Maybe This Time (Maybe #1)(58)

“Stop the car,” I say, keeping my voice calm and collected.

“You may be a f*cking bitch but I’m not a bastard. I’ll take you home,” he says, his words final.

I dig my nails into my thighs to stop myself from crying.

This is it.

This is the end.

The air in the car feels suffocating, and I open the window a little so I can breathe. Reid’s anger is hitting me in waves, as he sits there brooding. I wrap my arms around myself, positioning my body to be as far away from his as possible.

I’m out of the car before he can even come to a full stop.

I don’t look back.

I don’t hear his car leave until I’m inside the house.

I collapse on my bed, curling into a ball.

Who would have thought my night would end like this?





Chapter Twenty One


Someone knocks again on my door and I bury myself further under the covers.

“Summer, it’s two in the afternoon,” I hear my brother say, and I can tell he’s worried.

“Come in,” I call out, my voice thick with sleep. I spent the night crying, and I must look like shit.

“Hey,” he says a little warily. He takes a seat on the end of my bed.

“Hey.”

“You okay?” he asks, and I laugh humourlessly.

“No, but I will be.”

“You wanna tell me what happened?” he asks gently, relaxing onto the bed. I tell him the story, leaving out Reid’s treatment in the car.

“So it was just a misunderstanding, sis. Reid loves you, he’ll come around.”

He might, but do I want him to?

I force a smile. “We’ll see, baby bro. It’s not the end of the world, right?” Yeah, I just work for him, and happen to be best friends with his brother. If that's even still the case. The thought makes my heart hurt. If Ryan’s mad at me, I don’t know what I’ll do.

“I’m gonna make you some coffee, why don’t you get your ass into the shower,” he says as he turns to leave.

I get out of a bed with a groan, and then look back down at it longingly. My zebra bed sheets look so welcoming. I sigh heavily, and head for the bathroom. Not even bothering to look into the mirror, I strip down mechanically and hop into an almost scalding fall of water. In my mind, I go through the list of things I need to get done.

First things first. Knox Tavern. I need to find a new job, and stat. I turn the shower off and wrap a towel around me. Still dripping wet, I wipe my hand on the towel before picking up my phone and putting it on speaker.

“Hey, baby girl, I’m just on my way over to see you,” comes a gravelly voice.

“Hey, dad. I was wondering, is that job offer still open?”

He’s silent for a beat. “Of course it is. But are you sure-”

“Thanks, dad, I’ll see you in a bit.”

“Alright,” he says, sighing.

We both hang up.

I dry myself and dress in a black maxi dress.

“Smells good,” I say as I walk into the kitchen. “Never even knew you could cook, Xander.”

He laughs. “When the time calls for it.”

“Seriously? This whole time!”

He laughs some more. “I wanted my big sister to fuss over me, is that so bad?”

“You owe me,” I grumble. Truth be told, I like fussing over him too.

“Your cooking is way better though,” he says, grinning.

My lip twitches, and I take a bite of toast. Running through my phone, I scan all the messages in my inbox. Nothing from Reid, not like I expected anything. What hurts the most is nothing from Ryan, either. Dad comes over and we order in pizza for lunch. They're both tip toeing around me, not wanting to bring up Reid’s name, and I appreciate it.

After dad leaves I head to the library, not surprised when I see Silas sitting there in his usual seat. He looks worse for wear, and doesn’t have any books or folders with him. I sit down opposite him, and stare up at him in silence.

“I knew you were his girlfriend,” he starts, and I stay silent. “Reece and I were friends once.”

“What happened?” I ask.

He sighs and leans back in his chair. “Jade happened. She was with me first, you know.”

I sit up straight. “You fought over Jade?”

“She was my girlfriend, until she wasn’t. She left me for Reece.”

“You were both into the fighting scene?”

“Yeah, that’s how we met.” He looks at me for a moment, clearly struggling with what to say.

“I only hit him twice, Summer, f*ck. It happened too fast, he went down…” He puts his face into his hands, shaking. After a beat, he looks up. “Look, the reason I was pissed at Reece wasn’t just because he stole Jade. If Jade was happy, I was happy. Reece was…” he trails off.

“Tell me,” I demand softly.

“Reece was sleeping with Mia, Summer. And I know for a fact her baby is his, not Reid's.”

“What?” I ask, gaping. Silas nods sadly, his brown eyes full of regret.

“Mia's a f*cking bitch,” I snap. Then I realise something. “Jade found out, didn’t she? She started acting weird all of a sudden, wanting to move on.”