I frowned at myself in the mirror. Who the hell was I? Sometimes I felt like the outdoorsy girl that grew up in a small town, and sometimes I felt like the science geek and computer programmer that lived at Dartmouth.
I felt the pull of both personalities. I was still the girl I used to be, still the girl from Ridgewood, but I was someone else, too. It was hard acclimating to what I had slowly changed into. I hadn’t noticed anything different when I was living at school, but being home made it so clear.
I had moved on somehow. But the world felt like it stood still.
I walked out of the bathroom and into my bedroom, lying down on the bed, my hair still wet. The party was still a few hours away, but I knew I needed to start getting ready sooner rather than later. Reid probably wouldn’t wait for me.
That was the curse of having long hair. It took absolutely forever to dry.
I put on Netflix and started to get dressed, and two hours drained away, just like that. By the time the fourth episode of Chopped
finished, I was mostly ready to go. I stuck my head out of my door.
“Reid?” I called out.
There was no reply. It was nine already, and we were supposed to leave in an hour. Frowning, I walked down the hall and knocked on his door.
“Reid?” Still no answer. Cautiously, I pushed his door open. “I’m coming in, so uh, please have clothes on.”
The room was empty. Frowning, I walked inside, not exactly sure what compelled me to go in there.
It was more or less how I remembered it. He kept the place pretty neat. Posters of famous climbers were hung on his wall, and a few small trinkets decorated the windowsill. I walked over and picked up a small wooden rabbit, obviously hand-carved. It felt smooth and warm in my hands.
“Like it?”
I nearly jumped out of my skin. “Reid,” I said. “I was just, uh, looking for you.”
He stood in the doorway grinning at me. He was covered in dirt and sweat, and he was still wearing his climbing gloves. I stared at his bulging muscles, his ripped, lean body standing confidently in front of me.
“Well, you found me.”
“Right. Uh, just wanted to check about the party.”
He nodded. “We’re still on, college girl.”
I put the rabbit back in its spot. “Were you climbing?”
“Sure was. What tipped you off?”
I frowned. Why was he being such an asshole?
“Okay, well, I’ll see you in an hour.”
I moved to leave.
“My dad made it,” he said suddenly.
I looked back at him. “What?”
“The rabbit,” he said, nodding at it. “He carved it for me when I was a little kid.”
“Oh. It’s really good.”
I hadn’t heard much about Reid’s dad. I knew he had died when we were both really young, but neither Reid nor Cora talked much about him. I figured it was just too painful for them.
“He made a bunch of stuff like it. But that’s all I have left.”
“Does your mom have anything?”
“Not sure. If she does, she never showed me.”
I wished I knew what else to say. He had never opened up to me before, and it took me a little off guard.
“You should shower.”
He smirked. “Care to join me?”
“No, thanks. Already got my hair wet once today.”
“You can wear a shower cap. Makes no difference to me.”
I rolled my eyes and left his room. I heard him laughing behind me as I shut my own door on him.
That was typical of Reid. One second he’s talking about his dead father, and the next he’s saying some dirty thing about me. He knew exactly how to drive me crazy, making me want to kiss his lips softly one second and wishing he would bury his mouth between my legs the next.
I had no clue how I was going to survive the summer with him.
He was quiet in the car. I sank back into the seats of the truck and felt the vibrations move up along my legs. I glanced over at him, taking in his muscular body. He was wearing basic jeans and a T-shirt, but he pulled it off.
He glanced at me and caught me looking. He grinned. “You look good,” he said.
“Thanks.”
“Too good for this party. You’re going to attract plenty of creeps.”
“Pretty sure I already have one right here,” I muttered.
He laughed. “I’m not half as bad as some of these guys.”
“If it’s so dangerous, why are you going?” I snapped.
He was quiet for a second, considering. “You get used to it after a while.”
“Then I’ll get used to it.”
He shook his head. “I’m not sure you will, Becca.”
I rolled my eyes and looked out the window. His whole overprotective thing was getting a little lame, and I just wanted to get away from him.