Sorry about the wait. Please don't kill me. I had extreme writer's block and I must have written and rewritten this chapter at least ten times.
I do not own the Covenant or any associated characters.
Chapter 7: Analyzing Reid
"That was so awesome girl!" Kate shrieked as I sat down next to them. Sarah nodded eagerly.
"Most definitely the most amusing thing I've seen all day."
Kate cackled. "Amusing doesn't even cover it!"
I smirked. "It wasn't that good. You should have seen what I did to this guy in New York."
"Hey, Viviane!"
I grimaced before turning and giving Reid an irritated look. "What?"
He finished jogging up to me and gave me a concerned look. Concerned and Reid in the same sentence. Hm. "I noticed what happened with Aaron at the fountain. You ok?"
I gave him a strange look. What on earth did he want? "I'm fine."
"Good." He shifted uncomfortably and ran a hand through his wet hair, making it fall messily around his face. "Um, I was wondering what you're doing tonight."
My confused look turned into a glare. "I'm not going out with you," I said immediately.
He looked slightly alarmed. "No! I didn't mean it like that! It's just that…um…the guys, Kate and Sarah are going to Nicky's tonight and we all wanted you to come along."
I opened my mouth to refuse when Sarah jumped in. "Of course she's coming!"
I whirled around and glared at her. "You said if I came now I wouldn't have to come later!" I said outraged.
She shrugged. "I changed my mind. You are required to come to Nicky's tonight."
"But—"
"No buts," Sarah said severely.
Kate grinned at me. "Oh come on, Viviane. All your refusals to come hang out with us might make us think that you don't like us."
I pursed my lips. "Fine," I muttered.
Reid smirked at me. "Good. See ya there." He turned and walked back to his friends with me glaring daggers into his back.
I shuddered and turned back to the girls. "Honestly he is such a…"
"Arrogant prick?" Kate suggested with a small smile.
I nodded. "Exactly."
Sarah shrugged. "He's not like that all the time. A while ago when Caleb had to deal with…some things…and he left me in Reid's care and he was really nice to me."
I looked at her sharply, noting her hesitation. "Really? I would have thought that Caleb would have left you with Pogue. What did he have to deal with anyway?"
"Pogue was in the hospital at the time," Kate explained.
Sarah nodded. "He had to go and deal with…family business."
Again the hesitation. I considered pressing for more information, but decided against it. I didn't want to make the girls more uncomfortable than they clearly already were. I shrugged and stood up. "Well if I'm to go to Nicky's tonight I need to get some proper clothes." I wrinkled my nose and looked at Sarah and Kate. "I don't think I have anything appropriate," I admitted reluctantly. Their eyes lit up immediately.
"Ooh!" Kate squealed. "Shopping trip!"
Sarah quickly gathered up her books and grinned at Kate and I. "Come on!" she said excitedly. "Let's go." I was already beginning to regret my decision as they dragged me out of the building.
All in all, the trip was a lot less painful then it could have been. With Kate and Sarah by my side it was done fairly fast, and thought I would never admit it, it was kind of fun. In about half an hour my clothes were bought and I was on my way home to change before heading to Nicky's.
"Hey Jo!" I called as I stepped in the door.
"Hey," she said coming out of the kitchen while wiping her hands on a tea towel. "What took you so long?"
I shrugged. "I spent some time with some friends of mine. We did our homework and watched their boyfriends' swim practice."
"Really?" Her eyes danced wickedly. "How was the view?"
I snickered. "Very nice."
Jo laughed and walked back into the kitchen. "Well come on in. You're just on time for supper."
"Actually, Jo," I started uncomfortably, "my friends were hoping I would be able to go out with them tonight." I looked at her, half hoping she would say no. "It's ok isn't it?"
"As long as you're in before midnight, it's fine." She shrugged easily. "Be careful though, ok? No going anywhere alone."
If only she knew.
"Yeah sure, not a problem. I'm just going to get changed then get out of your hair."
"Ok. Have fun."
"I will."
I changed quickly into my new outfit. A pair of low-rise jeans that fit snugly around my hips and a halter-top that I hadn't really wanted to get, but Kate and Sarah forced me to. In revenge I wore a black sweater over top, hoping Sarah and Kate wouldn't make me take it off. The top exposed a lot more skin then I felt comfortable with.
Twenty minutes later I was pulling up in front of Nicky's. With a sigh I climbed out of the car and entered the building. It didn't take long to spot the gang and I casually walked over to them, sitting in the only empty chair that, to my chagrin, was next to Reid. Typical.
"Hey guys," I said. "How's it going?" They all smiled at me, voiced their greetings. The boys pounded fists with me, but the girls just smiled. Sarah slid a basket of food in my direction.
"Here, we got some food for you. I hope you—" She then registered what I was wearing. "Viviane, what are you wearing?" she demanded.
"Um…" I didn't like they way her eyes were glinting. "A sweater," I answered weakly. I can kill demons, but one look at Sarah and here I was cowering before her. Something was wrong with me.
"Is the top we bought underneath?"
"Um…yes?"
"Then take off the sweater, now."
"But—"
"No buts!"
I raised my hands in surrender and reluctantly took off my sweater. Appreciative looks from the guys and satisfied nods from the girls greeted my new top. I scowled at them all and crossed my arms over my chest, unconsciously trying to protect myself from their stares.
"Happy now?" I grumbled.
Sarah beamed at me. "Very. Now, as I was saying, I hope you like hamburgers."
I laughed. "Who doesn't?" I asked and dug into the food, the others following my lead.
While we ate we talked and laughed. Pogue and Reid exchanged some pretty lame jokes, but one of Reid's made me laugh so hard Coke came up my nose. The others who hadn't laughed at the joke laughed at me until all of us were laughing so hard tears ran down our faces. I was having a blast, that is until Sarah decided it would be a great time to dance. She pulled Caleb onto the floor and Kate followed with Pogue. Even Tyler went with a girl from one of his classes, leaving Reid and I sitting awkwardly at the table. If I didn't know better I would say they were trying to set me up.
Reid and I watched the couples dancing on the floor and I shifted uncomfortably.
"So…do you want to play some phoosball?" I asked Reid, not knowing what else to do.
He shrugged. "If you want, I'm more of a pool guy myself."
I shrugged. "I've never played pool before."
Reid's eyes lit up. "Never?" he questioned. When I shook my head he gave me a mock pitying look. "You poor deprived child. Luckily for you I am an expert and can teach you the ways of pool easily. Come on." Before I could protest Reid was dragging me to the pool tables and passing me a stick.
"This is what you use to hit the white ball. What you want to do is hit the white ball into the others and make them fall into the nets. This white ball is the one we use to hit the others with. That black one in the triangle is the one that's supposed to go in last. Each player has to hit their balls into the holes then go after the black one. The first one to get the black one in wins."
"How do you know which balls are yours?" I asked curiously, then quickly gave him a warning glance. "I meant in the least sexual way possible."
He smirked at me. "I never thought otherwise, and people think I have a dirty mind."
I rolled my eyes. "Continue."
He grinned. "Which ever ball you manage to sink the first. Say I went first and I knocked in a striped one, then the stripes would all be mine. Got it?" I nodded and he continued. "So first thing you gotta do is break the triangle." He shot the white ball towards the top of the triangle and balls went flying everywhere. A solid coloured ball sank into one of the hole and Reid smirked. "Like so. Now you try."
I hesitantly bent over the table, picking out one to try and knock in. Before I could even draw back Reid's voice stopped me.
"Not like that. Here, let me show you." Before I could do anything Reid stepped up behind me, wrapped his arms around me and fixed my position. I could feel his warm body pressed up against mine, his strong fingers wrapped around mine. I suppressed a shiver and tried to make myself snap out of it. I did not have any feelings for Reid.
"There," he whispered in my ear. "Try that."
I lined up the shot and knocked the white ball with the stick. The ball hit the striped ball head on and it landed in the basket. Reid nodded approvingly.
"All right, you got one in, you can go again."
We continued playing for another hour, and I quickly learned the finer points of the game and was challenging Reid for lead. I watched with amusement as he tried to figure out the best way to get the ball in the net. I sipped at my drink and decided to have some fun at his expense.
"Don't mess up," I said mockingly as he drew back to shoot. Reid looked over his shoulder at me and glowered. "No pressure," I continued brightly when he turned back to the table. I saw him muscles tense under his shirt and I smothered more giggles.
He hit the ball and his last ball ended up in the net. He smirked at me and I shrugged and sauntered over to the table. I just had to get the eighth ball in and I would win. I was carefully lining up my shot when I felt Reid come up behind me. I tensed and waited for Reid to pull whatever distracting moves he was planning. I felt his body heat against my body and this time I couldn't stop my shiver. His hot breath tickled the back of my neck and he whispered seductively in my ear.
"Don't mess up."
I scowled and brought my elbow back into his gut, making him stumbled back a few paces. I collected my thoughts and coolly shot the ball in the net. I smirked in satisfaction and turned back to Reid.
"Cough it up loser," I teased. He rolled his eyes at me and passed me a twenty dollar bill which I pocketed. "Thank you."
"You're welcome," he grumbled.
"Hey Reid!" someone called out. I watched as Reid stiffened and turned to none other than Aaron. I scowled at him as he approached and he ignored me as he fixed Reid with a challenging glare.
"Wanna play? Forty says I win."
Reid grinned. "You're on."
I watched the two boys set up and play the game, not having anything else to do. I took the time to analyze Reid. A cocky smirk was on his face as he taunted Aaron while they played. The smirk only grew bigger as the game continued. He was kicking Aaron's ass. His overconfidence was going to bite him in the ass one day. Reid let out a whoop of triumph once the eighth ball sunk in a hole and smirked triumphantly as Aaron grudgingly passed over forty bucks.
I resisted the urge to laugh right in their faces. They must think they're all that, gambling. It probably made them feel so cool, pretending to be the bad boys. Probably got in fights over it too, getting rushes from the 'danger'. How…pathetic. Still, I should dig deeper before I pass judgement.
"Hey Reid," I called before he could walk away. He grinned and sauntered over to me.
"What is it? Impressed by my skills?" He chuckled and leaned in seductively. "I'm skilled in other areas too."
I rolled my eyes and ignored his comments. "Do you often play pool against Aaron?"
He smirked. "Yep, and kick his ass every time."
I played along my hypothesis. "That can't make him too happy, you guys fight over it a lot?"
He chuckled. "Yep."
I arched an eyebrow at him. "You think you're such a bad boy, don't you."
"Hell yeah. You like that?" he whispered in my ear.
I snorted. "Hardly."
He leaned back, surprised by my words. "What?"
"I'm not one of those blonde bimbos who will get impressed by your trivial display of bad ass."
He glared at me. "What the hell do you know?" he spat.
"You get a rush from this, don't you? Gambling, the chance of a small scuffle, drinking underage, maybe you're addicted to something, I don't know, but you do it all for the same reason. You see a risk when you do this and you love the thrill. What you don't see is that there isn't really any danger here at all. Your boys are here, they got you're back if you get in a fight." I snorted again. "And even the fights you get in here aren't dangerous, just all show and pomp. You aren't gambling much, you can afford to lose; and drinking underage is so common these days and I bet you have a million and one ways to get away even if cops showed up. You can get help for addictions, you have your friends for support, and the money to pay for it all." I shook my head. "You're so damn lucky Reid. And I think you can do so much better than this."
"You don't know what the hell you're talking about," Reid spat at me angrily.
"Really?" I asked, amused by his response.
"You think just by knowing me for a few days you can completely analyze me and know what goes on in my head? It doesn't work that way!"
"So I'm wrong?" I challenged him. "I'm completely and utterly wrong?"
"Yes!"
"So why are you getting so mad?" Before he could answer me I turned on my heel and walked away. People only get so angry when they know there's at least a grain of truth in what was said. This case was no different. I knew that. And I knew he did too.