“I don’t want to make it harder on you, Jenn. In fact, if you think hanging out with a guy like me will set back your efforts to do whatever it is you wanna do, then I won’t stop by.”
She put a finger to his lips. “Let me worry about that, okay?”
The lights from the house twinkled in his eyes and he brushed one last, sweet kiss across her lips. “For the road.”
She closed her eyes and her heart thumped as she savored his promising caress. She could do this. She could totally do this. As long as they could keep kissing, anyway.
“Wait...” He broke away and retrieved his phone from the truck. “What’s your number?” She told him and he thumbed it in. “I just texted you, so you’ll have my number, too. Let me know if you change your mind about Sunday.”
“I won’t.”
***
Jenny closed the side door to Josh and Carissa’s garage, a goofy grin pinned on her flushed face. She had a sorta date with a man who was not only sexy as hell, but also understood and seemed to respect the changes she needed to make in her life. If she went at this with eyes wide open, there wasn’t any reason she couldn’t continue to see Brody and maintain her self-respect, as well.
“When the hell did that happen?”
Reed’s voice startled her from her thoughts. The sight of him sitting on the steps before the kitchen door had her heart cartwheeling up to her throat. An empty beer sat on the stoop beside him and he lifted another bottle to his mouth, swallowing down a long gulp.
“How long have you been out here?” she countered. More importantly, how much of her conversation with Brody had he overhead? Had he listened in on purpose?
“Long enough to confirm my suspicions. Did you two hook up when he was in town last or...?” He arched an eyebrow and sudden anger churned in her gut. She held up a warning hand.
“If you’re insinuating that I got together with him while I was still messing around with you, don’t worry—I didn’t two-time you. Whether or not it would’ve mattered to you, it would’ve mattered to me. I may be a lot of things, but I’m not that kind of girl.”
He shrugged as if it didn’t matter and his condescending air pulled her nerves tight. “You know what Sam Conrad told me the other day, Jenn?”
Like it mattered. He couldn’t tell her anything she hadn’t already figured out herself. Did he think she was a complete idiot?
Of course, he did. She’d put up with his bullshit for years.
“He told me that your boy can’t deploy with the rest of his unit because he didn’t pass his psych assessment. I’m guessing he forgot to mention that.”
Shit. Shit, shit, shit.
Reed chuckled. “Ah, he didn’t tell you, did he? I mean, it makes sense. A dude admitting he’s a nutcase probably puts one hell of a hurtin’ on the amount of pussy he gets.”
Crack! Reed’s face jerked to the side at the same time the skin on Jenny’s palm began to sting. “Don’t you dare talk about him that like.”
Reed rubbed his hand over the red mark on his cheek and slowly met her gaze. Stormy emotion rolled into his dark eyes and, for a long moment, he said nothing, just pinned her with a glower that was more disappointed than it was angry.
“Excuse me for thinking you ought to know what you’re getting yourself into,” he said sharply. “For not wanting you to get hurt.”
“Damn ironic, no?” She made to step around him, so she could gather her purse and get the hell out of there, but he stood and blocked her path.
“I didn’t know you felt...things until it was too late. Do you honestly think I would’ve kept seeing you if I’d known you wanted more?”
She made a wry sound low in her throat and glared at the door behind him. She couldn’t look him in the eye. It was too damn humiliating. “None of that matters now. We’ve both moved on. We’ve—”
“Dammit, Jenny, I’m not trying to be an asshole here.” He reached out for her arm, but she backed away and wrapped her arms around herself. “Whether or not you want to believe it, I fucking care about you. We’ve been friends for a long damn time and no matter what happened between us, nothing will change that.”
In her heart of hearts, she knew that. But he didn’t know Brody. Maybe she didn’t know all she needed to know either, but she knew what was most important—he was a good person and he accepted her just the way she was, flaws and uncertainties alike. If he had a mental health problem he was hiding from her, there was probably a reason for it. She refused to think he might be dangerous or volatile, though, when he’d shown her nothing but tenderness and compassion.
“Not that my personal life is any of your business, but you’re getting ahead of yourself,” she snapped. “Brody and I aren’t together, nor are we going to be. I guess you could say I’m a little gun-shy these days.”
Reed’s jaw tightened, even as his dark eyes softened. “Don’t get caught up in something you can’t handle, princess.”
She lifted her chin and met his gaze. “I was half in love with a man I could never have for more than ten years. I think I can handle a long-distance friendship just fine.”
“Jenn...” He stepped forward, regret lining his face. She shook her head and held up a single, determined finger.
“Back off, Reed. I’m begging you...back off.” She had no idea what, if anything, would come with her and Brody, but she was absolutely certain of one thing—she was going into whatever this was more aware of herself than she’d ever been. Reed might’ve robbed her self-confidence, but she knew what she wanted now. She knew what she deserved. And she sure as hell wasn’t going to be afraid of going after it.
***
“It’s late, boy. Thought maybe you’d found a barstool instead.”
Though Brody had a key, his Grandpa Brekowski met him at the door dressed in a plaid bathrobe and house slippers. His thick gray hair stood up on one side of his head while the rest lay plastered down. His top partial seemed to have gone MIA.
“Nah, no bar for me tonight,” he slurred, thinking about the twelve-pack he’d polished off since leaving Omaha. Plus the few beers he’d had in River Bend...
“Uh huh.” Gramps stood aside as Brody hefted his duffle bag onto a kitchen chair and took inventory of the home that had been his for the first few years of his life as well, while his parents finished school and got their shit together. Not much had changed in the little three-bedroom bungalow, except Granny’s never-ending collection of cat knick-knacks. Cats playing with yarn, cats in a bubble bath, cats in shoes...the shit was everywhere.
“Granny sleeping?” He squinted at the clock on the stove while he unlaced and then toed off his boots. Almost eleven o’clock. “Damn, I didn’t realize it was so late.”
“Eh, I didn’t expect you any earlier. Figured you’d wanna make a drive-by in River Bend to see your old chums.” His grandpa clapped him on the back as he headed for the coffee pot. The full coffee pot. “Wanna cup?”
“Uh...sure.” What he really wanted was to pass out on the couch and dream about Jenny, but he knew what his Gramps was doing. He did it every time he showed up late like this. Or more to point...late and half in the friggin’ bag.
An hour, two cups, and a debate about this year’s MLB prospects, Gramps must’ve finally decided Brody had sobered up enough that he wouldn’t shake the shingles off the roof with his snoring, because he stood and yawned.
“You remember where the blankets are, kid?”
“Front closet. Top shelf.”
Gramps gave him a thumbs up and headed for the back hall. “Get a good night’s sleep, huh? I got a list a mile long for you work on in the morning.”