I almost felt relieved, but I also felt a longing so deep within my bones I thought they might split in half.
Anyone from a mile away could see that Reid being that close to me had an effect on my body. I was certain that Jane, all the way over at the bar, could see my nipples standing erect through my dark, shimmery dress. I only prayed that Reid was oblivious.
Reid kept his gaze forward, not looking over at me once when he said, “I just wanted to thank you.”
The world stopped moving. “You’re not mad?”
He huffed out a small chuckle. “Why would I be mad that you gave up your own talent to save mine?”
I laughed, only loud enough for him to hear me. “My own talent? Let’s not get crazy.”
That was when he chose to look over at me. Our eyes collided at the same time, and I was pinned to my very seat. “You are talented, Brooklyn—whether you’re too afraid to admit that or not. You should always follow your dreams, even if you’re afraid.”
I paused, getting caught up in Reid’s dark, dreamy features. “I’m not afraid to follow my dreams.” I shrugged, playing with the water droplets running down the side of my glass again. “My dreams have just changed over the years.”
“So what’s your new dream then?”
I wavered before answering. “My new dream is to get you back to reaching yours.” I could tell Reid was looking at me. I could feel it. Man, these water droplets sure are interesting.
“But why? Why do you care so much?”
Part of me wanted to tell him that I didn’t care. I wanted to blurt out that I was doing it all for me, all for the money to help my family climb out of the dark financial hole we were in. I only wanted to push him to where he was before, writing the beautifully depicted songs that he was famous for, just to get the huge payment that would solve everything. But deep down, I knew it was a lie.
Over the last few weeks, working with Reid, we’d built some sort of strange relationship that was half us bickering and fighting over music and the other half almost an emotional intimacy. I knew we weren’t physically intimate, but something about our late night, personal conversations that often went a little deeper than we both wanted, felt intimate, sacred. I had grown to care about him.
I felt a sort of dark sadness at the thought of his dreams diminishing because he was struggling so badly with something—and that something was tied to his ex, Angelina. The curious side of me was all but shaking with the need to know more, but the rational side of me knew that it was none of my business. It was evident that Reid was hurt, and I wanted to pull him out of that hurt more than I wanted anything.
I held Reid’s eye when I answered, evening out my shaky voice. “Because I think whatever it was that hurt you so badly…that has caused you to be this version of yourself…the one who is struggling so quietly that most people don’t even realize it…is something that you didn’t deserve in the first place.”
Reid’s entire face fell. The crinkle of his eye vanished; the clench of his jaw relaxed as his mouth opened just slightly. For a moment, I felt like I could see right through his armor. I could see right through the carefully constructed walls he’d built, one by one. Reid King was a broken man. I knew that something had caused him to build those sky-high walls, blocking everyone and everything out, but looking into his eyes in that exact moment, I could feel it. “I don’t know what hurt you, or what happened, but I’m going to pull you out of it, and you’re going to come out on top, Reid King, even if it’s the last thing I do. You will write again, and your music will be a saving grace to people. I just have to make you believe that.”
A strange look washed over Reid’s features. Admiration, maybe? Confusion? I couldn’t figure it out, but suddenly, I felt his hand on my thigh. The roughness of his palm sent tingles to every single hidden crevice on my body. He gently squeezed my leg when he opened his mouth and all but whispered, “I think…” He sighed. “I think I just may be starting to believe you.”
We were so wrapped up in one another, both stuck in another deep conversation that was meant for our ears and our ears only, that we didn’t even realize that Jane, Jackson, and Finn were all standing at the end of our table, staring at the pair of us. It wasn’t until Jackson had flicked a piece of ice in between our bodies that we both jerked back.
“Well, that was interesting,” Jackson mused, a cheesy smile plastered on his face.
“Huh? What?” I blurted, my heart racing a million miles a second.
Jane sucked in her cheeks and gave me a look. I could feel the heat sprea
ding along my skin slowly, making me sweat in the worst of places.
“Let’s go dance, Brooklyn,” Jane said, staring daggers at my face. If she could have dragged me out of that booth by my arm without causing a scene, she so would have.
“Dancing, yes. That’s a great idea,” I piped up, sliding out the other end of the booth, eager to get away from Reid. Before I let her sweep me to the dance floor, I grabbed my drink and downed it, hoping to ease the tingling in my limbs.
As Jane and I made it to the dance floor, I glanced back and saw Jackson mumbling something to Reid and pointing his head in our direction, but Jane’s small hand wrapped around my wrist as she flipped me around.
“You little liar!” she spat, grabbing onto my other wrist and spinning us around to the music. There was basically no one else dancing, so I was certain we looked like a couple of idiots.
“Liar?! About what?” I took my hands out of her grasp. “We look like idiots out here. No one is even dancing!”
Jane rolled her eyes and grabbed onto my hands. “Then we’ll start the dance party. After you spilled your little secret of Reid seeing you naked, you told me nothing serious was going on between you two. But let me just tell you...what I just walked in on over there…that was something serious.”
I opened my mouth to deny it, but the birthday boy, Jami, strutted over to us, ceasing our conversation. He stood back and nodded, his long, blond hair falling over his shoulders. “I love that you two have the balls to come out here and dance even though no one else is. Especially considering you two aren’t…” The rest of his sentence trailed, and I couldn’t help but blurt out, “Famous?”
Jane grinned. “Is that okay, birthday boy?”