by Lisa Simmons
"But no, I'm not a skeptic anymore. At last I see what all of this ridiculous hard work is for."
Chapter 22
Reece's POV
She was still here. Her body was still pressed against mine, sleep's firm grip still on her as she cuddled against me, more entwined now than when we had fallen asleep. She lay on her stomach, but her head was fully resting on my chest with her arms wrapped around her neck. My leg pushed between hers and my arms stayed wound around her waist. It could have been suffocating, but I loved it. I loved being able to feel every inch of her pressing into my body, her warmth heating my skin and my heart at the same time.
I couldn't move for fear of waking her, so I took a few minutes just to revel in the fact that she was still in my bed, the first girl I'd ever allowed to stay over, and the first girl I'd ever wanted to. I allowed my fingers to snake under the thin material of my shirt, the skin on her lower back soft beneath the pads of my fingers.
I had been able to feel the slight shift in our relationship last night, the trust that grew between us allowing us to move forward, little steps at a time. She was slowly, excruciatingly slowly, letting me past the walls she had built up. What surprised me more, however, was how quickly I'd let her in. She only knew a small fraction of what I was actually feeling for her, but it was terrifying. I already felt extremely protective of her, so connected and pathetically needy that I hardly recognized myself.
As long as she didn't know the full extent of what I was feeling so quickly, I would be okay. I couldn't let her know how much of a grip she already had on me, or I'd ruin what was going on with us. I already knew I wanted this to work, but I was terrified of screwing it up, my lack of knowledge and habits I'd been setting myself in for years working against me.
She stirred in my grip, a quiet groan slipping from her lips as she buried her face into my neck. I could tell by the change in her breathing that she had woken up.
"Morning," I said quietly, my voice sounding like it had gravel in it.
"Hi," she responded, her arms tightening momentarily around my neck as she let her face linger in the warmth of my neck a little longer.
"What time is it?" she asked.
"8:07," I told her after glancing at the clock.
"Shit," she grumbled. "I have class at 9."
"Don't go," I said, shrugging slightly. I would be more than happy lying in bed here doing nothing with her all day.
"I have to go, it's mandatory," she said, her lips brushing against my skin as she spoke.
"Yeah but you can still skip," I argued.
"Can't," she said. "Come get coffee with me."
Her sudden request made me perk up a little as it was quickly becoming clear she was going to insist on going to class.
"Alright," I agreed. I could feel her smiling into my neck before she pressed a light kiss to my skin. She pushed herself up then, holding her weight on her elbows and glancing down at me with a grin before jumping out of bed. I reached down to snatch the covers and pull them over me, cold now that the heat of her body was gone.
I couldn't peel my eyes from her as she pulled her jeans back on, her back turning to me as she pulled my shirt over her head and put her bra and her own shirt back on.
"I liked the other one better," I told her, a smug grin plastered across my face. She cocked an eyebrow at me with a pleased smile on her face.
"I'm sure. Now get up, we don't have a lot of time," she said, tugging on the covers near my feet.
"Noooo," I grumbled, clutching them tighter and pulling them over my head. I could hear her giggling as she grabbed my legs through the covers.
"Reece, come on, let's go," she said happily. I sighed heavily before giving in and climbing out of bed, my jeans feeling too tight over my crotch as I pulled them on. Damn her and her no sex rule. Once I had a shirt and shoes on, we were quickly on our way out of my house and heading to the nearest coffee shop.
"I don't have any of my stuff," she realized as we parked and walked inside.
"Oh shoot, guess you can't go."
She slapped playfully at my arm and I grinned at her.
"I'll just listen," she said, shrugging lightly. I followed her to stand in line, just now noticing that the coffee shop was overflowing with students from our school, all waiting grumpily in line for their own coffee. I was amusing myself trying to guess what Abigail would order when I heard my name from my left.
"Reece?"
I turned to see a girl who looked very familiar, but I couldn't place her name. Dread flooded through me as I placed her face and I realized how I knew her. I had slept with her not too long ago, just like any of the easily replaceable girls I had before her. I prayed she wouldn't say anything to put Abigail off as she smiled at me and moved closer.
Abigail turned to look at her with a curious expression on her face, watching her approach with apprehension.
"Thought that was you, how's it going?" she asked, smiling at me and pushing her chest out. Even now, at 8:30 in the morning in a coffee shop, she was trying to get my attention.
"Fine, you?" I replied, really wishing I could remember her name so I wouldn't look like such a dickhead when Abigail inevitably asked who she was.
"Good, yeah. Look I don't have a lot of time, but we should get together again," she said forwardly. Her smile was starting to make me feel ill as she moved even closer, tilting her head to the side in what was supposed to be a charming smile.
"Um, sorry. I don't date," I said awkwardly, desperately wishing Abigail wasn't here for this.
She studied me further, obnoxious grin still on her face. She was yet to notice Abigail standing in front of me, the way she was facing somewhat forward making it possible to think we didn't even know each other. I wondered if she would say anything to this girl.
"There's a first time for everything, right? Didn't you have fun that night?" she said, dropping her voice and putting her hand on my arm. I was reminded very strongly of why I had never dated before; these were the normal types of girls I had taken home before Abigail, and I had no desire to ever see them again. They were so in your face and overconfident and just... annoying.
"Sorry." I said flatly, not about to admit that I'd enjoyed myself with some other girl when Abigail was standing inches away from me. The girl shot me a disappointed look before getting herself back together and reforming her fake facial expression.
"Alright, you're loss then," she said, her overly-made up eye dropping to a wink. "But if I see you again, I might not take no for an answer."
Abigail surprised me by snorting a laugh in front of me, and I was relieved to see she wasn't angry. The girl shot her an irritated look before looking back to me. To my horror I realized she was inching closer until her lips were at my ear.
"See you around, Reece," she whispered. I shivered, but not in a good way as she walked out the door.
Abigail slowly turned on the spot to face me, her lips pinched together and her eyebrows raised in amusement as she pressed her fingers into her mouth.
"Don't say a word," I warned, pinching the bridge of my nose between my fingers.
"She seems just lovely," she teased, the mock sincerity in her voice almost making me burst out laughing.
"Shut up," I said reproachfully.
She smirked at me before speaking again. "If you want to take her on a date as well I won't be mad."
"Fuck off," I said, embarrassed that she had seen one of the low caliber women I had once slept with.
She laughed and moved to stand next to me now instead of in front of me.
"I mean I thought you had standards and I felt pretty good about myself but now..."
Her tone was full of amusement and sarcasm, and I couldn't help but crack a smile.
"Yeah, you're right, maybe I will go ask her on a date 'cause I'm having second thoughts about you," I said dryly, playing along with her now.
"I don't blame you," she said, giving a sol
emn nod before grinning at me once more and throwing her shoulder into my arm playfully. My smile widened, enjoying this playful banter and the casual way we could interact when we were in public now.
We finally had reached the front of the line and I listened to Abigail order her coffee, surprising me by ordering a simple vanilla latte. For some reason I had been expecting her to order something extremely specific, but was pleased with her simple choice. I quickly followed and ordered a black coffee, pulling out my wallet and paying for both of the drinks before she could protest.
"Thank you," she said, smiling at me as we moved to the side to find a table. We found one along the side of the shop and wove our way through the crowd to sit down.
"You're welcome," I replied, returning her grin. I liked being able to treat her to things, even if it was a simple coffee. While just moments ago I had been reminded why I hadn't ever dated before, each second with Abigail made me glad I had chosen to give it a shot.
Her eyes scanned happily across the shop, a content look on her face as we waited for our coffee. She still looked so beautiful, despite wearing yesterday's clothes and not having been able to fix her hair or make up after spending the night. My staring at her was interrupted by our coffees being set on the table.
I looked up in surprise, having been expecting to have to go get our coffees from the counter like everyone else in the shop. Dread flooded through me again as I recognized yet another face from my past, her nametag telling me her name was Jenna.
"Reece," she said, an unmistakable tone of anger to her voice.
"Um, Jenna," I said, really thankful for her nametag.
"You're a dick," she said unceremoniously. Abigail's jaw dropped open in surprise, and I avoided looking at her directly as embarrassment coursed two me.
Two of them? Are you fucking kidding me?
"Um..." I didn't know what to say, unable to really argue with her statement. Surely she had expected more than one night with me when I'd slept with her a few weeks ago, but she shouldn't have. I'd never done anything to give her that impression, but I often was faced with the rage of the scorned women I slept with and never spoke to again, usually in the form of drunkenly hurled insults at parties. Those were easy to ignore; this was pretty gutsy of her to confront me in the morning, sober, while I sat here with another girl.
She continued to glare at me as I searched for something to say. I couldn't come up with anything. I blamed my impressive ability to charm practically any girl I wanted for these awkward situations whenever they came up. I knew I was good at it, and I used it to my advantage, so I probably deserved the wrath of this Jenna girl, not that I really cared.
"If I were you," she said, turning sharply to Abigail as if too disgusted to look at me any longer. "I'd get up right now and leave. He's a fucking asshole."
Abigail's eyes widened at the girl and she pressed her hand to her mouth again. I couldn't tell if it was in shock or because she was trying not to laugh. I prayed it was because she was amused, because if she took this girl seriously and actually left me, I wouldn't know what to do.
"I'll keep that in mind," she said evenly, giving the girl a sympathetic look. Jenna shot one more reproachful look at me before stomping off angrily, practically leaving steam where she had been standing.
"Wow," Abigail said, her eyebrows raised high on her forehead. "Quite the charmer, aren't you?"
"Apparently so," I said, blinking. I was relieved when she smirked at me again, clearly just as amused as the first time.
"I wouldn't drink that," she said, nodding at my coffee. "She probably spit in it."
I groaned. "Probably."
She laughed quietly before her face settled into a more thoughtful expression. I prayed she wasn't actually taking what that girl had said seriously. Even though she had laughed, I couldn't tell if there was a hint of caution now that a girl had actually warned her against me. She was quiet as she sipped her coffee, and the fear in the pit of my stomach that she believed Jenna grew larger by the second.
I just wanted to flat out ask her if she believed her, but I didn't want to come off as insecure. If she didn't believe me by now that I thought of her differently than those girls, she never would. She would have to decide by herself if she was going to continue to trust me after what had just happened. I had the horrible feeling it wouldn't be the last time, either. This campus was crawling with girls I'd slept with and never spoken to again, their varying degrees of how they'd handled it vastly different.
My coffee sat untouched as Abigail finished hers, the silence between us making me feel uneasy. I'd almost rather have her gotten mad than this odd, thoughtful silence I was now experiencing. It made me feel vulnerable and helpless, unable to take back the words of the two girls we'd just experienced.
"Are you done?" I asked politely, nodding at her coffee cup.
"Yeah," she said, shooting me a soft smile across the table before glancing at her phone to check the time. "I gotta get to class."
"I'll drop you off," I offered. Much to my relief, she smiled and agreed. This uncertainty was going to kill me.
We walked out of the shop together and I very blatantly avoided looking toward where Jenna was surely glaring at me. Abigail climbed into the passenger seat of my car and I started to drive toward campus.
"You don't... you're not gonna listen to her, are you?" I blurted, unable to take the uncertainty any longer.
"Which one?" she asked pointedly, raising an eyebrow. I winced.
"The second one... Jenna," I said, recalling her nametag.
She was quiet for a second, thinking over my question. My heart thudded nervously in my chest.
"No," she said finally, a gust of air whooshing out of my lungs in relief.
Campus wasn't far from the coffee shop and we were already approaching where I needed to drop her off.
"Is that going to happen a lot?" she asked suddenly. I bit my lip.
"Yeah, probably." There was no point in lying about it, and she might as well prepare if she stayed with me long enough.
"They're all gonna think I'm an idiot," she mused aloud. Her tone was difficult to decipher.
"Probably," I said again. She was right- they'd all look at her with pity, thinking she was just the next girl in my line, about to be used and ditched like they all had. She sucked her lips into her mouth and nodded. I parked the car in a temporary spot, letting it sit while I waited for her to speak again.
"That's alright, let them," she said, smiling at me. My heart soared in my chest and I couldn't stop myself from leaning across the car to kiss her quickly. I pulled back when I realized what I was doing, afraid she didn't want anyone to see me kiss her in public. She grinned at me, clearly okay with what I'd done, and I smiled back.
"I'll see you, Reece, thanks for the ride," she said softly. Her hand grabbed mine and raised it to her lips, pressing them into the back of my hand. My skin tingled where she touched me.
"Bye," I returned as she opened the door and hopped out, smiling at me one more time through the windshield as she walked off to class. My heart was still pounding in my chest, relieved that she hadn't listened to what either of those girls had said.
I hoped she would continue to be such a good sport, because I knew that there would definitely be a time when that would happen again and that it could potentially be much worse. I shuddered to think of it, praying she wouldn't let what anyone was surely going to say sway how she felt about me.
All I could do was wait for the inevitable and face it when it came.
"The thrill of the chase moves in mysterious ways, so in case I'm mistaken, I just wanna hear you say, 'you got me, baby, are you mine?'"
Chapter 23
I couldn't wipe the smile from my face as I made my way to class, incredibly pleased at his natural inclination to kiss me before I left. Despite all the somewhat awkward run-ins we had just experienced, I had loved my morning with him. It felt so natural alr
eady to be with him in public, just running errands like normal people. I was surprised by how easy it had been, actually, to just wake up and go get coffee like normal people.
Sure, it hadn't exactly been thrilling to run into two girls he'd slept with, both of them admittedly beautiful, but it had been very entertaining to see his reaction to their assaults. The two girls had reacted so vastly different that it made me wonder what he could have possibly said to them in order to get his way with them. Those were the thoughts that had clouded my mind on the drive over, making me quiet for much of it. It wasn't that I was scared about what they said about him, because I knew, relatively, they were right. He had been a player when he'd slept with them, but I have been fully aware of that from the beginning.
He wasn't like that with me, that much was already clear. I knew I was more than just another girl to him, so I took comfort in that. Another realization had struck me this morning that I was yet to really think of- the way people would surely judge me for being with him, if this were to work. I was sure that they would think I was a complete idiot, looking at me with pity and probably embarrassment. While I wasn't really looking forward to being judged so harshly, I reminded myself that Reece dealt with that judgment every day, which made me sad despite having fully earned it for himself.
I already knew I would easily put up with whatever bullshit people would say about me if it meant I got to work on things with Reece. He was already too important to me to care about what others had to say. The way he already made me feel was too strong for me to give up on just because of what some random girls had to say to him.
My body was still buzzing from spending the morning with Reece, my lips tingling and my mind fuzzy, which made it extremely difficult to focus in class. I found myself wishing I would have just given in to Reece and stayed with him, because it was clear I wasn't going to benefit from being in class anyway.