Wanting Reed (Break Me) BOOK 2 (33 page)

“Oh, so you love him?”

“What is it to you?”

“It’s sad that you can’t admit it to yourself. That you do.” She deadpans, sliding her fingers up and down the bar top, looking back up at me haughtily. “A man like that.” She shakes her head. “You need to snatch someone like him up quick.”

“I do love him!” I yell at her.
I’ve known for a long time. Why I decide to declare it in public to her of all people is beyond me.
Sierra straightens and grabs her beer from the bar and polishes it off. She never takes her eyes off me as she sets the empty bottle onto the bar.

“Okay, well, my work is done here.” She smiles victoriously. Picking up her purse from the bar, she brushes past me as she flings her hair. “Hey, Tyler, Happy Birthday,” she chirps.

I hastily turn around, wondering how long Tyler has been standing behind me. He raises his eyebrows and jams his hands inside his pockets.

“Yeah, thanks,” he replies unsmiling. Without offering a glance in Sierra’s direction as she walks past him, his deep brown eyes remain trained on me. “Is everything okay?” he asks, stepping toward me as I close the distance between us and place my trembling hands onto his chest, feeling his heart race underneath. He pauses and looks at me for a moment, taking my hands in his. How much of the conversation did he hear? I swear I see emotion that resembles sadness, but then he smiles and kisses me tenderly on the lips. He pulls away, brushing my hair away from my face.

“Sorry about that. Everything’s fine,” I say, gazing up at him. Traces of anger still linger from my exchange with Sierra, but I’m not going to let her or what I saw tonight ruin the rest of the night with Tyler. It’s already wasted too much time. “Let’s go. I haven’t given your birthday present to you yet.”

“Can’t wait.” I hear a note of disappointment in his voice, even though he tries to hide it with his smile.

Sierra. Fucking. Sierra. I was glad Elle did not see me laying into Sierra in the parking lot. Then again, maybe I should have. Would it have even made a difference? I lost the opportunity to explain myself when I saw her standing out there alone, but I didn’t have it in me. I fucked up.
Again
. It killed me to see her, knowing that I could be the reason she looked so damn upset. I close my eyes, trying to make sense of the bigger mess I’ve created.

I stayed behind, trying to build up the nerve to talk to her; instead, I watched her leave the club with Tyler. She appeared slightly drunk and was having a difficult time keeping steady. By the look on Tyler’s face and the way he was holding her, he was enjoying himself. I admit I watched them the entire fucking time as they waited for a cab. He held her close in that damn sexy red dress while she flirted with him and played with her hair. I watched as the cab pulled up, he opened the door for her and she kissed him. I don’t want to think about where they’re going or what they’re doing later. The thought of Tyler being with her blows my fucking mind.

Good ol’ fucking Tyler. Yeah, I’m more than a little envious that he gets to touch her and breathe the same air as her. It takes a clusterfuck of shit to make me jealous. Fuck. I don’t think I knew that feeling existed until a few months ago when I saw her in the airport with him. I saw the way he looked at her. Kissed her. That hurt and it hurts ten times worse now.

I’m still reeling from all the beers.
It’s always the damn beers.
The fact that I actually put my trust in Sierra makes me feel like a damn idiot, even after all the warnings. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. I’ll make sure to remember that shit from now on. I have to talk to someone, so I immediately dial Juju’s number. I don’t care if it’s past one in the morning. The phone rings a couple of times. It’s a Friday; they could be out. I’m about to hang up when she answers in her sweet voice.

“Reed?” she replies groggily.

“Yeah, it’s me.”

“Oh my God. You finally decided to call?” She perks up.

“Well, that’s a two-way street.”

“Touché.” She laughs. “My job is really keeping me busy. I got promoted to manager of the retail division. More responsibility, which comes with more money.”

“That’s great,” I answer, truly happy for my sister. For a split second, I forget what happened tonight and that Elle saw Sierra plant a wet kiss on my inebriated ass. I wasn’t all there. I didn’t shove her away fast enough.
Fucking beers.

“So... something is wrong.” Her words are filled with concern.

“Why would you say that?” I feign ignorance, raking my hands through my hair in frustration. How do I start this conversation with her? I feel like I’m in high school again. I can’t mend the one relationship I want so badly. Everything keeps falling apart on me.

“It’s past one in the morning over here, and you interrupted me during my
Sons of Anarchy
marathon. That Jax is really something.” She sighs into the phone.

I hear Tommy moaning in the background, “He ain’t got nothing on me.”

“Tommy doesn’t know what it is about him,” Juju says. “He just can’t appreciate such a delicious piece of man.”

“Oh shit, I don’t know anything about Jax or what he’s packing, but I see he’s got you all bothered.”

“Yeah. Yeah, he does,” she breathes dramatically.

“I’m glad to see you and Tommy are still as happy as ever.” I chuckle, debating whether I should even bother trying anymore, let alone tell my sister that I can’t get my shit straight when it comes to relationships. Perhaps I should join Luke because I’m just not cut out for this. If it were another girl, possibly, but it’s not so easy with Elle.

“Okay, you’re really quiet over there, which tells me the reason for your call is about that girl. Elle, right?”

“Yeah,” I reply pensively, wondering what Elle is doing right now with Tyler and it makes me furious. I need to do something to numb the ache right now. I thank God I’m in my bed and not near a hard surface because I would probably hurt myself.

“What did you do now?”

“Do you really want to know?” I tense, gripping the phone tightly to my ear.

“If you’re calling me in the middle of the night, you bet your ass that your little sister wants to know.”

I exhale hard, exhausted by the bullshit that I’ve created. I go ahead and explain everything to Juju from the history and the parties involved to how I ended up making the deal with the devil Sierra. I swear Jerry and Sierra should team up; they would make one deadly team.

“Wow,” she interjects. “This is serious, but not something that can’t be fixed. First of all, there are three rules to follow when you’re trying to get back with an ex.” She pauses and clears her throat. “One, never, ever, ever team up with an ex of an ex’s ex.” She stresses each word as she speaks.

I chuckle at my sister’s answer despite my dire situation. I’m literally hanging by a thread. I don’t have many options or maybe I just used up my last one.

“Are you still there, Reed?” she asks.

“Yes, I’m listening.”

“Rule number two. Call Juju. She has all the answers.”

“And three?” I wait in bated breath for her to give me the solution to my state of affairs.

“Refer to number two.”

“You smart ass.” I smile, rubbing my hand over the stubble on my cheeks. I haven’t shaved all week, hoping tonight would have been the night I held her in my arms and would have felt her hands on my skin.

“Seriously, do you have any friends you can trust? Maybe someone you both know?”

Why didn’t I think of this before? Before I got messed up with Sierra? Fuck. This was plain as day. One thing I’ve learned in my life is that when you get desperate, you make some fucked-up decisions and this ranks as one of my biggest.

“Juju, you’re a genius! Why didn’t I call you sooner?”

“It took you this long to figure that out about me?” She giggles. “Keep me on speed dial.”

“I’ve got to let you go. There’s someone I need to call right now before this gets fucked up even more.”

Piper.

I texted Piper right after I got off the phone with Juju but didn’t receive a response until I woke up this morning. I told her to meet me on the quad. She didn’t ask any questions and just said she’d be there. I grab my backpack along with my guitar. I need it today to calm my nerves. She’s my last resort. I just hope I’m not too late.

Anxious to know if she’ll even help me, I arrive fifteen minutes early and settle under a tree. Pulling out my guitar, I strum a few cords that lead into the song I wrote for Elle. It hurts too much to finish it, so I play a new song that I’ve written since my return to Boston. It’s good therapy to put what I’ve been going through into words. I use football for my anger and music for my pain.

Closing my eyes and leaning my head against the tree, I let the music flow from my fingers and sing quietly to myself. The tension I’ve been feeling momentarily leaves my body, but it does nothing for my mind. The thoughts still linger.

“Hey.”

I turn, glancing over my shoulder and the first thing I see are expressive gray eyes staring at me in awe.

“Don’t tell me that was you I heard playing the guitar and singing?”

“Yeah, that was me.” I smile, resting my guitar back in its case.

“Did you ever think of...?”

“What? Playing on stage?” I cut her off, shaking my head.

“Yes.”

“No way, not for me.” I laugh. “Not in a million years,” I say, stretching my legs out in front of me.

“You’re good. And that song? Did you write it?” She raises an eyebrow, still in utter shock at my secret talent.

“Yep.” I let out a deep breath.

“Wow. It was beautiful. Who inspired it?”

Here is the lead-in for the conversation, the whole reason why I brought her here in the first place. “Elle.”

“Wait.” She steps forward and throws her hand on her hip. “I only know one Elle in Boston.”

She’s quick.

“Yeah, so do I,” I breathe. “I think you’re my last chance to fix my problem.”

“Who me?” She points a finger at herself and laughs before dropping her backpack onto the grass and sitting crossed-legged beside me under the tree. “Is that why you called to meet?”

“Yes.” I nod my head in confirmation.
It’s out there now. No turning back.

“I knew there was something going on with her.” She gives me a compassionate smile.

“What do you mean?” I lift an eyebrow, wondering if Elle mentioned me at all.

“She seems conflicted, like she’s fighting something. No matter how hard she tried to hide it, I could tell.” She glances over at me. Her eyes twinkle as she twists her necklace in contemplation. “So, what is it that you want from me?”

“You’re gonna be the one to get us back together,” I reply straight-faced, without missing a beat. “You’re it. I need you on this one.”

She peeks over, her eyes flashing contemplation. I take that as a good sign as I wait for her to respond. “Well, I need a little bit of history here. I need to know what I’m dealing with,” she says as she eagerly leans into me.

I hate repeating the history of our short relationship, the bad parts anyway. Piper needs to know every shitty detail, especially the part involving Sierra. For the next twenty minutes, she listens to it all, quietly pondering and soaking in everything. She lifts her eyes to me and flips her long black hair off her shoulder.

“I’m in,” she sings. “Because I like you both and I can totally see you together, I will do whatever I can to help you. What happens after that is between you and Elle.”

“Trust me. I know. I’ve been trying to fix this for months, and I’m not about to fuck up again. I love her too much.”

“I only have one question for ya.” She quirks a brow.

“What’s that?”

“What about the guy I saw her with the first time I met her?” she asks, running her hands down the legs of her jeans.

“What guy?” I fucking know who she’s asking about, but I play along.

“The tall piece of eye candy with the rockin’ body and brown hair that drives a Jeep,” she challenges. “I’m betting that he’ll be a little upset with you making a move on her.”

“Tyler,” I clench my teeth as I say the words, “is her best friend.”
Who knows, shit could have progressed between them. They do look more than a little cozy with each othe
r.