Waiting on the Sidelines (Waiting on the Sidelines #1)(86)

After a few hours of sorting and working with Sienna’s box of supplies, we had a good start on Reed’s birthday gift. I was pretty sure I would be able to get it done by the weekend. I just needed to pay one visit to Buck to get what I needed.

I knew he would be home on Sunday watching all of the games, so I stopped in while Reed was out running with Sean. Buck had become like a second father to me over the past few months, and when he found out that Reed and I were officially dating, he beamed with pride. “That boy and his thick head finally figured it out,” he joked.

Buck was able to get me more than I had hoped for, including several awards, medals from Reed’s youth, older newspaper clippings and the hype articles that I had missed this year, including the mention of Reed as one of the nation’s top 25 high school quarterbacks in Sports Illustrated. I hid everything under the seat of my car to ensure Reed wouldn’t notice and came back inside to curl up on the sofa across from Buck and take in some football.

We were both yelling at the screen when I heard the door shut and Reed came walking in. “That’s bullshit!” Buck was flaring at the television, and I was just agreeing, standing with my hands on my hips.

He slid his arms through mine and put his chin on my shoulder to greet me from behind and I squeezed his arms around the front of me as if they were safety belts on a daredevil roller coaster. “Mmmmmm, so what’s all the bullshit?” he half whispered in my ear.

Buck started explaining the bad call to him, something about two feet being in, but I had honestly stopped paying attention. All I could hear, all I could feel was Reed’s breath on my ear.

“Hey, pops, I’m going to take my girl upstairs while I get changed. I’ll be a boy scout, though, I swear,” Reed crossed his heart. Buck just waved us off, still mad at the referees on TV.

Reed slung me over his shoulder and started for the stairs. I kicked a little and then forced my way out of his grip. He frowned a little, but I stopped him quickly.

“I’ve just seen you pull that move on too many other girls… I want something that’s my own,” I sheepishly grinned, a little embarrassed at how jealous and shallow I could be.

Reed pursed his lips a little and then let them slide into a smile as he swung his arms under my legs and carried me up the stairs like it was our wedding night, my arms slung around his neck. “Well then, this will have to be our move,” he joked.

Once in his room, he shut the door and I sat back on his bed, my feet dangling a bit over the edge. I smiled and laughed a little to myself because at my house, there was no way that bedroom door would ever be shut. Especially if Reed was pulling off his shirt to take a shower, which, oh my, he was doing now.

He tossed his stinky shirt at me and I chided him for being gross and smelly, but when he went into his bathroom I pulled the shirt in close just to remember his scent. When he came out in just a towel, I blushed a little, taking less-than-obvious peeks at his abdominal muscles and defined chest. Catching me, he narrowed his eyes and bent his smirking face down just enough to startle my vision back up to his eyes.

“Why, are you checking me out Miss Nolan Lennox?” he teased.

“Uh, yeah, I was. Now, could you turn around and walk that way for a bit,” I scratched my chin and acted like a gymnastic judge at the Olympics, not willing to let him embarrass me. He just grabbed a sock and flung it at me, laughing.

Once Reed was changed he sent a text to Sean asking him if he and Becky wanted to come over for the afternoon games and pizza with us.

“Cool, Sean said they’d be here in 30 minutes with some pizza,” he said, tossing his phone to the side and crawling on the bed and pushing me backwards until I was laying flat and he was positioned right over me.

“I like pizza,” I tried to distract. Always the smooth one, I was.

Reed just smiled and continued to move closer until he was propped up on his elbows and hovering over my face, moving pieces of my hair out of my face and sliding them behind my ear slowly.

Reed had been taking things very slow with me. We usually never made it beyond some rough kissing and making out, despite my every attempt to let him know that it would be okay if he pushed the boundaries a little with me. I think he was still freaked out about Tyler, even though I wasn’t. He didn’t want to be compared (like he ever could).

Not able to take his nearness any more, I tilted my chin up and initiated our kiss. He always kept his hands on my face when he could, and as we rolled to our sides he held my cheeks tenderly now. But I wanted him to give me more, and I was going to bust down the doors a little today on my own if I had to.

After several minutes of kissing, I pushed myself up so I was lying on top of Reed, and this forced him to move his arms and slide his hands around my back. Pushing myself up a little, I scooted on my knees and finally sat so I was straddling him, and the power and intensity of it all was urging me forward. I had never felt like this with Tyler, and I knew it was because it was always supposed to be Reed.

Sliding my hands up his stomach, under his soft T-shirt, I smoothed them over his chest, admiring him and wanting him at the same time. Reed reached up and grabbed my wrists, almost as if he was trying to slow me down. I just shook my head a little and smiled sweetly. “Please? I am ok, I would tell you,” I said, as he slowly loosened his grip, his eyes still questioning me, but relenting a little more.

I lifted the bottom of his shirt and slowly slid it over his head, wanting to feel more of his warm skin. I leaned forward and placed tiny kisses along his stomach and up his chest until he couldn’t take it and pushed his hands demandingly into my hair, pulling my mouth to his for a hungry kiss, more urgent than ever before.