Reed's Reckoning (23 page)

After the kitchen is clean, we go back to the porch to enjoy our drinks. Sophie and Luke drill Reed on the upcoming season and which games we will get tickets to. He tells us he did buy a box and wants us at every game. The box is big enough for us each to invite a friend and his sister and mom too. There are only two night games this year and he tells us all to plan to stay either with him or at a hotel downtown. It’s a no–brainer when he tells everyone about his pool and boat dock.

We’re out of wine so I get up to grab another bottle. I’m just about to go outside when there’s a knock at the door. I contemplate telling Reed he has a visitor but then decide to answer it. There’s giggling on the other side of the door when I get close enough to hear and I pray there’s not a group of fans outside trying to get his autograph.

I throw open the door with my biggest fake smile when my world stops. The face staring back at me fills images in my mind of one of the worst days of my life. My heart races so fast I can feel it in my ears and before I can stop myself, I scream. Then the darkness takes me.

Tonight has been better than expected. The women in this group are fucking hilarious and besides a little embarrassment from my mom, I’m having the time of my life. More than once my future has flashed through my mind of many more nights like this. With a day like today and then tonight, I’ve decided I am buying us a beach house, not only because Ari and Davis love the beach but also because this whole group does. I want to give them everything, well for the exception of Jack. I want to give him another right hook, but the urge has dissipated since seeing him with my son. We’re laughing at Davis’s serious exaggeration of his soccer skills when I hear a sound that causes my heart to almost stop. I’m on my feet fast and see Luke with me. I lift Davis and we run through the house at lightning speed. My vision gets spotty when I see Ari lying on the floor and I don’t even look at who’s in the doorway before I start screaming. Luke gets to her before me because I hand Davis off to the closest person, which is Jack.

“Ari, Ari, baby wake up! Please wake up.” Luke is rubbing her temple trying to be careful.

I move under her and place her head in the cradle of my elbow while he helps me get her body in my arms. She starts to stir and her eyes go wide when she sees me. Her pupils are dilated and her face shows pure fear. She doesn’t move a muscle in her body but whispers, “Bailey’s here.” Then she passes out again.

Luke goes completely still beside us, and we both look at the door at the same time. He starts cussing under his breath when I see my sister and Alex Fucking Moore standing there.

It happens so fast no one can stop it. Sophie runs through us and bitch slaps my sister so hard her head spins to the side. I try to speak but nothing comes out. Luke jumps up to grab her and pulls her back outside. Jack, still holding Davis, follows. I hear her screaming but my mind is buzzing with denial.

No, no, no, please don’t tell me this is happening. I look at my sister who is holding her cheek with tears flowing down her face. Her gaze is focused behind me, and I turn to see Davis staring at her through the glass door. When he starts to cry, my protective instincts kick in and I find my voice.

“Please tell me this is not fucking happening!” I scream and see my mom go to Cara.

Katy scrunches next to me and lays her hand on Ari’s head. “Son, she needs to be in a bed. I will stay with her while you deal with this.”

I lift her up and take her to our master bedroom. When I lay her on the comforter, she wakes up but immediately cries. It’s not a quiet cry but a ripping wail, and Sophie runs in and lunges in the bed between us. Katy and Sophie cage her in and all I can do is kiss her forehead.

“She’s back, she’s back…and he’s gonna leave me again.” I hear her scream as I shut the door. I want to go back and comfort her, but I have to get answers. That woman is my life and something fucked up has just happened.

When I walk into the living room I look immediately for Davis, but he is still on the patio with Jack. Luke is tense but hanging out to try and soothe my son. I walk outside and tell them to give me few minutes.

My sister is sitting on the couch crying hysterically. My mom has a wet cloth to her cheek and is whispering. My first instinct is to go to her, but I remember the broken women upstairs and I need answers.

“Mom, I had no idea. Alex was in Orlando for business and called me. I decided to ride up here with her to surprise you and Reed.” Cara tells mom.

“Cara, look at me.” She doesn’t look but moves closer to Mom. “I said
fucking look at me
!
Now
!”

My mom scowls but lift’s Cara’s chin; then moves it my way. “Why did Ari call you Bailey? Why is my woman upstairs bawling her eyes out? My son is outside scared to death, and you are here looking guilty. Tell me it’s not what I think.”

“I-I-I’m so, so, so, sorry. I had no idea. I thought I was helping you by getting rid of her.” Her voice is so soft, I almost don’t hear it.

“You fucking pretended to be my girlfriend and threatened her?!”

My mom moves forward so she can see Cara’s face, which tells it all.

“Get the fuck out! And where is Alex Moore? Get her out too!”

“Oh, Reed, you don’t mean that. Let me explain. It was for your own good.” Cara begs.

“NOW!” I lose my temper again.

At that moment, Alex saunters into the room from somewhere unknown. She grins seductively at me and I want to slap her. I’ve never wanted to hit a woman so badly in my life.

“So I see she was trying to saddle you, a kid and all, he’s cute.”

My mom snaps. “Get out of our home, you floozy! That’s my grandson! Cara, how dare you bring her here knowing how she feels about Reed! I was too lenient during your life. You’ve been given everything even when you had disrespect for everyone around you. How could you? How could you do this to him?”

“You don’t understand, I had to. Besides, I was doing it to protect him. It wasn’t like he was serious about her. His career was about to take off and she was still going to be in school. I couldn’t let her use him.”

“Use me?! You thought she was using me? What the fuck do you know, huh? You were so goddamned wrapped up in yourself you didn’t even think to ask me about my girlfriend? She was everything to me. I was in love. She obviously wasn’t the one I needed protection from.”

“Reed, I know all about her. I heard about how she would spend her nights with you but her days with some other guy. She saw you as a way to soar into money and fame.”

“Look, this little family reunion has been a blast, but I’m gonna bounce. Too much shit going on here. I’m not interested in all this drama.” Alex says over her shoulder walking to the door. “I’ll put your bag by the door Cara.” She walks out but not before she smiles widely and winks at me.

My blood is boiling, that fucking bitch. As soon as the word ‘blast’ came out of her mouth, I knew it was her. She’s the one who wrote the note and put it in my bag. If Ari wasn’t in such shock and pain, I would have Sophie go after Alex and beat her ass.

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.

“When we met, she told me about Ari having a very close male friend that seemed like more than a platonic relationship. She had me convinced she was worried for you because of your upcoming NFL status. Over the next few months, she kept me up to date on your relationship and started to send me pictures of Ari with another man. Then she convinced me that I should transfer. I had just found out Mitch was cheating on me so it was a great idea. The two weeks leading up to my trip in March for Spring Break, she said things were bad and came up with the plan to approach Ari and tell her to get away from you. She told me Ari came from a poor area and was purposely going to trap you by getting pregnant. She overheard Ari telling her best friend. I was so mad, Reed, I wanted to approach her alone and tell her what a shitty person she was, but Alex gathered a few friends and told me where to meet her. I wasn’t exactly sure what we were going to say, but I played along. Then when you couldn’t find her, I knew she was with her other boyfriend so I tried to comfort you.”

“Fucking bitch.” Luke hisses beside me.

“Who are you? How dare you say that about me!”

“His name is Luke Adams and he’s Ari’s best friend. He has been since they were kids. He’s also the guy in the pictures you supposedly received. Don’t you recognize him?”

“No, I never saw his face fully,” she whispers. “But still are you going to let him call me a bitch?”

“He wasn’t talking about you, he was referring to Alex. He has more respect for me and mom to call you out like that. But I don’t—you are a bitch. A spoiled, selfish, conniving bitch just like Alex Moore. Let me tell you a few things. Ari wasn’t some fly by night college hook-up. She was so much more to me. Our lives were practically planned out as soon as I got signed. She was coming with me. You had no fucking right to listen to anything anyone told you about my relationship. If you were so concerned, why didn’t you talk to Jack or mom—or I don’t know—ME? I told you for years to be careful of being manipulated. You were always soft and we tried to support you at every turn.