickly. Reid nodded, realized what she had said, and looked up with a shocked expression. He may not have verbally answered but Katie was already pointing in victory. Reid rolled his eyes, hanging his head.
"I don't like being compared to my boyfriend's ex in general, Katie. That's a perfectly normal reaction," Reid insisted.
"Since when were you normal?"
"Touché."