His Reverie (Reverie #1)(28)
My back is to Reverie as I wash my hands, wash away the scent of her from my skin. My lips still f**king tingle from kissing her and my mind is officially blown. I’ve never reacted that way toward a kiss before.
Ever.
“Whoa. Rev. What are you doing in here?” Michael asks as he skids to a stop.
“I came down to feed the horses,” she says, sounding a little breathless. And a lot guilty.
I glance over my shoulder to see her patting the old palomino aptly named Trigger. She has a couple of sugar cubes in the palm of her hand and I wonder where she found them. Maybe she’d brought them in her pocket?
“And you found loser in here all alone shoveling shit?” Michael laughs, jerking his thumb toward me. He finds his greatest joy in not having to clean out the stables. It’s the worst job on the property. Definitely my least favorite.
Though if it helps bring me closer to Reverie, then maybe I won’t protest after all.
“Hope he’s been treating you all right,” Michael continues as he ambles toward me, his gaze still stuck on Reverie.
“He hasn’t even really said a word to me beyond hi,” she replies, sniffing a little as she turns toward the horse and whispers something to him, holding her palm out flat with the sugar cubes presented as a treat. The horse gobbles them up, his giant teeth making her giggle as they scrape across her hand. The sound of her laughter dances across my nerve endings, making me long to go to her and I glance in her direction to find her studying me with the same yearning I’m feeling in her eyes.
Michael would have to be a blind man not to notice what’s happening here between us.
“Well, aren’t you a rude bastard?” Michael nudges my shoulder and I jerk my gaze away from Reverie, sending him a deathly glare in answer before I return my attention to the sink. I shut off the water with a fierce jerk and then tear off a couple of paper towels without a word, dry my hands and start to head out.
“See ya, Reverie,” I say with a curt nod as I stride out of the stables, Michael chasing after me.
“Bye Nicholas.” Her soft voice makes my heart clench. She sounds sad and damn it, I don’t want to make her sad. I just kissed her for God’s sake. I wanted to keep on kissing her too.
Not good.
Eyeing my shirt hanging on the railing in front of the stables, I snag it and slip it on, wrinkling my nose when I smell it. I need a shower f**king stat. What I really need is to dunk my head in a cold bucket of water and purge all thoughts of Reverie from my head.
“What’s your prob bro?” Michael asks.
“Nothing,” I mutter as I start toward the house. I figure if I keep moving I won’t give Michael enough time to ask me questions I don’t want to answer. “It’s got to be past quittin’ time, right? I’m beyond ready to clock out.”
“Yeah, me too. I was just coming to tell you that and help you out if you needed it so we could get out of here.” Michael pauses. “Looks like you found plenty of help already though.”
I stop and whirl on him. “What the hell are you talking about?” The deadly edge to my voice takes me back to when I was in jail. Constantly having to defend myself. I’d been on high watch every single day I spent in that hellhole. Funny how easy it is for me to go right back into that mode. No matter how much I don’t want it to be, it’s still in me, buried deep. An experience I can never escape.
“You and Rev alone in the stables? She sounded all breathless and weird dude. I know the horses don’t get her going that good.” Michael rocks back on his heels. “Don’t tell me you’re f**king around with Hale’s daughter.”
“I’m not f**king around with Hale’s daughter,” I toss out as I start walking once more, slowing my pace so I don’t seem so angry. I don’t want Michael to suspect shit. He’s my friend, I trust him with some stuff but not everything.
And right now, Reverie is my secret. Just like I’m hers.
“If you were, you’d tell me right? So I could keep lookout for you? Her parents would kill you if they found out you were making moves on her. She’s innocent man. I know that girl’s never been on a date. And I can sure as shit guarantee she’s never been kissed, let alone any other stuff,” Michael says as he falls into step beside me. “Daddy Hale keeps her under lock and key. I hear that ring she wears is some sort of purity promise she made to him. They had a ceremony and everything.”
I stumble over nothing at Michael’s words and save myself from falling on my ass, hoping like hell he didn’t notice. Whatever he’s saying sounds like a big load of crap. “Are you for real?”
“As real as anything. Haven’t you heard of those purity ceremonies girls participate in? They’ve been around for a while and they were getting all sorts of media attention there for about five minutes before some other new fad started,” Michael explains. “I know Reverie participated in one. That’s where the pearl ring comes from.”
Purity ceremonies. I’ve never heard of such a thing. Granted I hang out with girls like Krista who gave up their virginity when they were too young but hell, so did I. We were kids f**king around. We didn’t know what we were doing. It sucks. I sometimes regret using Krista like I have. But then I remember how she uses me too and then I don’t feel so bad.
That’s what the two of us are. Users. No wonder we should stick together. No one else would probably really want us anyway.