Reaper's Stand(54)

First up, I needed to call Jessica.

I rolled over to grab my phone and felt Reese’s arm tighten on me. He pulled me back into his hips, the press of his morning erection sending tingles radiating up between my legs to my nipples.

“I need to make some phone calls,” I told him softly. He nuzzled the back of my neck and I squirmed, because I couldn’t just lie down and pretend last night hadn’t happened.

He sighed and loosened his grip.

“I’m here, babe,” he said softly, kissing my shoulder. Three little words, but they felt so good. He was here, with me. For once I wasn’t on my own, and while I wasn’t fool enough to think his presence changed anything in my big picture, just waking up in his arms meant more than I could have imagined.

“Thanks,” I whispered. Then I took my phone and pressed my finger to Jessica’s number. Surprisingly, she answered on the first ring, her voice alert, almost strained. Had Melanie called her already?


“Hey, Jess,” I said softly. “I have some bad news for you.”

“What’s that?” she asked.

“I don’t know how to say this …”

“Just spit it out,” she snapped. I heard a cracking noise and then she coughed suddenly, gasping.

“You all right?” I asked quickly.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” she replied, her voice more subdued. “Sorry, just dropped something. What’s going on?”

“The house blew up.”

Silence.

“Excuse me?”

“The house blew up,” I repeated, the words sounding unreal even to me. “I don’t know how or why. Probably a gas leak. I’ll talk to the police later today, but it all burned down. There’s nothing left.”

“Is Melanie all right?” she asked, her voice full of dread. I paused, wondering how she knew about Mellie.

“She got out. They took her to the hospital because she hit her head. I’ll go get her in a bit, but I stayed with her long enough to know she’s going to be just fine. Nothing serious. You should know that her mother—”

“I know about her mom,” Jess said softly. “She called me last night after she got to our place. I’ve been thinking of her.”

“I’m just thankful she’s okay …” I said. “And I have a place for us to stay, at least until I get the insurance worked out.”

“With Nate?” she asked quickly. Awkward question … I hadn’t actually told her about the breakup. Oops.

“Yeah, I should probably talk to you about Nate,” I said, feeling Reese tense behind me. I decided not to worry about him for the moment. “I’m not actually with him anymore. I’m seeing Reese Hayes.”

“That’s fantastic,” Jess said, surprising me with her enthusiasm. She’d never approved of me dating anyone before. Huh. “You’ll be safe with the Reapers.”

“And I wouldn’t with Nate?” I asked, biting back a startled laugh. She didn’t respond. “Well, anyway, I’m with Reese now. I’m out at his place—he was actually with me when the house blew up. He took care of me last night and he said we can stay with him while we get things figured out. He’s got a room upstairs for you.”

“You don’t need to worry about that,” she said quickly. “I was planning to call you anyway. I changed my mind. Mom and I just had a little fight, nothing big. I was exaggerating things. You know how I get all worked up. It’s no big deal.”

I stilled. Reese started rubbing my back soothingly.

“It was a big deal,” I said slowly. “You were scared of those men. I heard it in your voice.”

“You must’ve imagined it,” she said brightly. “Really, it’s all good here. You should just hang out and take care of yourself, get the housing situation figured out. I have to go now.”

“Babe,” I started to say, but she cut me off.

“Seriously, London, you need to let it go. I had a bad night, okay? I got a little homesick, but that doesn’t change the fact that I’m happier here. Mom has lots of money and she doesn’t have to work all the time. You need to make your own life instead of trying to take over mine.”

With that she ended the call. I stared down at the phone, completely confused. Then I flopped back down and burrowed into the crook of Reese’s arm.

“I will never, ever understand teenage girls,” I said slowly. He snorted.

“No shit. They’re all f*cked in the head. Doesn’t get better when they hit their twenties, either. What’s the story?”

“She says everything’s okay and she doesn’t want to come back to north Idaho. I don’t get it. She was scared, Reese. This doesn’t make sense.”

He reached up and ran his fingers into my hair. I snuggled deeper into him, wondering how and why my world had gotten so strange so fast.

“You’re really a nice guy,” I said. He groaned.

“Don’t say shit like that. I’m not a nice guy, sweetheart. Trust me, I’d know if I was.”

“Well, you’re being nice to me.”

“I have ulterior motives. I like f*cking you.”

I laughed. “Whatever the reason, thanks for last night. I suppose I should get to the hospital and check on Melanie. Pick her up. I’ll get us out of here in a day or two. I know I’ll have to talk to the cops, and then get hold of the insurance agent. I can’t remember exactly what my coverage is.”