by Jenika Snow
“Morning, kids. I’m Judy, and I’ll be takin’ care of ya’ll today. You want somethin’ to drink, sugar?” Despite the outfit and the high ponytail with the pink bow hanging from it, their waitress had to be in her forties.
“Um, water, please.”
“Kiera, you have to try their hot chocolate. It’s amazing.” Reese grinned wide, flashing his straight white teeth. It was already in the low seventies and expected to climb by noon, but how could she say no to a face like that?
“It comes with whipped cream.” He wagged his eyebrows, and she laughed.
“Okay, hot chocolate.”
Their waitress popped her gum and smiled down at her. “Smart cookie, although I wouldn’t have said no to a face like that either.” Judy hitched her thumb in Reese’s direction, and Kiera felt her face heat with embarrassment.
After Reese ordered the same thing and insisted she try their southwest omelet, they were left alone. The silence descended around them, and she ducked her head. He was acting so out of character.
“You’re pretty shy, you know that?”
Kiera looked up at him and watched as he brought his glass of water to his mouth and took a drink. It was such a mundane act, but watching his perfectly formed lips curve around the glass seemed very intimate. Ugh, her thoughts were going to be the death of her. She didn’t respond, and he sighed.
“I make you nervous, don’t I?”
“Yeah.” The word just came from her, and she immediately felt embarrassed. His laughter had her growing even more humiliated.
“Hey, you’re blushing.”
Dammit! “Ugh, you’re making it worse,” Kiera said but couldn’t help but smile. She certainly didn’t like it being pointed out, and she had always hated the way she turned red at the drop of a hat.
“I’m sorry.” The sincerity in his voice had her looking up at him. He still had a small smile on his lips, but there was a softness reflected in his eyes.
“You come here a lot?” He started laughing, and she lifted a brow, wondering why in the hell he thought her question was so funny. “What?” Crossing her arms under her breasts she waited for him to get control of himself and respond.
“Nothing.” He chuckled a few more times than sobered. “Your question just sounded like a really bad pick-up line.”
For a moment all she did was stare at him, but then couldn’t help it when she started laughing as well. “Okay, I’ll give you that one.” She wiped the tears form the corner of her eyes and smiled widely. When was the last time she had actually laughed? She couldn’t even remember.
He leaned back in the booth and threw an arm over the back of it. “I actually come here a lot when I just want to get away, yah know?” He stared at her intensely.
“Yeah, I know what you mean.” And she did, especially now that everything seemed to be spiraling out of control.
He was quiet for several long moments, but then said, “You want to tell me why you were crying in the hall?” Why did he have to follow up a happy moment with a question like that? When she didn’t answer he said, “Was it because of what happened at Haden’s party?” His voice had gotten harder, and a look at his face showed a mask of darkness had covered it. It was clear he was angry, but she was perplexed why he would care how she felt. Yes, he had helped her, but she didn’t think any guy would care so much if a girl was still emotional days later. It didn’t seem like it would be in their genetic make-up, but then again Reese was turning out to be totally different on so many levels from how she first perceived him.
“I don’t really want to talk about it.” There was no way she was going to tell him what she heard Andrea say, or that she had broken down and had absolutely no control over her emotions. That was laying it all out, and Kiera wasn’t that comfortable around him.
“Okay, fair enough.” He leaned forward and rested his forearms on the table. She couldn’t help but stare at the swirling ink that covered his flesh. “Just so you know, I’m here if you want to talk to me.”
His words took her back a bit, and she couldn’t help but ask, “Why are you being so nice to me?” For a moment she thought she saw a flicker of surprise cross his face, but he quickly hid it. He leaned back in the booth and took another drink from his water. He had thrown up a wall because of her words. Before he could answer their waitress brought their cocoa.
“Ya’ll’s food will be out soon.” She popped her gum, gave them a grin, and turned to leave. There was a moment Kiera thought he wouldn’t answer, but then he did speak, and his words had her pulse increasing.
“Contrary to what people say about me, I’m not a coldhearted bastard.” A muscle in his jaw clenched when he gritted his teeth. “At least not all the time.” His grin was anything but pleasant. “I do care about when a girl is almost raped.”
He had successfully made her feel like the biggest bitch in the world. “I’m sorry.”
“Nah, it’s cool. You don’t owe me an apology. It isn’t like my reputation is all that great anyway.” He smiled, but he was kind of sad.
He wasn’t at all like she thought. “You hold yourself so different from what I’ve seen at school. It’s like the guy I see at school isn’t the same one in front of me.”
“I don’t know if that’s good or bad.”
The waitress came by and set their food in front of them. “If you kids need anything just give me a holler.”
The smell of ham and cheese filtered up from the omelet, and Kiera’s mouth watered. She wasn’t much of a breakfast person, but her appetite had been nonexistent over the weekend. “It smells great.”
“It tastes even better,” he said over a mouthful of food. Kiera dug in, and before she knew it her plate was empty and so was her mug of hot chocolate.
For several moments neither said anything. She looked out the window and watched the cars drive up and down the small street in front of the diner. When she turned back it was to see him intently watching her. Nervousness washed through her, and she started twisting her napkin in her lap. “What?”
“You didn’t tell me if it was a good or bad thing.”
“Oh.” Kiera cleared her throat. For some reason Reese made her feel extremely vulnerable. “I didn’t mean it in a bad way. I guess I can’t really compare since I don’t talk to you at school or anything, but you seem…” She certainly didn’t want to offend him, not after everything he had done for her. The lyrics for “Earth Angel” played from the jukebox, and she let her eyes look over at it. An older couple, maybe in their fifties, swayed to the music. It was a bit strange, but cute nonetheless.
“Like a total douche?” His question had her looking at him again. He cocked a brow but smiled to show her he was teasing.
“I don’t think I’d go as far as calling you a douche.” And just like that, he put her at ease. “You seem angry at school.” Kiera wasn’t going to bring up the fact he also seemed destructive with his life. He slept around, drank, smoked cigarettes, and got into fights.
He looked away from her and stared out the window. He suddenly seemed upset, and she had offended him. Calling him angry seemed far less insulting then being known as a douche. “I’m sorry if I upset you.”
“Quit apologizing, Kiera.” His voice was hard, and she instantly felt uncomfortable.
“I’m sorry.”
His bark of laughter had her eyes widening and her looking up at him.
“You’re something else, Kiera.” His grin took up his whole face, and she felt herself smiling in return.
“Is that a good thing or a bad thing?” She threw his own question back in his face. For several moments he didn’t respond, just watched her with his incredibly sexy blue eyes.
“It’s a very good thing.”
Chapter Three
By the time Reese dropped her off at her house her parents were gone. A beat of awkwardness filled the interior. “Creep” by Radiohead played through the speakers, which helped to fill some of that silence, but it was still a littl
e uncomfortable. She was in Reese Trenton’s car, had just eaten breakfast with him, and now he was sitting in front of her house. It was surreal to say the least.
“So, thanks for the escape route and breakfast.” Kiera was horrible at the whole teasing thing, but Reese’s smile didn’t make her feel like such an ass.
“Any time, Kiera.” God, would she ever get used to hearing him say her name?
She grabbed her bag from the floor and reached for the handle. Before she could climb out of the car his words stopped her.
“Hey, Kiera?”
She looked over her shoulder. “Yeah?”
For a moment he looked nervous, which was a strange combination since he was so big and lethal looking. “I, uh.” He cleared his throat and said. “Maybe you’d like to hang out again?”
Surprise had her mouth opening and closing a few times before she finally said, “What?”
He lifted his hand and ran it over the back of his neck. “Yeah, I mean crazy that I actually think you might want to hang out with me, but I’m hoping you do.” He cut his eyes to her, and for the first time since she had seen him in the halls freshman year he looked scared. Was he actually frightened of what her response would be?”
“But why?”
His brow furrowed. “Why what?”
“Why do you want to hang out with me?” Kiera didn’t hang out with the same people he did, and certainly didn’t look like the girls that always seemed to cling to him. She was honestly curious.
“Seriously?”
She turned in her seat so she faced him again. “Yeah. I mean hanging out with me might mean social suicide for you. Besides, I don’t think Andrea would like me hanging out with you.” Andrea, with her too-big breasts and perfect body, would go ape-shit crazy at even the idea of Kiera being seen with Reese. But making an enemy of that girl meant a lot of trouble down the road for Kiera.
“What does Andrea have to do with anything? And why would you think what I care about what people think?”
No, Reese wouldn’t care what anyone thought. That was something she had noticed about him right away. “I just thought you and Andrea were … you know.” At his questioning look she said, “A couple or something. I’m really not in the business of starting crap with girls that would make the rest of my school year hell.” Kiera shouldn’t care about Andrea, but she also knew the other girl was cruel and ruthless, and even if she did ignore Andrea it would be extremely hard. Kiera just wanted to finish these last few weeks of her senior year in peace and under the radar.
“I’m not with Andrea, or anyone else for that matter. I don’t give a shit what people think, and neither should you. Don’t worry about her, anyway. She’s more bark than bite.” His upper body was partially facing her, and she couldn’t help but inhale his scent as it saturated the interior of the car.
He stayed quiet, as if he waited for her to respond. She would probably regret this down the line, but there was no denying she enjoyed Reese’s company. He was so different from what she had pegged him as, and she felt ashamed for labeling him by rumors and his appearance.
She didn’t want to be known as one of those people who judged and labeled others, and she needed to rectify that. She threw caution to the wind and said, “Yeah, I’d like to hang out with you, Reese.”
****
Reese watched Kiera head into her house. His heart hammered behind his ribs, and all he could think about, all he could hear in his mind, was her saying she wanted to hang out with him. When he asked her a part of him hoped she would tell him to fuck off. Maybe then he could forget about her. Telling himself that if he just stayed away things would be good, was a big fucking lie. Yet here he was, asking her out for fuck’s sake for what? Did he actually think things would turn out well? He knew enough about himself that he couldn’t settle down, had never wanted to, not until Kiera had looked at him with big frightened eyes after he kicked the shit out of Josh. It was like all those years they didn’t speak, didn’t look at each other, had never happened. It was in that moment that he knew he wouldn’t stay in the background any longer.
Before she thought he was some psycho for still sitting in front of her house, he pulled away and started driving. He had no destination in mind, but going back to school or “home” certainly wasn’t on the top of his list. His phone started ringing, and he pulled it out of his pocket. Andrea’s number flashed across the screen, and he contemplated letting it go to voicemail, but she would only keep calling. He swiped his finger across the screen to answer it.
“Yeah?” He didn’t plan on going back to school, so that meant he had one place he was heading to, the tattoo parlor that Max owned.
“Baby, why aren’t you at school?” Her voice was whiney.
He clenched his jaw and tightened his hand on the steering wheel. “I’ve told you not to call me that, Andrea.” He took a sharp left and headed a mile to the edge of the city limits.
Andrea exhaled in the dramatic way she always did and said in a voice too saccharine to be convincing, “I’m sorry, Reese.” The sound of her heels clacking against the tiled floor was loud enough that he had to turn the volume down on his phone.
“What is it that you need?” After he dropped Andrea off after Haden’s party he hadn’t been with her in any way. No phone calls, no sex, no nothing. He had explained that whatever it was she thought they were going to be just wasn’t happening. He never said he wasn’t a bastard, but Andrea was a different breed altogether, and going straight to the point was the only way he was going to get through to her. She was ruthless and cold and knew how to stab someone in the heart and twist the blade so it didn’t heal.
“Heard that Kiera Sheppard got in your car and you two drove off.”
“Yeah? And?” The slow, angry exhale that came through the receiver had him questioning why he was even still talking to her. Andrea didn’t give a shit about anyone, least of all him. She already admitted that the two of them being together would make them invincible, as if her only goal in life was to be some kind of fucking power couple in the halls of Montessa State. Her priorities were fucked up, and it had taken him seeing an honest and pure girl to figure that out.
“Reese, I thought we agreed that us together just makes sense. She’s a nobody, Reese, a social outcast.” She didn’t need to say Kiera’s name for him to know exactly who she was talking about.
“There is no ‘me and you’, Andrea. And the fact that you’re calling me and taking all this shit about Kiera is doing nothing but putting you in a bad place with me.” He didn’t wait for her response. Reese ended the call and tossed his cell on the passenger seat. The tattoo parlor came into view, and he parked in front of the entrance. The small building was on the rougher side, with fading white paint and in need of a new roof, but anyone who wanted quality ink came to Max’s. A neon sign on the front window flashed “OPEN” in bright blue letters. Reese pushed the front door open and saw Max working on a client. He took a seat behind the front desk and waited.
“Shouldn’t you be in school?” Max said without looking up from his work. He was currently inking an anchor in the center of some burly man’s chest. Max might be old as hell, but nothing got by him. Another ten minutes passed, and then Max was cleaning the guy up and seeing him out. He came to stand on the other side of the counter and stared down at Reese with knowing, dark brown eyes.
“What’s up, kid? And tell me why the fuck you ain’t in school. I thought we discussed this?”
Reese leaned back in the chair and put his hands behind his head. “I didn’t skip just because I felt like it.”
“No? Then tell me why you are here instead of there. You only got like a couple weeks left, right?” The sound of buzzing filled the small interior. Jonas’s, one of Max’s employees, was busy tattooing a customer in the far corner.
“I was helping a girl out.”
Max cocked a bushy white eyebrow at him. He leaned his thick, heavily tattooed forearms on the counter. “So now you’r
e ditching class for some pussy on the side?”
Even though Max never minced his words and called it like he saw it, Reese couldn’t help but get pissed at Kiera being referred to as something like that. Max must have seen the emotion flicker across his face because he made a deep noise in the back of his throat and watched Reese intently.
“So I take it this girl is more than just a little sweet-butt on the side?”
Reese blew out a breath. He had never spoken to Max about Kiera, had never told anyone about her in fact. The idea of mixing her name in the muck that he hung around with left a bad taste in his mouth. Not all his friends were douche-bags, but the majority of them, especially the older ones, were downright assholes. “She’s a hell of a lot more than that.”
After a moment Max muttered, “Huh.”
“What?”
Max walked around and planted his ass in the chair beside Reese. “Nothin’. I just ain’t never seen yah clam up like this before, especially not concerning no female. She must be somethin’ special.”
“Yeah, she is, Max.”
“You want to talk about it, kid?”
Did he? A part of him said yes, while another part wanted to keep her all to himself. This was Max though, the man who had found him wandering along the road when he was twelve. Reese had been hungry, cold, and dirty. Max had taken him to his home, and his wife, Karen, had fixed him up. She had died five years back, a hard reality to both of them.
“I’ve wanted her since I first saw her freshman year. She’s everything good and perfect in the world, and I have nothing to offer her.”
“What in the fuck are you talkin’ about, Reese?” Max slapped his palm right over his heart and stared at him in the eyes. “You feel your heart beating? You feel the strong, heavy pumping within your chest?” Reese nodded. “I’ve told you this a million times, but I’m gonna tell you again.” He leaned forward an inch. “You don’t let anything nasty that has happened in your past affect your future. You’re strong, smart, and damn good lookin’.” Max chucked him on the chin before standing. When Reese didn’t say anything Max looked at him again. “You understand me, right?”