He waves his index finger in a circle. “Do the thing with the sleeves. The roll-up thing. Aren’t boyfriend clothes supposed to be in?”
His use of the word boyfriend has me feeling twenty degrees warmer, but I can’t let Reed know how easily he affects me or he’ll use it against me all the time. “It’s boyfriend jeans, and fine, but just this once,” I grumble, scrunching up the sleeves so I can actually use my hands at the bakery today without Reed’s cuffs getting in all the flour.
We grab a couple snacks from the kitchen before heading out.
“So what do you want to do this weekend?” Reed asks once we get on the road to the bakery.
“I don’t want to go to an Astor party.” I wrinkle my nose. “And we should do something with Val because Tam’s an asshole and I don’t want her to be alone.”
“There’s a farm that has a big maze and a pumpkin toss we could go to.”
“We? As in you and your brothers we?” I ask hopefully.
“Yeah, all of us. We’ll take our testosterone out on the fruit and then you and I can go make out in the maze.”
“You sound very sure of yourself.”
He smirks. “I have scratches on my back this morning.”
“You do not!” I exclaim and then suck in breath. “Do you?” I ask quietly, looking at my nails.
Reed keeps smiling but wisely changes the subject. “How is Val anyway?”
I tuck my hands under my thighs. “Not good. She misses her ex.” I wish she could see how much better off she is without that cheating Tam, but I don’t hand out relationship advice. In the backrooms of strip clubs, more than one friendship is ruined when a woman tries to point out obvious flaws in her friend’s man.
A sudden thought strikes me. Reed is a year older than I am. Next year I’ll still be at Astor Park and he’ll be gone. He once said he wanted to put an ocean between him and Bayview. I know why now, but the thought of him being so far away is gut wrenching.
“Am I going to have to worry about you at college?” I ask nervously.
“No.” He reaches over and places a hand on my knee to give me a reassuring squeeze. “Val’s man wants to try a bunch of different stuff out, but I’ve already…” He pauses and searches for the right word. “I don’t mean this to sound bad about your dad, but Steve had all the women he wanted in the world and none of that made him happy. I don’t need to sleep around to know what I want.”
His words, gah, his words are like sunshine baking sweetness into every pore of my body. Suddenly I pray that I didn’t make a mistake agreeing to give him another chance. If he hurts me again, I don’t think I’ll survive it.
Reed pulls to a stop outside of the bakery and leans over to curl his hand around the back of my neck. Before I can protest, he plants a hard, possessive kiss against my lips.
“Meet you at the parking lot,” he growls against my mouth.
He doesn’t wait for an answer, but speeds off to practice. I give myself another mental headslap for enjoying his caveman behavior, but I can’t keep the smile off my face as I enter the bakery.
The morning goes by quickly. I thought it would drag while I moped and missed Reed’s company, but instead I’m energized. Maybe that’s what good almost-sex does for a person. I wonder how I’ll feel after the real thing. Like a superhero? Like I could leap tall buildings with one jump and single-handedly hold up falling airplanes in the sky?
The fact that I found a pair of used panties in my locker doesn’t even bother me. I mean, I’m going to have to start wearing rubber gloves everywhere, but even my tormenters at Astor Park Prep can’t get me down now.
“Did you get laid last night?” Val demands as we set down our lunch trays later.
Do I have a sign on my forehead? “Why? What do you see?”
“You have this sick, happy face that people who get it regular and get it good wear.” She slumps with disgust into her seat.
“I didn’t get laid last night,” I promise her.
“You did something.” She inspects me carefully, as if there’s some evidence of Reed’s fingers on my face. “With him?” She tips her head in the direction of the cashier, where Reed is paying for his lunch. My face must have given it away, because she groans. “You did. You took him back. Why?”
My spine feels all prickly. Val isn’t usually judgmental, but right now her disapproval is written all over her face. “What, are you going to unfriend me now?” I say sarcastically.
Her expression instantly softens. “No! Of course not. But I don’t understand. You said you couldn’t forgive him.”
“I guess I was wrong.” I sigh. “I love him, Val. Maybe it makes me the dumbest girl on the planet, but I really want to try to make things work with him. I…miss him.”