Center Mass (Code 11-KPD SWAT 1)

I sure as hell hoped so.Chapter 14Your face. I like that shit.

-Coffee Mug

Reese

“Why don’t you come over here?” My sister asked.

I looked at the clock next to my bed where I’d been laying for four hours and sighed.

“Okay. What do I need to bring?” I asked.

It was Thanksgiving Day, and I was alone. My parent’s flight had been delayed due to a storm. Something that half the United States was having to deal with at this moment. Apparently, planes couldn’t fly in snowstorms. Nor could they land on a runway covered in ice. Who knew?

That equaled out to me not having anywhere to go for the first time ever.

And my baby sister was having pity on me.

“Just yourself. Make sure you take a shower and brush your teeth, though. I don’t want you to embarrass me,” she quipped.

She had no clue how true that statement really was.

“Okay,” I said. “What time do I need to be there?”

“I’ll come now to get you. I want to drink,” she said. “It’s just going to be Grayson’s dad and us. Small and intimate. And you can all laugh at my cooking.”

That wasn’t a joke, either.

My sister had tried to do the turkey three years ago, and it’d ended in a disaster.

“Thanks you, sis,” I said softly.

Her voice softened. “I love you.”

My eyes closed, and I barely held back a sob. “I love you, too.”***“He really told you that you couldn’t come?” My sister asked in surprise as she stirred what looked to be turkey gravy on the stove.

“Yes,” I confirmed. “He said that Lydia was going to be there and that it was in my best interest not to come.”

“He’s fucking her,” Grayson’s father, Booney, said.

That hadn’t been far off from my own thoughts.

The harder I tried to forget about what Luke had said, the easier it became for me to plant that little seed of doubt.

After all, I only had experience with very few relationships. And with Weston, it had been so beyond toxic that it was more than obvious to me that I didn’t have the best judgment when it came to guys.

“Just get drunk, honey, and you’ll forget,” Booney said, offering me a glass of whiskey.

I took the glass, remembering what Luke had said after we’d made love the last time. Comparing me to a glass of whiskey.

Then I shrugged the memory off. “Bottoms up.”

The drink burned going down, boiling in my stomach for a few long seconds before it settled into a nice, delicious warmth.

“Wow,” I said, shivering at the feeling. “This is good.”

Grayson walked in and saw me with the empty glass in my hand.

“You know,” he murmured laughingly. “I managed to keep that bottled for ten years now, and you two come over for a Thanksgiving dinner, and it’s opened and half drank before I even realize you have it.”

I winked at him, looping my arm around Booney’s shoulders. “You snooze, you lose.”

He mock glared. “It was a nap. I’m allowed to take a nap. It’s Thanksgiving after all.”

“Yes,” I said, pulling another cup down from the cabinet. “You’re also allowed to drink.”***Luke

“What’s wrong, honey?” My mother asked softly.

I sat on my stool with my back to the counter and watched my daughter play with Baylee’s kids.

Lydia was on the chair across the room, smiling at the kid’s antics.

“I think I fucked up,” I said.

My stomach didn’t feel right.

I couldn’t get ahold of Reese, and it was just making it worse knowing she was alone when she could’ve been with me.

“Well there’s nothing new with that. But what is it this time?” She asked, pulling the rolls from the oven and placing them on the hot pad next to the stove.

“Lydia. She shouldn’t be here,” I murmured softly.

My mother’s brows creased. “Why?”

I’d never told my mom why Lydia and I had broken up.

Only Baylee knew, and she understood my desire to keep it quiet.

Lydia’s parents were best friends with my parents. They didn’t need to have that coming between them, not when they were so close.

“I met someone about four months ago. And I feel like shit because I know she’s spending Thanksgiving alone and I told her not to come,” I said softly. “I knew Lydia would be here and I didn’t want to make it awkward for everyone.”

“You’re seeing Lydia and some other woman?” My mother gasped.

My head snapped around, and I barked. “No! Why would you think that?”

In fact, I was a little hurt.

Why would my mom think that? When had I ever given her that impression that I was that kind of man?

“You just told me you met someone. Don’t you think that if you met someone, you wouldn’t have a girlfriend?” My mom asked, gesturing towards Lydia.

“Luke’s not seeing that bitch. He’s seeing some cute school nurse,” my sister supplied helpfully as she inserted herself into our conversation as she always did. “And she has a badass car. Daddy would like it.”

My mother’s mouth dropped open. “Then why did I invite Lydia if you have another girlfriend?”

“I don’t know, mom. Why did you?” Baylee drawled.

My father, with the one track mind, chose that moment to butt in. “What kind of car is it?”

I rolled my eyes. “It’s a ’69 Charger. It’s candy apple red with a 454. Sounds fucking sweet.”

“But then why’d her parents tell me y’all were back together?” Mom asked.

Turning back to her, I answered. “Fuck if I know. I haven’t even spoken to her since she moved down here.”

My mother’s mouth gaped like a fish. “Well why on earth didn’t you tell me you had a new girl? When do I get to meet her?”

I shrugged. “As soon as you stop inviting my exes to dinner, I suppose.”

She scowled at me.

“Is it stock?” My dad asked.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and showed it to him. “Yes. Doesn’t make a difference, though. Things a beast. I bet it could hold its own on the quarter at Lone Star Speedway.”

My father was holding the phone up to his face, his glasses raised so he could study the detail work on the paint when it rang in his hands.