We stay in the center of the crowd, moving at our own pace regardless of the song changes. It’s nice having him hold me. After several songs, he’s ditched his jacket, and rolled his sleeves up to his elbows, and I’ve slipped off my shoes, evoking a whole new round of comments on my height as if Reis had forgotten in the last few hours what my true height was.
The song changes, this one is slow and sweet. The lights drop even lower to set the mood. Reis wraps his arms around my waist, pressing me close. His fingertips massage my lower back and he drops his head down to my ear. “How’s that feel?” he whispers.
“I like it,” I say back.
He moves with me, holding me against him. I’m very aware of our nearness. And the fact that I make no move to set any boundaries between us. Just his presence comforts me. Even though it probably shouldn’t.
“I want to kiss you,” he whispers against my temple, giving me time to decide, time to say no, pull away, something. But I freeze in his arms, waiting in anticipation. He lowers his mouth flush with mine and gently presses forward. His lips are soft and slightly damp. A thrill runs through me settling in the base of my spine. His hands press into my lower back, urging me even closer and deepening the kiss. His kisses are different than Colt’s. He’s more eager, less controlled and not as precise as he tries to find the right angle to bring us together. But it’s nice. His tongue sweeps against mine and I turn off my brain, letting myself enjoy his kiss.
After our kiss on the dance floor, I made an excise to use the restroom and spent fifteen minutes locked in a stall nearly hyperventilating. I even considered calling Colt to confess. But Reis finds me and talked me out, saying he’s sorry, he got caught up in the moment of pretending I was his girlfriend and it wouldn’t happen again, unless I wanted it to. I could almost believe that was all it was, until I caught sight of the mirror, and my flushed, swollen lips. I had no right to be breathless and warm from his kiss.
Once we get home, Mrs. Lee is gone. Reis failed to mention I was staying over, saying she’d be pissed. I remove my shoes and he carries my bag upstairs. He drops it in the doorway to Colt’s room and gives me a quick hug goodnight, thanking me again for going with him. I can do little more than nod and murmur my agreement. I’m numb, confused and utterly disgraced that I kissed Reis. Or rather that I allowed Reis to kiss me.
After changing into shorts and a tank top I wash my face, then collapse onto the bed. I pull out my phone. I’ve missed three calls from Colt tonight. He knew it was the night of the dance, so I don’t know why he’d be calling. His name flashes on the screen. He’s calling again.
I answer it before I chicken out. “Hello?” Right away I can tell we have a bad connection. Static crackles in the background.
“Taylor?”
He never calls me by my name, instead choosing baby or another endearment. It sends off warning signals in my brain.
“This trip…something happened…didn’t go as expected…”
“Colt? I can’t hear you, you’re breaking up.”
But he keeps going uninterrupted. “…between me and Bria. I’m sorry.”
“What? What about you and Bria?” I press the phone more tightly to my ear, waiting to hear my worst suspicion confirmed, that he and Bria had hooked up.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t want to hurt you…but her and I…” he says before cutting off again. “I didn’t mean for this to happen.”
My heart slams against my chest, thudding painfully. After several seconds of silence, he speaks again. “Taylor, say something.”
While I try to figure out what there is to say, mercifully, the phone connection is lost just as the tears begin to flow and tumble down my cheeks.
I curl into a ball and sob into the pillow. The pillow that still smells like Colt, which must be the universe’s idea of a sick joke.
“Shrimp?” Reis peeks inside the cracked door.
When his eyes meet mine, he sees that I’m crying, and comes toward the bed.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have kissed you. I’ll tell Colt, it was my fault. You did nothing wrong.”
Yeah, nothing wrong, other than enjoy it and let it happen. Stupid, Taylor. Stupid. That kiss shouldn’t have happened. I was still with Colt then.
“It’s not that,” I manage between sniffles.
“What’s wrong then, sweetheart?” He gently rubs my back, coaxing the words from me.
“I talked to Colt.”
His hand freezes on my back while he processes my words. Then he begins rubbing again. “Did he tell you?”
I sit up suddenly, tears staining my cheeks. “You knew? About him and Bria?”
He nods. “Yeah. I wanted to say something, but he wanted to be the one to tell you.”
I reach for the pillow and pull it to my chest, burying my face. Reis knew. Britt probably knew. And of course Bria and is probably celebrating behind my back. I let the tears come, not even trying anymore to hold them back.
“Shh, it’s going to be okay.” Reis continues rubbing the length of my back. “Everything will be fine when he gets home, you’ll see. You guys will figure this out.”
I lift my head from the pillow. “No. He’s messed up one too many times.”
I cry until I’m spent, emotionally and physically drained. Reis just sits quietly beside me, rubbing my back and smoothing my hair, and shushing away the harder sobs that rack my chest. Eventually when I quiet into just hiccups, he lies down beside me, cradling my body with his. A few minutes later, Reis gets up from the bed, untangling his limbs from mine.
I whimper from the sudden absence of warmth and reach out for him.
He chuckles. “I’m not going anywhere, Shrimp, just turning off the light.” He flips off the light and comes back to the bed, pulling me tightly to his chest once again. I sigh and relax into him, thankful for his presence and long past feeling guilty about that kiss.
After I’ve quieted my tears and breathing has returned to normal, I roll over, turning toward Reis. He looks down at me and brushes my hair back from my face and smiles.
“How stupid am I?”
“Shh,” Reis whispers, playing with a lock of my hair.
“I gave my heart to someone who can’t be trusted. He hasn’t changed one bit. And to think, I almost slept with him before he left.” I shake my head. And I would have, except it’d been Bria even then coming between us. It’s just like MJ said it would end.
“You mean you never slept with him?”
“That’s what you took away from that?”
He chuckles. “Sorry.”
“One track mind, much?”
“Well it’s Colt, so I figured you had. And even though it would have been weird being with you after that, I was willing to overlook it.”
I sit up in bed. “Reis, I’m not going to be ready to be with anyone for a while. I just need to be by myself.”
He nods. “I’ll wait for you until you’re ready. I’m nothing like him, you know?”
“I know that.”
“So maybe there’s hope for us.”
“I don’t think so.” Reis is a nice guy. Why couldn’t I have fallen for someone like him? But I wasn’t ready to even consider another relationship. I should be banned from interacting with the male species. “I’m not ready for anything, with anyone.”
“Let me worry about that then. You just focus on being happy again. And I’ll be here to cheer you up. How’s that sound?”
“Nice,” I admit.
“Good. Come here.” He holds out his arm and I snuggle in against his side, letting my whole body relax.
Chapter 24
Colt
Taylor was quiet when I told her Bria and I would be in London for another two weeks. I’d apologized profusely, but she hadn’t said much. After we got disconnected, I tried to call her back and instead of answering she’d sent me a text. She was tired of not being able to trust me, she said. It was over. She was officially done with me.