Bitter

He smirks and leans forward and whispers. “I’ve already been inside of you,” he jokes.

I give him a smartass look back. “Have you seen me naked?” I ask with a full smile.

He clenches his jaw. “No,” he says angrily like he’s not sure he’s upset he hasn’t seen me or upset that he’s even slept with me in the first place.

I smile bigger and lightly press against his chest. “Then you can take your weird morals and get out of my room.”

“They aren’t weird,” he tries to defend himself, but the smile on his face tells me he knows it doesn’t make sense.

I stand on my tip-toes and whisper in his ear, “Pretty sure Jake would be more upset about you having your cock inside of me than catching a glimpse of my tits.”

I smirk as I step back and close the door in his face. He lets out a frustrated noise on the other side of the door. “Well, hurry the fuck up then.”

I make sure to stay in my room until the last possible moment just to annoy Reed. I take one last glance in the mirror. I shake my wavy curls out one more time and then adjust the strap on my dress. I look good. The red dress hangs off my shoulders with plenty of cleavage. The slit on the right leg shows off plenty of leg. Is it too sexy for a recently widowed woman to wear? Probably, but I don’t care. I don’t want to put my life on hold anymore. I want to look sexy if I want to look sexy.

Last thing I do before I walk out of the room is apply a bright red lipstick. I grab the card I got for them and then walk out to the living room where most people are getting ready to leave. My eyes scan the room until they find Reed.

I wasn’t expecting the look on his face. Butterflies flutter in my stomach. Wow. Fuck. He looks like he wants to devour me, and right here in front of everyone. He isn’t even trying to hide it. Like he lost all reason when he saw me.

I smile at him, and he raises his hand up to his mouth and tries to hide his expression from the rest of the family. He walks toward me as casually as possible. “Are you trying to kill me?” he breathes out harshly.

I step forward so I am standing next to him, and I turn my eyes to him. “I can’t wait to stain your cock with my lipstick.”

“Jesus, Wren!” he groans.

I look forward and smile. “Better get going. Don’t want to be late.”

I walk forward, but he follows behind. “Ride with me.”

I turn and raise my eyebrows at him. “You really think I’m going to do it in your truck?” I flirt.

“Just make sure to bring a touch up lipstick for when you’re done,” he rumbles.

He turns and starts walking toward the door. He smirks over his shoulder. “You coming?”

I smile and shake my head at him, but I follow him out all the same. He opens the door of his truck and holds my hand while I get in. He runs around the front and hops in his side. I raise an eyebrow at him. “Won’t Katie feel weird that you are bringing another woman to the wedding?”

He gives me a devilish grin. “Careful, Wren. You are sounding awfully jealous.”

I laugh but then give him a serious look. “I’ll claw her fucking eyes out if she so much as looks at you,” I joke.

He bursts out laughing, and I can’t help but join in. He smiles at me. “I’ve missed this with you. I haven’t heard you laugh like that in a while,” he says more seriously.

I wasn’t expecting such a turn of mood, but my heart rate speeds up anyway. “Me too,” I smile back.

This is the first time we’ve been truly alone in a while. We finally have the opportunity to talk. We should talk about what this is we’re doing exactly, but I don’t want to mess things up. I’m scared that if we say anything, then it might change what we have right now, and I don’t want to give that up yet.

He smiles sweetly at me. “Do you remember the last time we were here?”

“Oh geez. What was it? Labor day? I think that was three years ago?” I respond.

“Yeah,” he laughs. “We walked over to that karaoke bar while my parents had all their snobby friends over.”

I grin at him. “Oh my God! I forgot about that!” Then I cringe. “That bitch Marley was at that party. No wonder Jake didn’t come with us.”

He glances my way briefly. “Did we even invite him?”

I smirk at him. “You know we didn’t.”

He laughs at the road. “Of course the fuck we didn’t,” he grins. “I found you hiding in the kitchen and knew I had to get you out of there.”

I blow out a breath. “Oh God, we got so drunk that night.”

He laughs. “I’m still surprised you went.”

“What do you mean?” I ask.

He shrugs. “I don’t know. You didn’t really ever do anything Jake didn’t want you to.”

I frown because I know he’s just being honest, but I still don’t like it. “Well, good thing you didn’t let me say no then or I would have missed your singing.”

He grabs the steering wheel harder. “Don’t pretend you remember anything about that night,” he jokes.

I laugh and reach over and touch his arm. “I couldn’t forget your singing if I tried.”