His Reverie (Reverie #1)(65)

I don’t know. I’ll never know because I ruined everything.

Irritated, I go into the kitchen and grab the last beer out of my fridge. Michael brought over a twelve pack a few afternoons ago after we got off work and left the remainders there. I’ve been slowly drinking them ever since. I wish I had more. I’m desperate to drown my sorrows in this stupid cheap beer. I could probably drink an entire twelve pack and still not be drunk enough to forget what I did.

Cracking open the can, I chug the beer, forgetting my original plan to savor it. I grimace when I swallow, hating the pissy taste of the cheap brand that Michael loves. I glance at the clock on the microwave and see it’s only a little after nine. I still have three hours before Krista shows up so she can supposedly seduce me and f**k me silly all night long.

The very last thing I want. I feel sick to my stomach just thinking about it. I don’t know how I’m going to make it through this night. And once the night is over, then what? What happens next? Does she blackmail me again? And again and again and again until there’s no point to it and we’re back together? Co-existing in some warped relationship where she f**ks around on the side, I f**k around on the side, but we’re never truly free of each other?

Is that what I want for the rest of my life? Hell, I’m almost eighteen. Just imagining being with Krista like that indefinitely feels like some sort of life sentence, worse than jail.

And I have the right to say that since I’ve done time in one.

I finish the beer way too fast and decide I’m gonna hop in the shower when there’s a knock on my door. I’m instantly wary of who it could be. Most likely it’s Krista come to give me my torture extra early. Just what I need.

Not.

Without looking through the peephole, I undo the lock with a violent twist of my wrist and throw open the door, a snarl on my face as I prepare to yell at Krista for being too damn early.

But it’s not Krista standing on my doorstep.

It’s a shivering, soaked-with-rain Reverie.

“What…” I gape at her, hope making my heart light, my head dizzy. “What are you doing here?”

She tilts her head back, the expression on her face nothing short of triumphant. “I know your secret.”

I blink at her. She looks crazy. Her hair is dark with rain and her clothes stick to her body, her T-shirt see-through and offering me a glimpse of her lacy, kill-me-now bra. She has on a pair of cotton shorts that cling to her thighs and all I want to do is strip her out of her too-wet clothes and take her into the shower with me. Where I can warm her up.

And show her how much I love her.

“How did you get here?”

“I had Evan drop me off about a mile away. I told him I was going to a friend’s house. I didn’t tell him who or where.” She swipes wet strands of hair away from her face, but a few still stick to her cheeks. “Did you hear me? I know your secret, Nick. I know everything. About your time in jail. About your best friend saying you two killed that guy. How he lied. How you got out of jail and within two months your mom died.”

“You walked a mile in the rain in this neighborhood?” Okay, I’m pissed. “You could’ve got jumped.” Or worse. Way worse.

She shrugs. “I w-wanted to s-see you. And tell you that I know what happened to you and I don’t care. Well, not that I don’t care, because I can’t believe you were put in jail for months for a crime you didn’t commit. I-I c-can’t imagine what your m-mom was th-thinking. How s-scared she m-must’ve b-been.” Her teeth are chattering, she’s so cold despite the humidity in the air.

I take her hand and drag her inside the apartment, shutting and locking the door behind her. Her scent fills my head, the dampness and heat from her skin making it even stronger, and without thought I touch her face. Skim my fingers across her cheek, down her nose, tracing her lips. “Why are you here?” I whisper. Despite her drowned appearance she’s still the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen. My heart feels lighter just having her stand in front of me.

“I already told you.” She shoves at my chest but without much force. More like she’s clinging to me. And I’m clinging to her. Because I can’t believe this is real. That she’s in my living room and that my arms are around her and her wet clothes are making me wet too, we’re holding each other so close. “I knew you had a secret. Why else would you give Krista so much power? I started doing a few searches on the Internet and found out everything.”

Everything. She knows everything? I start to register what she said before I yanked her inside…

“Yes. I know.” She touches my face, just like I’m touching hers. “Did you really think I would hate you for what happened? You didn’t do anything. These horrible things were done to you. There’s a difference. A huge difference.”

“I spent months in jail,” I whisper. “No one would listen to me when I said I didn’t do it. They all laughed at me. I had to defend myself from ass**les every single day I was in there. I got into fights more than once.” It was the scariest time of my life.

But being here now, knowing there’s a chance Reverie could still walk away from me for good, is scarier.

“I don’t care. It wasn’t your fault, what happened to you. If I can see that, why can’t you?” She shakes her head. “I love you, Nick. And I’m willing to fight for you. No matter what.”