Maybe This Time (Maybe #1)(50)

“Summer?” he says, looking at me strangely. If he asks me what’s wrong, I think I might scream.

“Hey,” I say, stepping back from Ryan’s hold.

“Come on, let me take you home. I wanna talk to you,” he says, putting his hand out.

I take his hand, stepping closer to him. “We can talk, but I’m going with Ryan,” I reply.

“You can see Ryan after,” he says, his voice hardening.

“I just told Ryan we'd hang out. I haven’t seen him in a few days,” I say, pushing my hair back behind my ear.

“You haven’t seen me either,” he says, narrowing his eyes.

“Not my fault,” I say, lifting my shoulder in shrug.

“So that’s how it’s gonna be, huh? You aren’t gonna support me, be understanding about this?”

“Reid, I’ll come see you tomorrow morning, how about that?” I say, trying to placate him. I’m not ditching Ryan just because Reid suddenly remembered he had a girlfriend.

“Mia was right, you're way too immature to handle this,” he says to himself. That comment hits me like a blow to the chest. One thing I’ve learnt about Reid, his words can be cutting. He knows exactly what to say to hurt you the most. And he hit his intended mark with that one.

“Ryan, let’s go,” I say, my eyes still on Reid. Instead of shuttering my emotions, I let them show, but don’t feel any satisfaction when he flinches at the pain I know is clearly displayed.

His face softens. “Summer-”

Ignoring him, I walk out into the car park looking for Ryan’s car. When I spot his motorcycle instead, I grin. A ride on that will definitely improve my mood. I turn back and see Ryan and Reid talking, Ryan making angry hand gestures. Shit, the last thing I want is to come between them, I’ve never met siblings as close as those two. Reid walks out alone a few minutes later, a scowl etched on his handsome face. He storms up to me, where I stand waiting next to Ryan’s bike.

“We need to talk,” he demands, taking me by the elbow and pulling me closer to him.

“What do you wanna talk about?”

“I’m sorry I haven’t seen you, or came back to your house like I said I would. Mia’s been annoying the f*ck out of me, and I’ve been trying to spend some time with River,” he says, looking apologetic.

“I’m proud of you for stepping up, Reid, but I honestly don’t know how this is gonna affect us. I’m not trying to be a bitch, I’m just being honest. Mia is gonna get in the way-”

“I won’t let her!”

“She’s your kid's mother, Reid. Shit’s gonna be different now,” I say softly, looking at the ground.

He lifts my chin up with his finger. “It might be different, but it doesn’t mean it’s going to be any less amazing between us. I love you, Summer. I don’t wanna lose you. I need you to be patient, and be there with me through this.”

He loves me?

“Let’s go, babe,” Ryan calls out as he walks up to us.

Reid takes a helmet and puts it on for me. "You going to our place?"

“You gonna be there?” I ask him.

He clears his throat. “No, Mia wants me to come over there and...”

I cut him off. “Right. Well, then yeah, I guess I’ll be at yours.”

Reid curses, and I hate the helpless look on his face. I hop on the bike and wrap my arms around Ryan. I see Reid watch us together and scowl. I wave my fingers at him, and then we're off.





*****


“Could you at least pretend to be enjoying my company right now?” Ryan says, throwing a piece of popcorn at my head.

“I always enjoy your company.”

“You’ve been staring at the wall for the last ten minutes,” he points out.

“Did you see River?” I ask him, curious.

“Not yet, I told Reid to bring him here tomorrow. I wanna go shopping first and get the little guy some presents. Kids love presents,” he says, his eyes lighting up.

“You gonna see Zara again?” I ask, talking about the woman he went away with.

“Maybe,” he says, smiling mischievously.

I roll my eyes. “Your dick is gonna fall off one day.”

I laugh when I see him cupping himself and frowning.

“Touch wood,” I say, grinning. He looks down at his crotch again, looking confused.

I burst out in laughter. “No, I meant touch something wood. You know, when you say something and you don’t want it to happen, so you touch something wood. Like a table or something, not… that,” I point to his penis.

“Oh." Then his eyes widen with realisation. "Ohh,” he says.

“Oh, indeed,” I say, wiping away tears of laughter.

He chuckles. “You’re so weird.”

“Thank you for making me laugh.”

“Anytime. Now you gonna watch the movie?” he asks, raising a brow.

“Yep,” I say, in a much better mood now. Reid told me he loved me tonight, and I didn’t even get to enjoy the moment. The truth is, I love him too.

More than anything.

I just hope we can work this out.

Dash and Xander drop by, and I laugh when I see that my brother has gone to the grocery store and bought all the ingredients for his favourite meal. He actually brought them all to Ryan’s apartment and asked me if I would cook for him with puppy dog eyes he knows I can’t say no to. Dash looks hopeful, too, his violet eyes smiling at me.