Reed
I’m still reeling from my kiss with Hayley—my mind struggling to process the feelings coursing through me—when she walks away. Luke follows after her and I stare intently, watching them go. My head spins, and I’m so consumed by my thoughts that when someone tugs on my arm, I startle.
“Fuck.”
“Sorry.” Bria laughs from beside me, drawing my attention. “Happy New Year.”
“Of course.” I force a smile. “Happy New Year. Are you having a good night? I’ve barely seen you.” My eyes flit to where Hayley’s talking to Amelia, before moving back to Bria, confusion swirling inside me.
“I’m surprised you were even looking. That was some kiss.”
“Can’t ring in the new year without one.” I force a chuckle this time, but Bria shakes her head.
“We’ve spent plenty of New Year’s Eve’s together and neveroncekissed.”
Jesus… this is new and the worst fucking timing. “That’s true, but we’re friends. Remember? Hayley’s my girlfriend.”
Bria’s eyes bulge and her gaze darts in Hayley’s direction. “Your girlfriend now? I thought you were just ‘seeing how things went.’”
I cringe because I shouldn’t have worded it that way. “We were. Weare. But she’s still my girlfriend. So…” I trail off and Bria turns back to face me, a soft smile in place.
“Yeah. I get it.” She pauses, sucking in a breath. “It’s strange, you know.”
“What is?”
“Seeing you with a girl. I mean, I know you’re not a virgin. Or at least I assumed that after catching girls sneaking out of your room in college, but actuallyseeingyou with someone…it’s different.”
I stare at her, my expression void of emotion, and she laughs. “Don’t mind me. I don’t know what I’m saying.”
What. The. Fuck?We haveneverspoken about this before. Ever.What are you trying to tell me, Bria?
She glances away shyly and it’s like someone has stabbed me in the chest. She’s not jealous per se, but she’s definitely upset about the change in dynamic between us, and I have a bad feeling our friendship isn’t going to survive this.
“Don’t worry, I’ll still have time for us.” I test the waters, watching closely for her reaction. “Hayley’s incredibly understanding about our friendship. She knows how close we are and she’d never want that to change.”
“Wow. Great.” Her tone lacks enthusiasm and I almost call her out. “I’m so happy you found someone like that. She sounds perfect.”
“Hayley’s great. You’re going to love her.”
“I’m sure I will.”
She smiles again but it’s so obviously forced that it pisses me off. Rather than giving me a spark of excitement at the prospect of realizing she might actually have feelings for me, I’m angered. She’s supposed to be supportive of this. She’s been talking about the men in her life formonthsand I was expected to be happy about it.
“She’s on her way back,” I say, my smile widening to greet Hayley. “We should all go and get some air.”
“Actually,”—Bria grimaces, taking a step back as she points behind her—“Andreas is waiting for me. Have a good night, Reed.”
She squeezes my arm as she walks away, letting it linger for a few seconds longer than she normally would, and I stare down at her hand. She’s clearly not herself, and in the past I would have gone after her, begging her to tell me what’s wrong. But when Hayley smiles hesitantly in front of me, the rest of the room disappears.
“Are you okay?” she asks, her voice full of concern. “How did that go?”
I stare at her for a beat, working her questions around in my mind, and when I answer, I completely surprise myself. “I’m great. It’s a new year, we’re going to make the playoffs, and we have a shot to win the Super Bowl again. Life is good. And to top it all off, I have the most beautiful woman by my side.”
“Themostbeautiful?”
“Don’t pretend you don’t know that. I mean, just look.” I wave a hand around the room as Hayley’s eyes follow, a flirty smile in place, until she shivers.
“I’d say I'm in the top three.” She forces her grin to return and I want to laugh, but something about her expression has my hackles rising.
