My head jerks to see Chas standing on the ground. That’s when I realize I’m on an old blanket in the back of my pickup.
“What’s going on?”
Chasity laughs. The sound not only hurts because of my headache, but it grates on my nerves.
“You didn’t tell me you were such a wild man, Reed. You party harder than your brother, sweetheart.”
“I…uh…” I try to think back on the night before but it’s entirely blank. I search and search but the last thing I remember is walking to the truck, climbing on the tailgate.
Drinking.
I took a drink. Fuck, how much did I drink?
“What did we do last night?”
“You mean, what didn’t we do,” she replies with a smirk. “If I knew how good you were in the sack, Reed, I would have kicked him aside for you long ago.”
“We had sex?” I squeak. Jesus, I don’t remember drinking that much but hell, I don’t remember much of anything.
“Over and over,” she practically moans, making my stomach turn.
“How did we end up here?” I ask, rubbing the back of my neck. I don’t know how I feel other than disgusted with myself.
She shrugs. “After Callie and Mitch interrupted our party, we drank a little more. You said you wanted to go somewhere special. You were too drunk to drive, so I did. No idea why you thought an old pasture was special, but you went on and on about the stars.”
I actually brought Chas to the spot Callie and I shared to look at the stars. I can’t believe it. What in the fuck was in that tequila? My mind is reeling with that, before what Chas said hits me fully.
“Callie saw us together?”
For some reason, that makes Chas laugh so hard that it’s a wonder she even catches her breath. I can’t hear her laughter anymore. It’s literally making me feel like my skin is crawling. I move quickly, though I’m so fucking hungover that it hurts like hell. I slide out of the truck, grabbing her—shaking her.
“Did Callie see us together?” I growl, and I’m panicking. I know I am. I’m disgusted by the thought that Chas and I might have had sex, but I don’t want Callie to know. Hell, I don’t want anyone to know. Did we have sex? Why can’t I remember anything?!?!
“Woah,” Chas snaps, yanking her body out of my grip. I let her go because my stomach is churning. The last thing I want to do is touch her. “What’s wrong with you? Of course, she saw. I was riding you like the rodeo stallion you are when they showed up. You offered to let them join in. Which, by the way, I didn’t mind. Still, you should consult me first from here out. You might invite someone I don’t like. I mean, I’m not especially crazy about Callie, but I’m confident enough I could keep you and Mitch occupied and we’d forget about her.”
“Oh God,” I groan, as I realize that Callie saw me having sex with Chas. I turn away from Chas and as the acid in my stomach begins to churn, bile rises, and I hurl.
What in the fuck have I done?
20 Callie
Three Days Later
“Callie, we need to talk.”
I close my eyes, my entire body tensing. I turn from my locker to face the man who ripped my heart out.
“I don’t think we have anything to say to one another, Reed.”
“I need to explain.”
I laugh. It’s bitter and the misery that I’m in comes out in the sound, but I don’t care. I don’t care about much of anything.
“Trust me, Reed, there’s nothing you can say that I want to hear.”
“I didn’t mean for you to see that. Hell, I don’t even know what you saw,” he says scrubbing his hand into his hair, worrying it.
“Entirely too much,” I snap. “I saw entirely too much.”
He jerks as if I hit him. For a second, I think I see confusion and maybe even fear on his face, but I shake my head and turn away from him. I’m just looking for a sign that I’m wrong about Reed. It doesn’t even matter anymore.
I start walking toward my next class. Reed doesn’t let me escape, though. He grabs my arm and pulls me around to face him. The last three days I’ve been thankful that I haven’t seen Reed. I spent Sunday at home, hiding from him, from Mitch, Katie—everyone. Monday, I was anxious the entire day at school, praying I wouldn’t run into Reed. He didn’t come to school, but I still worried he would show up. Today, when I pulled into the parking lot and saw Reed’s truck, I knew my luck was over. I thought of our confrontation a million times, but the speech I had mentally prepared has disappeared. I can’t think of one thing to say.