Page 35 of Drive

“Would you stop!” I finally heard Reid say evenly as he tried to reason with her. “I don’t have a hard-on for Stella.”

“You can’t lie to me. And you know this isn’t about her. Just . . .” She paused at the bottom step and turned to face him. “I really loved you, you know. We went wrong somewhere, but we have to let go. No more back and forth. I can’t be your comfort anymore, Reid.”

He moved to meet her on the bottom step. His hand went to her face as he leaned over and whispered to her. Lia gasped and hung her head. “Right here. Let’s end it right here before I start to really hate you.”

I couldn’t see her tears, but I knew they were there.

“I can’t believe this is it,” she choked out. “But it has to be.”

I genuinely felt for her in that moment. Selfishly, though, I hoped she meant every word she was saying.

Damn Reid and his whispers. He spoke rapidly as she nodded before she threw her arms around him and held onto him tightly. They stood there for a minute, maybe two, before she fled to her car. Reid watched her pull away before he slowly climbed the steps and disappeared back into his apartment.

CHAPTER TWELVE

“Ready or Not”

Fugees

A few days later, alone on my sister’s couch, I cranked up the Fugees while I tried to ignore the repetitive image of Reid’s full lips and bared chest when he answered the door. I stared at my blinking cursor and closed my eyes, trying to escape the circulating heat that had everything to do with a set of hazel eyes.

I was attracted to him.Big deal.I could move past that. I needed to focus on saving money and writing forSpeak. I was on a mission and didn’t need to play into Lia’s assumption. If anything, Reid was the last man I should be thinking about. But it wasn’t just thinking. It’d gone past that point and moved onto daydreaming. If I weren’t careful, it would be fixating. And the last time I did that, I lost two months of my life on Dylan.

I no longer did crushes. Those were for teenagers, and I’d earned my twenties badge. And despite my recent behavior and stance on adulting, I knew it was time to grow up a little. I had a shitload of work and long strides to make to get to where I needed to be.

My cellphone pinged, but I ignored it. I had hours until Paige and Neil got home. I’d been picking up double shifts for the last week. It was my only day to write, and still, I couldn’t get a single sentence out due to the incessant daydreams. I didn’t know enough about Reid Crowne, aside from the fact that he grew up with two shitty parents, his only love was his music, and he was recently single.

Still, the image of his fuckable body blazed a hot trail through my thoughts and warmed me to the point of frustration. My phone pinged again, and I picked it up. Jaw hanging open, I read the first two texts.

Dylan: Hey, babe. Can you talk?

Dylan: I’m in Austin. I’ll be playing at The Snake Lounge and I really want to see you.

I leapt from the couch and spoke to my phone. “Oh, hell no!” Pacing while typing and deleting a handful of messages, I thought better of it and texted my judge and jury.

Dylan texted. He’s in Austin playing tonight.

Lexi: I’m not speaking to you.

Miffed for seconds, I chuckled when I remembered why she wouldn’t be speaking to me. I gave Ben her number. Things must have been going well because she liked him.

You can’t be pissed at me about that. He’s perfect for you. You’ll see.

Lexi: He’s a real poet. That was sarcasm by the way. Now I’ll be up there for his show next week. I’ve been lured.

I can tell you’re really pissed.

Lexi: So pissed. :O)

Can we talk about Dylan?

Lexi: Nothing to talk about. Tell him to fuck off. Besides, you have a thing for Reid.

I don’t have a thing for Reid.

Lexi: It’s me you’re talking to.

He’s hot. Doesn’t mean it’s a thing. And he’s totally moody.