Maybe This Time (Maybe #1)(29)

“Reid!” I chastise, looking around to see if anyone is watching.

“So innocent,” he croons, looking pleased. I realize that this is Reid with his guard down. He's letting me see him, without all the shields he usually has in place. The thought makes me feel lucky, that he chose to share this side of himself with me.

“What are we eating?” I ask as I look over the menu. We both order our meals when the waitress arrives.

“Does it annoy you that I’m older than you?” he asks once our drinks arrive.

“Does it annoy you that I’m younger than you?” I return.

“No, nothing about you annoys me,” he says, pausing. “No, that’s a lie.”

I slap his arm playfully. “It doesn’t bother me. You’re what, twenty three, right?”

“Yes. That’s four years older than you,” he says, rubbing his hands over his face.

“I know, I can do math. And it’s not that bad,” I say defensively, sipping at my apple juice.

“It doesn’t matter anyway,” he says, staring into my eyes.

“Why?”

“In too deep,” is all he says.

Our food soon arrives and we dig in. I get a message from Ryan, who's mad he couldn’t come with us, and is instead stuck at the bar. I start laughing when I see the picture of him making a sad face. Reid groans when I show him.

“I feel bad he’s at the bar by himself,” I say around a mouth of mash potato.

“We can stop by afterwards.”

“Sounds good. Where’s Tag tonight?” I ask.

“He has his kid for the night,” Reid says, watching me as I lick my fork. My eyes dart to the middle of the room when I hear my name being called.

Lyle.

Oh, shit.

He walks over, smiling warmly, until he sees who my date is.

“I guess now I know why you were asking about him,” he mutters, clearing his throat.

“Hey, Lyle,” I say, not wanting to be rude. He did help me out the other night, and he ended up being pretty cool.

“Reid, this is Lyle,” I introduce, sighing when I see the daggers Reid is shooting at Lyle.

Lyle shifts on his feet, looking nervous. “I, uh. I just wanted to say hello. I guess I’ll see you around, Summer,” he says, walking away as quickly as he can.

“That was rude,” I say, the air in the room so thick and uncomfortable, it's making me feel awkward.

“That’s who you went on a date with?” he asks incredulously.

“Yeah.”

“He’s a kid,” Reid snaps.

“Actually, he’s my age,” I say, cringing.

Reid curses and stares down at his plate. His jaw tenses and he stays silent, ignoring me.

“Reid. The date didn’t work out, so we ended up hanging out as friends,” I say softly, trying to diffuse his anger.

“You stayed the night with him?” he asks, more like a statement then a question.

“Well, yeah, I slept in his roommate's empty bed,” I say.

“Fucking hell,” he growls, his grip on the table turning his knuckles white.

“Well, maybe if you weren’t kissing Jade and keeping secrets from me, I would have never gone on a date with anyone!” I yell, losing my temper.

“You know, Summer, when you forgive someone, the decent thing to do is not throw it back in their face every f*cking chance you get. You think I don’t regret it? Don’t feel like shit about keeping you in the dark? And having to see Jade kiss me, even though I pushed her off me?”

His words make me feel like complete shit.

“Reid…”

“Let’s go,” he says, standing up walking to the register to pay. He doesn’t even look back, or wait for me. I grab my handbag and walk to the front, following him outside to his car. He opens the door for me, even in his anger, and I get in without a word.

“Can you take me home?” I ask, my voice uneven.

He drums his fingers on the steering wheel, but doesn’t answer me. Then he exhales loudly. “I don’t want you to go, yet.”

“You have a funny way of showing it,” I say, looking out the window to distract myself from his handsome profile.

“I just don’t like the thought of you out with another guy, sleeping at his f*cking house. I’m sorry,” he says, his eyes on the road. I glance at him, the scar on his jaw clearly noticeable from this angle. I lean over and run my finger along it, hating that he flinches and moves his face away.

“It’s clear by all your shit I put up with that I only want you, Reid, no need to be jealous,” I say, rolling my eyes.

“I’m not jealous,” he huffs.

“Of course you aren’t, baby,” I coo.

Reid grins. “That’s the first time you’ve called me baby.”

“You like it?”

He nods, the shift in his mood obvious. “Okay, maybe I was a little bit jealous,” he admits.

“Trust me, I know,” I say with a smirk. Reid suddenly pulls the car over.

“What are you doing?” I gape, my eyes going wide. He smiles at me before leaning over and tangling one hand in my hair. His other hand tilts my chin up, as he brings his lips to my own. He kisses me gently, three times, before going in deeper, opening my mouth and tasting. When he pulls his lips away I’m left breathless and wanting more.