Reed's Reckoning

I swing my head back to my sister, who is looking between the door and me with confusion. Her expression changes and her face pales making the red handprint more obvious. She locks eyes with me as I glare at her with pure rage.

“Ari wasn’t a gold-digging whore was she?”

I start to answer but don’t get a chance when I hear a growl behind me. Luke is standing there with murder in his eyes. Anger radiates off his tight body.

“Reed, I’m going to get DL ready and put him to bed. Then I’m going to Ari, I suggest you do the same. And I’d do it quick because she is probably imagining things right now that only you can stop.”

I walk around him and give Davis a hug and kiss. He has calmed down and is no longer aware of the drama unfolding in my living room. He waves to everyone and my mom blows him a kiss. Jack comes in and stands next to me, crossing his arms over his chest and stares at Cara.

“He looks just like you.” Cara whispers to me.

“So I’ve noticed. Now, you’ve got two fucking options. You get to sit on my couch with Mom holding your hand and tell me everything. Or you get the fuck out and never come back. And I don’t mean the eight thousand dollar a month rental house; I mean never come back to any house of mine.”

“How can you talk to me like this? I thought I was doing the right thing. You never told me you were in love with her!”

“Clue the fuck in, guys don’t talk about that stuff, and I especially didn’t talk about my love life with my little sister! Just so you know, I would have shouted it from the fucking rooftops but I was trying to be sensitive about your breakup with Mitch!” She flinches and her eyes fill with tears again.

“Another thing, I’m not listening to this shit as you babble through it. Buck the fuck up and tell me what possessed you to interfere and chase Ari away?”

“Can we do this privately? I’m not sure if you noticed but I was assaulted by a woman when I walked in the door. Maybe when your guests leave we can talk.”

“Jesus Christ! No! No one’s leaving except for you. I can’t believe this shit.” I run my hands through my hair and eye the bottle of Jack Daniels on the bar. What I would do for a shot of that right now.

“How did you even know who she was, Cara? Mom met her but you didn’t.”

“I saw pictures on your phone. Also, Alex sent me pictures.”

“Is Alex behind this? Why? I never did anything to her? I was always nice to her. Now I get she’s a nut job but how did she convince you to do what you did?”

“I had to!”

“WHY?”

“Because it was the only way she’d support my bid into the sorority. She was like the most popular girl in it. She used to tell me all about the parties and the guys and how much fun she had. When I decided to transfer, she explained to me what was happening with you and how worried she was. She promised to get me into her sorority if I helped her get the trash out of your life.”

The room starts spinning as I listen to what she is saying. Jack reaches over to steady me and my mom jumps up to help. Luke comes back in and tells me Ari is asleep and Katy and Sophie will sit with her until I can get there.

“So, sorting this out in my head, you impersonated being my girlfriend and threatened Ari so you could join the popular crowd? You saw me; you knew how hurt I was. For five days, you watched me suffer and go crazy trying to find her. Did that seem like the actions of a carefree relationship?”

“Reed, I didn’t think it was serious. I thought she was with the other guy. She didn’t fight for you. She walked away with her head held high.”

“It’s called fucking pride! After what you told her about me having an open relationship with you and threatening to have her scholarship pulled. When she did try to come to me, twice she was stopped. Did you tell the Dean of her school she was stalking me too?”

“No, I didn’t. I was told she was stalking you.”

“By who? Alex fucking Moore? She’s such a reliable source of information. Now I’ll give you one more chance to tell me what happened—exactly.”

Jack, Luke, and my mom surround me, and Cara looks like she may bolt before she slumps down and puts her head in her hands.

“Around Christmas that year, Alex called and told me you had been dating someone for a while and wanted to know if it was serious. I told her yes because mom had met her and I knew you were taking her to the Sugar Bowl with you. You actually had visited her here over the holiday break. Alex asked me to meet her for drinks because she wanted to tell me some stuff face to face.