Maybe This Time(70)

“Get up, Reid.” I say before turning and heading back to bed. He stands up and comes into my room, closing the door behind him. I watch as he sits down on the bed, and his hand reaches up to touch my face.

“I was worried about you,” he says quietly.

“Why? It’s not like I left for a month with no word,” I snap at him.

He breaks eye contact, looking down at his feet. “I was hurting.”

“Yeah, well, so was I.”

“I reacted badly, beauty, I’m fucking sorry, okay,” he says, turning his head back to look at me. He looks sorry, his eyes are sincere, but does it really matter?

“You came to a bar, where you know I work, and had a woman on your lap, making out with her with roaming hands. If I did that to a guy in front of you, how would you feel?” I ask.

His jaw clenches and his eyes harden. “I would seriously hurt whoever the bastard was.”

“Yeah, well, I don’t do shit like that to you, Reid.”

“I was drunk, I’d just seen Mia and she told me things…” he trails off. I can only imagine what Mia had told him. “My head was messed up.”

“And I get that. But things don’t always go how we want them, are you gonna react like this every time a problem arouses?”

“Baby, finding out my baby brother was sleeping with my ex-girlfriend and River is his, not mine, isn’t just a problem. It’s more than that,” he growls, letting his emotions take over.

“You’re right,” I admit. “I guess I’m just scared now.”

“I’ll do everything I can to prove to you I’m right for you. No one will ever love you like I do, baby, because it’s just not possible. I wanted to do some huge romantic gesture for you, to say sorry, but I’m really not a candles and rose petals kind of guy,” he cringes as he says the last few words. “But you know that about me, and you love me anyway. So I was hoping,” he swallows heavily. “I was hoping, you would give me another chance. I won’t lose you, Summer. I can’t.”

He takes my hand into his, and threads our fingers together.

His large hand enveloping my small.

“I kissed that girl in the bar. I didn’t even know who she was. And then when I woke up in the morning, she was next to me in the bed,” he says. I gasp and pull my hand out of his.

“You f-”

“Let me finish, baby. We were both fully dressed and I spoke to her, nothing happened. I promise. She said we came home and passed out because I was drunk. The only thing we did was what you saw in the bar, and I know that that’s bad enough, because it would absolutely kill me so see you be like that with someone else, but it didn’t go any further than that,” he says.

I curse. “I don’t know if I can trust you anymore.”

“Give me a chance to prove myself. I know I’ll have to work for it, and I’m willing to do anything I can,” he pleads softly.

“What about River?” I ask, biting my bottom lip.

He looks at me strangely. “I love River. He’s my nephew, and I’m still gonna be in his life. I’m gonna take care of him.”

“Good,” I whisper.

“I don’t expect you to forgive me right now, but at least let me know you'll give me a chance to make it up to you,” he says, placing his hand gently on the side of my face. I don’t answer, but move aside for him to hop into the bed. I can’t make any promises, so I won’t. His eyebrows go up and I know he was sure I was gonna kick his ass out. He smiles sweetly, and hops into the bed. With an arm around my waist he pulls me in close to his body. I know we could both use the rest, because we both look like crap right now.

“I’m so in love with you, Summer. I don’t think that will ever change,” he says into my hair.

My eyes close as I fall into deep sleep.





**


I wake up groggily, feeling like I didn’t sleep at all. Sitting up in the bed, I rub my eyes, and then stretch lazily.

“Morning,” I say, when I see Reid sitting on the edge of the bed, staring at the wall. He’s taken his shirt off, and is wearing nothing but his jeans. The muscles on his back flex as he stands up, but he still doesn’t face me.

“What’s wrong?” I ask. I grab my phone and check the time. Holy shit, I’ve been asleep for five hours. He finally turns to face me. He looks stricken, and a little pissed off.

“What is it, Reid?” I demand.

“Your phone rang and I answered it,” he grinds out.

“Okay? And?” I ask, shaking my head in confusion.

“It was Quinn. Asking if you got home okay,” he says. I pretend I don’t see his clenched fists or set jaw.