Only One (Reed Brothers)(10)

Amber nods. “He was the DJ.” She laughs. “I know. One of his many jobs.” Her face softens. “He’s had a hard time since they’ve been gone,” she says quietly. “So I’m kind of surprised that he was so affectionate with you, particularly since he hasn’t seen you in so long.”

Yeah. Me too.

“So what are you going to wear tonight?” Rose asks.

“I don’t even know what we’re going to be doing.”

“We should go look through what you brought and pick something out.”

“I still have about eight hours until the date.”

“Exactly.” Amber and Red wear identical expressions of surprise. “We might have to go shopping!” Amber pats my knee and gets up, dusting her hands together as she walks toward my deck. I have no choice but to follow.

As I walk by the neighbor, he tosses up his hand and smiles shyly at me. I wave back. What else am I supposed to do?





Nick

The house that Mrs. Michaels owns is huge. And there’s an even bigger one on the left, and the one that the douche is staying in is on the right. As I walk around the corner of the house, I stumble to a stop when I see a group of men unloading a truck. They’re all blonds and they have tattoos everywhere. One of them looks up at me and lifts his hand.

“Hi,” I say, and I jog over to them. “Do you need some help?”

They have the back of a truck completely loaded with coolers, suitcases, and baby stuff. Baby stuff? “I don’t think so,” the biggest one says. He looks familiar to me, but I can’t place where I’ve seen him.

I stick out my hand. “I’m Nick.”

He reaches out and takes my hand as the others keep hauling things into the house. “Paul,” he says.

Then it hits me. I know who they are. Holy shit. I look toward the door the other ones went through. They’re the Reeds from that new reality TV show. “Seriously?” I say. A grin that is probably the cheesiest thing ever tugs at my lips.

He scratches his head. “We’re kind of on vacation,” he says.

“Oh.” They probably get recognized everywhere they go. “You don’t want anyone to know.”

He shakes his head. “No, not at all. We’re here for the month. We’ll be filming at the beach festival.”

“Doing tattoos?” I ask.

He nods. “The girls will be here soon with the kids.” He points to Carrie’s house. “Do you live there?”

“No, my girlfriend does. Well, she’s not my girlfriend yet. But she’s going to be. She just doesn’t know it yet.” I can’t believe I just said all that. Crap.

He chuckles and swipes a hand down his face like he wants to wipe his grin away. It doesn’t work though. He probably thinks I’m an idiot.

“So you guys are bringing all the kids?” I ask. There are a lot of them.

His eyes narrow a little. “You watch the show?”

“Every week.” I brush a hand through my hair, trying to look like I’m not star-struck. “It’s not like I’m a stalker or anything, though.”

“I didn’t assume you were.” He pulls a few boxes to the edge of the tailgate. The brothers come out the back door, their arms empty. Shit. That’s Logan, Pete, Matt, and Sam. In real life!

“Okay, I might be a little bit of a stalker,” I admit. They introduce themselves and I stand there like a little kid waiting for a snow cone on a hot summer day. “But just, like, the I-really-admire-you kind. Not the I-want-to-steal-your-personal-effects kind.”

Paul nods. “O-kay,” he says slowly. He lifts a hand to me and goes inside, grinning the whole way.

“I guess I’ll see you guys around,” I shout.

“Hey wait,” one of them calls. I turn around and see that it’s Matt. “Do you know where we can get some firewood?”

“It’s summer,” I remind him.

“We want to have a little fire on the beach. Roast some marshmallows.”

Duh. Of course they do. “I can get you some.”

His brow arches. “Before tonight?”

I nod. “I’ll take care of it.”

“Thanks, man,” he says, and he goes inside. He sticks his head back out. “See you later?”

I nod.

I just freaking met the Reeds.

A series of cars arrives in the drive. Women start to pour out of the vehicles, along with kids. I grin, because I know who they all are. Every last one. I wave to them and walk away. But wait…Friday’s not pregnant anymore. She was still pregnant last week on the show. She removes a car seat with a baby in it. I guess I know where the kid is now.

I have to get to work, or I’m going to be late.

###

After work, I go and pick up firewood for the Reeds, and I stack it neatly by their garage door. They’re down on the beach with their whole family, and it looks like there’s a camera crew with them. A small crowd has gathered around them, but some big guys are holding the perimeter. I have no idea what it’s like to be famous, but I imagine it’s hard.

I don’t need to bother them, because they’ll find the firewood when they come up from the beach.

I go home to take a quick shower. Malone is there when I arrive and I can hear him griping at Jackie from outside. I step into the trailer and close the door behind me. They immediately go silent. “What’s up?” I ask. I look from one to the other and back. They both avoid my gaze, though.