Call me vain, but the sight of Reid's obvious jealousy made me want whoop and do a happy dance, right there in the alley. But considering the fact that he looked ready to go nuclear on me, I restrained myself.
What is it about macho 'hands off, she's mine' displays that just makes a girl go all gooey inside? Caleb must have realized what was going on inside my head because he grinned at me, all wide and toothy. He shrugged his shoulders a bit and shook his head.
"I said, what the hell is this?" Reid ground out, bowing up like a cobra ready to strike.
I lifted my hand from Caleb's arm and curled my fingers into a tight fist as I stepped around him. The part of me that hadn't gone mushy over Reid wanted to knock the crap out of him for thinking the worst.
"What does it look like? We were talking," I said, lifting my chin defiantly and staring him in the eye. "As flattering as your jealousy is, Reid, it's misplaced."
He scoffed. "Jealous? I'm not jealous."
"You're positively green with it." I was trying really hard not to laugh - or hit him. He wasn't making it easy to resist doing either one.
"Come on, Reid," Caleb coaxed. "I apologized for what I said back in the hall. I've apologized to both of you. Now, can we just go back inside?"
"Sure, man. Whatever." He never even looked at Caleb. He just kept staring at me. Hard.
The moment the door closed behind him, Reid, grabbed my wrist, yanked me to him and kissed me long and deep. My knees were weak by the time we parted. Reid wrapped an arm around my waist to steady me.
"What the hell was that?" I asked, punching him in the shoulder for good measure.
"Just taking your father's advice." He was grinning, the ass. "What were you two really talking about when I walked out?"
I couldn't have stopped myself from smiling then even if my life had depended on it. "Admit it, Garwin. You're jealous."
He didn't reply, just leaned in and kissed me again. "Does that feel like jealous to you, Williams?"
I licked my lips. "Damn right it does." I wrapped my hand around the back of his neck and pulled him back to me. Our lips met again but this time it was slower. It set my blood on fire and sent my pulse racing. I ended it slowly, drawing it out as long as I could stand it.
"I asked him to trust me and promised to trust him," I whispered against Reid's lips. "He was telling the truth about apologizing too."
He nodded, accepting my explanation. "I've just got one more question," he said, nipping gently at my lips. "What's this thing with us?"
Curling my arms around his neck, I asked, "Do you want there to be an 'us'?"
His hands found my hips and he pressed his forehead to mine. "Yeah," he breathed. "I want."
"There's your answer then. Just no promises, okay?"
He looked disappointed but it was the best I could do. My future was still too uncertain and the last thing I wanted to do was hurt him in the process of making my decision. Eventually he agreed and we rejoined the others inside.
By the time the joint birthday celebration (we decided to celebrate both Caleb's and mine at the same time) ended, I was dead on my feet.
Reid stayed with me again that night. Other than a few heated kisses and some serious snuggling, nothing happened. Sorry to disappoint.
Over the next few weeks, we were always together. Remember when I said Sarah and Caleb were both sweet and nauseating at the same time? Pot, meet Kettle. I was in the same, sad, sappy boat. I tried really hard to keep my feelings in check but it proved to be impossible.
Oh and speaking of Caleb? He and I finally reached an understanding of sorts. No, I didn't confess all but we did agree to give ourselves the time to earn each other's trust. He still teased Reid mercilessly about his jealousy though. I couldn't say anything though - I was doing the same thing.
But back to the whole falling for him thing. The more I came to realize just how much I was beginning to care for him, the more it freaked me out. I wasn't any closer to deciding which life I was going to choose and right smack in the middle of it all, I had to go and fall head over heels for Reid Garwin. Talk about bad timing.