Reed's Reckoning

“You may think that, but maybe it was meant to be.”

“What? I didn’t lie to you. I wanted you with me every second of every day. When I was injured last season, the first face that floated into my head was yours. I’ve never forgotten how much I loved you.”

“Stop! This isn’t about you and me anymore. We’re over. This is about the little boy in the other room who deserves to know his father. I can do this Reed. I can allow you to be a part of his life. But what I can’t do is allow myself to feel anything again for you. It broke me.”

Her statement sparks a drive in me. I see it in her eyes and feel it in the room around us. There’s still a chance for us. She’s given up, but I haven’t.

“Okay, Angel. We’ll put that conversation aside for now. Send me an email with your normal schedule and we’ll set up a routine of me stopping by. I was thinking maybe that I could take y’all to dinner on Monday night. I’m moving my clothes into the new place tomorrow.”

“Okay, I can do that. And Monday is fine, but we need to invite Grandma.”

Shit! This woman may chop off my balls. I’m sure her opinion of me is a piece of trash.

“Don’t look so scared. She’s calmed down in the years. Davis and she are really close and it’ll help if he thinks she likes you. She won’t be ugly in front of him.”

“Let me know what time to be here. I’d like to ride together. Maybe I could come back and you could teach me how to get Davis ready for bed afterwards.”

“Sure.”

There’s nothing really left to say so I get out my keys and make my way to the door. She follows me, and her arm brushes up against mine. The tingling returns.

Taking her by surprise, I pull her into a hug and kiss her temple before leaving. She grins at me sadly.

When I get into my car, I vow a few things. Number one, I will find out who worked to break us up all those years ago and why. Number two, I am going after my family. Ari will be mine again.

Chapter 6

Ari

“Nope, I’m not fucking kidding. That’s what he said and how the day went.” I slur.

I’ve drank too much and will regret it in the morning, but when Reed walked out, I knew how my night would end. I called Sophie and told her to pack a bag. She was staying. She didn’t argue and showed up first to help me cook. She even bathed Davis while I drank a glass of wine and cried in my bedroom.

What the hell is wrong with me? I have a life now and he has no place in it. There’s no more talk of moving around the country with him. Things have changed. So why did I feel like the twenty-one year old love sick fool when he walked away from me today?

“I love you to death, babe, but maybe you should listen to him. He’s obviously upset about what broke you up.” Sophie says and nods at Luke.

“Listen, A, I don’t want to see you hurt again. He’s making a gesture to see DL but be careful.”

“Seems to be the motto of my life right now.”

Sarah, my co-worker and Luke’s new girlfriend, looks uncomfortable so I change the subject and we spend the rest of the night talking about other subjects. I go to bed with Sophie beside me and I lean back into her.

“What do I do, Soph?”

“I wish I knew, honey, but this is up to you.”

Davis wakes me with a splatter of water to the face. I open one eye and see him trying to brush his teeth by himself.

“Baby, what are you doing?”

“Trying to unti-tash.”

“What?”

“Aunt Sophie told me to unti-tash and brush my teef and wake you up. She said to tell you cowfe is ready.”

“Do you mean multi-task?”

“Yep, that’s what I say.”

God! You have to love the vocabulary of a three and a half year old with a toothbrush in his mouth.

“Okay, sweet boy. Meet mama in her bathroom so we can wipe the toothpaste line from your face.”

He smiles at me with a mouth full of foam.

I get up slowly and don’t feel as bad as I should. I help Davis finish his teeth and then send him back to Sophie in the kitchen while I wash my face and get dressed.

The kitchen is a wreck when I walk in and see both Davis and Sophie bent over a box of pancake mix. She looks at me with guilt and he looks at me with pride. I laugh and join them to clean their disaster.

During breakfast, Davis talks about Reed non-stop. He’s so proud to talk about our new friend that likes to fish and play tag. Sophie listens intently and looks at me with a starry glaze. She believes in the happily ever after and has always wanted it for me. She even turned me on to her smutty romance novels, which leave me more hot and bothered than satisfied.