Waiting on the Sidelines (Waiting on the Sidelines #1)(89)

Reed joined me in the kitchen and showed me the nice leather watch that his mom had given him. It looked fancy, though I didn’t really recognize the brand. I just smiled and told him it was nice. I think he sensed my discomfort as he pulled me in close and kissed the top of my head. I clung to the fabric of his shirt, not wanting to let go.

I finally loosened my grip when his mother walked in and discarded an empty plate and went to wash her hands. She looked like she was getting ready to leave, which internally made me grateful, though I kept up the smiling fa?ade I had going. She didn’t like me, and I knew it.

Looking around the house a little, she settled her eyes back to Reed while she dried her hands. “Where’s that lovely Tatum, girl, honey? I haven’t seen her all night.”

I immediately went blank, my knees buckling and I felt Reed sweep his arm behind me to wrap around my waist and hold me up. “Tatum graduated already, mom. She’s at college. We don’t really hang out any more,” Reed answered quickly, trying to diffuse the situation. Sean and Becky were looking at me to try to gage if I was alright. I was pretty sure I wasn’t.

“Oh, well that’s too bad. I liked her, she was so pretty,” Millie piped back, putting emphasis on the word pretty. “Well, I have to get back before it’s too late, honey. I’ll call you next week and we can make plans for your summer visits, ok?”

She leaned in to kiss Reed on the cheek again and he helped her pull her coat back on. I just stood behind him, feeling nothing but stupid. Finally, she acknowledged me when we were at the door. “Oh, and it was really nice to meet you…” she couldn’t remember my name.

“Nolan,” Reed finished, his voice exposing his irritation and embarrassment for his mother.



By the time all of the guests had left, it was just Reed and I alone on the sofa in his living room. Buck had gone out to join a few of his alumni friends at the bar. Reed stood and walked to the kitchen, where he started to put food away in the refrigerator. I let out a deep sigh, collapsing backwards on the large ottoman, feeling a little bit like the sucker in a match against the prize fighter.

I heard Reed chuckle a little as he walked in and stood over me, reaching his hand down to lift me up. “Come on, it wasn’t that bad,” he smiled.

“Oh, I don’t know. It was pretty bad,” I stood up and hugged him, his hands rubbing my back a little. “Your mom does not like me. I mean, like at all.”

Reed squeezed me a little tighter before speaking. “Don’t be crazy. Of course she does. She just doesn’t know you yet. I told you she was a bit image consumed, and she’s always in that mode. Now you see why I love living with my dad,” he laughed a little, but his voice also sounded sad that he isn’t able to be as close with his mom.

I looked over at the stacks of offer envelopes on his table still, now stacked neatly. I walked over to them and he followed me. I slid them apart and took them all in. “Reed, this is amazing,” I smiled at him.

He took in a deep breath and then softly smiled, too, turning to look at me. “It’s all kind of overwhelming, too,” he said. “I’m still not totally sure what I want to do.”

“You’ll figure it out,” I reassured, though a part of me was also flashing forward to the inevitable time when we would have to be apart. Not wanting to dwell any more on that or the sick feeling left over from my first encounter with Millie, I jerked up with energy and grinned largely at Reed.

“Hey! Want your present?” I was so anxious to give it to him. He just closed his eyes and then reached out his hands. “Well, you’re going to have to stand like that for a minute. It’s in the car. Hold on.”

I raced out the door to my car and grabbed the heavy box from my backseat. I brought it inside, where Reed was still standing with his eyes closed and his hands out. I stopped to admire him for a moment, but he sensed I was there.

“You’re teasing me. Not nice, Nolan. I’ll remember this,” his grin was so damned distracting. When I reached him, I placed the heavy box in his hands and warned him to hold on tight.

“OK, open your eyes,” I said, pins and needles everywhere I was so excited to see if he loved it as much as he did in my fantasy.

He turned his head a little and smirked, tightening his eyes as he glanced up at me, shaking the box a little.

“Open it already, would you?” I couldn’t take it.

He sat down on the ottoman and put the box in his lap, untying the ribbon that was keeping the lid in place. He slid the top off the box and pulled away the tissue paper, lifting the book out and letting the wrapping fall to the floor.

The leather binding for the cover came out exactly as I had wanted it to, almost looking like an old weathered football. My dad helped me brand #13 on the cover along with ‘Johnson.’ I watched as Reed’s fingers worked at the leather straps to open the book and I almost cried a little when his face reacted to the photo on the first page, biting his lip and smiling innocently. It was one that Buck had given me. Reed was 6 or 7 in the picture, and he was sitting on Buck’s shoulders holding his first trophy in the air, waving number one with his finger. Buck had told me it was his favorite memory, so I thought there was a good chance it might be Reed’s, too.

I could tell he was feeling the emotion a little when he reached up to wipe his eye just a little and then looked up at me with a grin.