Maybe This Time (Maybe #1)(32)

“Ryan, why is Jade at the door?” I ask him, raising an eyebrow. He walks around the bar, and towards the door, unlocking it and letting her enter.

“What are you doing here?” he asks her, his tone neither friendly nor hostile.

“I haven’t seen you or Reid in a while so I thought I would drop by,” she says, sounding a little unsure. I slap the cloth down on the table and walk to the back. Reid is sitting there, writing furiously in a notebook. He looks adorable, his brow furrowing in concentration.

“Jade is here,” I announce, trying to keep a poker face.

“What?” he asks, standing up. I can tell by the look on his face he wasn’t expecting her.

I walk back out without answering, just in time to hear her say, “It’s not fair I don’t get to be in Reid’s life because of her insecurities!” Her pale face goes red, and it’s not a very attractive look.

“That’s enough,” Reid growls, walking up behind me and putting his arms around me.

“Summer, this is Jade. Jade, Summer is my woman, my first priority. You need to understand that,” he says, pulling me closer against his chest.

“So, what, you and I can’t even be friends anymore?” She gasps, tears forming in her eyes. I look at Ryan, who looks agitated. I’m so confused right now, isn’t she Ryan’s ex?

“Jade, why are you being so f*cking difficult?” Reid sighs, letting me go and lacing his hands behind his head.

“Because this bitch came along and stole my only connection to my dead boyfriend! We had a plan, Reid, and this is f*cking it all up!” she screeches, and I cringe. Dead boyfriend? Fuck. Reid’s brother that passed away, Reece. This is his ex-girlfriend?

“If you cared so much about your ex-boyfriend why were you trying to kiss his brother?” I spit out, feeling guilty when her face pales. She clutches her hands over her chest dramatically, and her bottom lip trembles.

“Summer,” Reid admonishes, and then I really lose my temper.

“So don’t Summer me! I assumed she was Ryan’s ex, since you didn’t specify which brother, and now she’s playing the guilt card? Well, she didn’t look f*cking guilty when she was trying to kiss you! This act she’s pulling!” I gesture to her. “It's not working. I hate manipulative bitches,” I growl the last word, stepping away from Reid.

“You don’t know anything, you have been in their lives for a second! I’ve been here for years,” she says smugly, her damsel in distress routine ending.

“This isn’t a competition,” I say, my palms clenching into fists.

“Well if it is, you lose. They won’t choose you over me!” she snaps, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Jade, that’s enough!” Reid roars, clearly having had enough drama. I ignore him and walk over to Ryan, really needing to talk to him in that moment.

“Ryan, can you take me home?” I ask him. I see Ryan look over my head to Reid, before looking down at me, grimacing.

“I want to, babe, but I think my brother will kill me in my sleep,” he mock whispers. I turn around and pin Reid with a stare that would cause a lesser man to tremble.

“Ryan is taking me to your place, you deal with this,” I tell him, daring him to argue.

“Fine,” he grits, “but you aren’t gonna use this against me later.” I roll my eyes, unable to deny that the man knows me pretty damn well. He walks over to me and kisses me deeply, his hands tangling in my hair. I pull away.

“See you soon,” I say, walking to the front door. Ryan catches up, and we walk together to his car. We don’t say anything until we're both inside the car and he starts the engine.

“Begin your hundred questions,” he grumbles, reversing the car.

“She was your brother’s ex,” I start.

“Yes.”

“When he passed away…” I look at him as I say it, watching several emotions cross his face.

“I’m sorry,” I say quietly.

“Go on.”

“She still stayed friends with the both of you. What I want to know, is why she and Reid are more attached to each other, and you…”

“I’ve let go of the anger. That’s the truth. When Reece died, we were both devastated. We felt anger, sorrow, pain, guilt. He was our baby brother, and we couldn’t protect him. We wanted someone to pay for his death, someone to blame. Jade felt all of those things, too, and she and Reid now have a common goal. I felt the same at the start, but after a year I realized Reece sure as hell wouldn’t want this for us, our mother wouldn’t want this, either. So I pulled out of the fighting ring, and I’m trying to move on with my life. I'll always love and remember Reece, but this obsessive need for revenge isn’t what any of us need,” he explains. I’m left confused.

“What does the fighting have to do with your brother and revenge?” I ask. Ryan gives me a sympathetic glance, realizing Reid has told me pretty much nothing.

“Reece was the one who participated in the underground fighting. Reid was studying business, and I was about to enrol in the police force. Reece had a fight one night, and he died in that ring,” he says, his voice wavering on the last sentence.

“So Reid wants to, what? Fight because his brother did?”