Side Effects

by Lisa Suzanne

  “Someone needs to teach him a lesson.”

  “Grant, stop it. We’ve got enough shit to deal with. I don’t need you getting your ass kicked on top of everything else.”

  “Fuck that. I’ll kick that bastard’s stupid ass.”

  “Just stop,” I pleaded. “I can’t deal with any more right now.” I felt tears pricking my eyes.

  He glared at me. “Someone needs to do something.”

  “Then let Reed press charges when he’s awake again. Just don’t get involved.”

  “How can you even say that? This involves my sister and one of my best friends. Like it or not, I’m fucking involved.”

  I managed to get him to calm down, but all it served to do was rile me up.

  I needed to see Tyler. I needed him to tell me in person that he hadn’t done it. I needed him to lie to my face so I could bust him and call him out.

  So after I calmed down my brother, I turned a complete 180. I was a total hypocrite as I got in my car and drove.

  Reed was in a deep sleep, and he wouldn’t miss me during the few minutes this confrontation would take me.

  But this was definitely a confrontation that I needed to have.

  He worked Saturday nights, not Saturday afternoons, so I drove toward his apartment. I saw his Jeep in the parking lot, so I knew he’d be home.

  I knocked on his front door and waited. He opened it a moment later but stood to block me from entering.

  I almost gagged a little just looking at him. He was still hot, but now that I knew what he had done, he looked ugly to me. I felt a collision of emotions inside of me, and of course they came out in the form of my words.

  “What the fuck did you do, you asshole?” I screamed in the hallway. I slammed my fists on his door, and it flew open.

  A half-naked woman relaxed on his couch. I looked at her and back to him, and I just shook my head. I recognized her as a regular at Strikers, a blonde with giant tits – Ty’s exact type.

  I glanced down at his hands. They were busted up and bruised, clear evidence that he’d gotten into a fight. Although judging from Reed’s injuries, it wasn’t much of a fight. It was more of an asshole jumping a defenseless, vulnerable victim.

  He looked surprised at my force, and a look of shame crossed briefly into his eyes but was replaced immediately with a sneer. I had to wonder if that shame was because he’d beat the shit out of Reed or if it was because of the woman I’d caught him with. It didn’t matter, though, because it was so short-lived that it was like it hadn’t even happened.

  “You can’t just force your way in here, Quinn.” He glanced nervously over at Half-Naked Giant Tits.

  “Looks like I did. What the fuck were you thinking?”

  “I don’t have any idea what the fuck you’re talking about.”

  “He’s awake. Not that you fucking care since you left him to die in an alley, but he knows it was you.”

  Another look flashed in his eyes. I detected it before he could mask it: fear.

  But once again, snide Ty came out. “I’ll deny everything.”

  “Your hands tell a different story, fucktard.”

  “Fuck off, Quinn.”

  “Is that the best you’ve got?” I pushed him hard in the chest. He stumbled back.

  “Oh, you’re going to defend your little boyfriend by beating me up now?”

  “You wouldn’t hit a girl. Or, more likely, you can’t because your hands are fucked up.”

  “Get the fuck out of my apartment.”

  I looked at Half-Naked Giant Tits. She looked bored. If I was in her position and some girl came over to yell at the man I’d obviously just fucked, I’d at least be a little concerned. A little defensive. Interested in the conversation.

  Her eyes held a blank stare. I walked over to her. “Tyler will fuck you, and it will be amazing, but then he will fuck you over. He is not a good person. He will use you and make you feel good for a minute, but the rest of the time, he’ll make you feel like shit. He’s not worth it. Don’t say that nobody warned you.”

  I walked back to Tyler. “This isn’t over. All of this just confirms that you did it.”

  “You’re such a bitch.”

  “Fuck you, Tyler.”

  “I’m moving to California,” he blurted.

  “Good. I want your stupid face out of this state.”

  “Aren’t you even curious why I’m moving?”

  I shook my head. “Not really.”

  “Twisted Effects is going for the big time,” Half-Naked Giant Tits on the couch piped up.

  I ignored her because I hadn’t been lying when I said I wasn’t curious. I really didn’t want to know why he was moving. “So then what was the bullshit you tried selling me the other morning about wanting more with me?”

  His eyes darted over to Half-Naked Giant Tits and then back to me. He didn’t say anything.

  “That’s what I thought. You just wanted to stake a claim on me. You never cared about me or my happiness.”

  “That’s not true, Quinn.”

  “You can’t just blindly go through life beating people up and not paying for it.”

  He shrugged, and I had to wonder how many times he’d done this same thing before. He floated through life, bouncing from one woman to the next, using and abusing and taking it out on all the wrong people for all the wrong reasons.

  He’d get away with it. He’d never have to pay because it was just who Tyler Claiborne was.

  “Have a nice life, asshole.”

  I turned to leave, knowing I hadn’t accomplished much.

  But just before I walked out the door, an idea hit me. I turned back around.

  I took a deep breath. “Ty?” I said softly, forcing a gentleness into my voice.

  His eyes met mine.

  “One more thing,” I said, walking over to him.

  I pretended that I was walking over to give him a parting goodbye hug. Just as he leaned in toward me, I brought my knee up with a vengeance to connect forcefully with his balls.

  I heard a grunt escape his mouth as he bent over in pain, grabbing the nuts that I’d just decimated.

  “You fucking bitch!” he moaned behind me.

  I couldn’t help my grin as I walked out the door, feeling at least somewhat accomplished after my visit with Tyler. I didn’t know if Reed planned to make him pay for what he did, but at least I’d exacted some sort of revenge on Twatwaffle Tyler.

  As I drove to my own apartment, I had to wonder if I had just made things a little worse by going to “talk” to him.

  The news that he was moving to California with the band wasn’t exactly shocking. He’d never hit it big playing a random gig every few weeks in Phoenix, but the big time was what he wanted.

  And Tyler almost always got what he wanted.

  He was persistent, and the fact that he wanted me and couldn’t have me because of another man obviously drove him to do what he did.

  I went to my apartment and took a shower, feeling disgusted after having dealt with Tyler. The worst part to me was that he had no remorse whatsoever. He’s played it off like he hadn’t done anything wrong, but it was clear that he had.

  For being so damn torn up over me choosing Reed over him, he sure moved onto a new blonde awfully fast. Or maybe she was his alibi. She’d probably wanted to get into his pants, but he’d always been busy with me.

  God, was I that naïve? Even as I thought it, I realized that he’d probably been fucking us both the whole time despite his declaration that he wanted more with me.

  Clearly I’d made the right choice.

  But as I stood under the hot steam in my shower and cleaned off the grimy feeling of my interaction with Tyler, I found myself faced with a new choice.

  Reed had gotten hurt more than once because of me.

  Now I needed to decide whether I should stay with him because I had fallen in love with him or if I should leave him because I had fallen in love with him.

  He didn’t de
serve the pain he was in, and I couldn’t get that picture of his beautiful face marred by bruises and blood out of my head. I couldn’t eliminate the image of that horrible flinch across his face just from trying to take a deep breath because he had all of those broken ribs.

  And I’d hurt his heart more than once in the short time we had known each other.

  He wouldn’t have any of that pain – internal nor external – if I hadn’t come into his life. If we’d never run into each other at Strikers. If he hadn’t swing-hugged me in celebration after our Cornhole victory.

  If he hadn’t made love to me.

  I couldn’t change what had happened, but I could be his first line of defense in the future.

  I made sub plans and called into work for Monday and Tuesday of the following week, figuring I’d call in for longer if I needed to based on how Reed was recovering. And then I made one stop before I headed back to Grant’s.

  It was dinnertime when I walked in the front door, and I realized that I had hardly eaten in the past twenty-four hours. Grant was out, and I checked on Reed, who was still asleep.

  I poured myself a bowl of cereal and the spoon was halfway to my lips when my cell phone started ringing.

  Dammit. Something about Grant’s house seemed to always prevent me from being able to eat cereal.

  “Preppy Porter” flashed across my screen.

  “You awake?” I answered.

  “Yeah.” His voice was weak from sleep.

  “Be right in.”

  Those gorgeous blue eyes met mine when I walked into the room. Despite the bruises, I could see the love he had for me expressed in his eyes. We’d only said those words once the night before, and he had obviously been under a haze of painkillers. I wondered if he even remembered.

  He glanced at the present I’d stopped to pick up on my way home: a balloon with a giant owl saying, “Get well soon!”

  A soft smile lit his face as I tied it to the desk chair.

  “How are you feeling?” I asked, sitting beside him.

  “Like I got hit by a train.”

  I chuckled as it was the same line he’d used the night before, followed by his pronouncement that he’d heard my declaration of love.

  “What can I do to make it better?”

  His eyes took on a wicked gleam.

  “Good try, Preppy. Not likely based on the broken ribs.”

  “But it’ll make me feel so much better,” he whined, and I giggled.

  “No. I’ll let you watch while I take care of myself, if you want.”

  “Jesus.”

  I grinned at him.

  “I was talking about painkillers,” he said.

  “Fucking liar. Are you hungry?”

  “A little. It’s hard to think about food when I’m in this much pain, though.”

  “I’m so sorry, Reed.”

  “Stop apologizing. Can we go in the family room for a while? I need a change of scenery.”

  “Of course,” I said. He was an active guy, and lying in a bed for the past twenty-four hours was already driving him crazy. But he needed to rest. He needed to be still and let his ribs heal.

  I helped him out to the family room and onto the couch. I ate my cereal while I heated the soup for Reed, and then I brought it over to him.

  “Fuck.” He winced as he sat up to eat.

  “Let me help,” I said, taking the bowl and spoon. He was embarrassed to be so helpless.

  I loaded the spoon with goodies and blew on it to cool it, and then I lifted it to his lips. He ate it and looked at me sheepishly.

  “Stop it,” I whispered tenderly, and he nodded as I brought more soup to him.

  When he was done eating, I cleaned the dishes and then sat next to him, careful not to disturb him. He was lying down, and I pulled his feet gently into my lap and stroked his legs as we watched a movie together. I wasn’t paying attention at all because my focus was solely savoring every single second with Reed. I couldn’t help but think about how much time I had wasted with him at the beginning when I hadn’t even given us a chance.

  “Quinn?” Reed asked, interrupting my thoughts.

  I looked over at him. “Yeah?”

  He looked nervous.

  “In case you were wondering, I didn’t forget.”

  “Forget what?”

  “What we said last night.”

  I smiled. “I didn’t forget, either.”

  He smiled, too, and then he winced again, and it took every bit of my strength not to start crying every time I saw that look on his face.

  After the movie, I helped him back into bed with some ice, per the doctor’s orders.

  “Can we talk for a minute?” he asked.

  “Of course.” I sat on the edge of the bed, careful again not to disturb him as I held the ice on his left side.

  “First, thank you for taking care of me.”

  “Reed, don’t.”

  He chuckled. “That line sounds familiar.”

  I looked at him with curiosity.

  “The night we met, you said, ‘Don’t.’ You didn’t want anything to do with me.”

  “Well I was stupid.”

  “Nah. You just didn’t know that I’d be worth it.”

  He smiled a cheesy grin at me, and I couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re right.”

  “Always. Get used to it.”

  I was so happy to see his playful banter back. That was one thing Tyler could never take from us.

  “So what do you want to talk about?”

  “Tyler.”

  “I figured he would come up at some point.”

  “I assume it’s over between you?”

  “Obviously.”

  “Just making sure.”

  “I’ll be honest with you. I went to see him today.”

  His eyes jumped up sharply to mine. I could see the anger there. “Why?”

  “To find out why he did it.”

  “We both know why he did it. I wish you wouldn’t have gone.”

  I couldn’t take the disappointment in his eyes, so I looked away. “Are you going to press charges?”

  “What would be the point?”

  “So he could be punished for what he did?”

  He shrugged and grimaced out a curse. “He’s got to live with what he did. He lost you. That’s punishment enough.”

  “Seriously?”

  He nodded. “I don’t care about him. He got what he wanted, but so did I.”

  “How the fuck did I land you, Reed Porter?”

  “You’re a very lucky woman.”

  “Tell me about it.” A sharp pain twisted in my gut as I thought about the choice I had in front of me. Could I really give him up, even if it would be best for him?

  “I have one more thing to discuss with you.”

  “What?”

  “Are you ready to meet my parents?”

  My eyes widened. “What?”

  “I called to tell them what happened. They’re flying out tomorrow.”

  “Shit, Reed.”

  “What?” he looked at me innocently. “I’ve met your parents.”

  “That’s a little different.”

  “Why?”

  “You met them as my brother’s friend. I’ll be meeting them as…” I trailed off. I had already referred to him as my boyfriend, so I knew that was how I saw him, but I hadn’t called him that in front of him.

  “My girlfriend?” he finished for me.

  “Your girlfriend,” I confirmed. “Is that what I am?”

  “That’s what you are.”

  I leaned in and feathered a gentle kiss across his lips because in that moment, I needed to kiss him. I wasn’t a gentle kisser, but for him, I’d find a way to make the sacrifice just to feel his sweet lips beneath mine any way I could get them.

  I wanted nothing more than for him to put his hand on the back of my head and kiss me like he meant it, like he had all those times his lips crashed down over mine and our tongues collided in a
violent clash of lust.

  I knew he couldn’t. Shit, he couldn’t even lift his arm up to put on the back of my head because of his ribs. But it didn’t stop the fire from lighting inside of me just at his proximity. It didn’t stop me from wanting it.

  “What time are they getting here tomorrow?” I asked, pulling away and scooting down to snuggle into his side, carefully wrapping my arm around his abdomen so I wouldn’t accidentally hurt him. I reminded myself how much I’d already hurt him.

  “Their flight gets in just before three.”

  “Do they need a ride from the airport?”

  “They’re renting a car.” His voice was getting sleepy, the latest round of painkillers obviously kicking in.

  “Are they going to hate me?”

  “Of course not. You’re funny, you’re beautiful, and you love me. They’ll love you.”

  “I hope so.”

  “I told them not to come, but they insisted. Don’t worry.”

  “Okay. Night, Preppy Porter.”

  “Night, Quintessential Quinn.”

  I smiled at that nickname and then drifted off to sleep as I held the very delicious, very non-repulsive Reed Porter in my arms.

  CHAPTER 19

  I awoke to a horrible groaning sound, and it took me a minute to place the noise. It was coming from the man next to me, the man obviously in a lot of pain who needed a refill of painkillers. Stat.

  I rushed to the dresser where he kept the pills and gave him one, and he fell back asleep a few minutes later. I, however, was wide awake.

  And nervous as fuck to meet Reed’s parents.

  What the hell was this man doing to me?

  I’d only met parents twice. Once was Griffin, and we only met because they were at the hospital the night he died. The other was Jared.

  The meeting with Jared’s parents hadn’t been scary, but at the time, I didn’t know if I was in love with him. We had just started dating and happened to run into his parents while we were shopping.

  And now I would be meeting Reed’s parents by chance because he’d spent time in the hospital and they were visiting their son.

  And they’d be meeting the reason he was in the shape he was in.

  To say that I was nervous was a complete understatement.

  My stomach twisted in knots. I gazed at Reed from his desk chair. He was gorgeous, but he looked uncomfortable even in sleep.