Chapter 14

Josie

“Need me to help you with that?” I ask Reed as I watch him struggle up the front stairs of my porch.

He grunts and huffs. “Nope. Got it.”

“We really shouldn’t have bought such a big one,” I say as I turn to push my door open. I step into the foyer, backing up as Reed advances toward me with the huge-ass 4K television he just talked me into buying.

“You need a big one,” he says with a waggle of his eyebrows as he peers over the top of the box at me.

“Pervert,” I grumble affectionately, and back all the way into my living room. Reed’s dressed in a T-shirt and shorts today with a pair of running shoes. His sunglasses are perched on top of his hat’s bill and his hair sticks out from the under the edges. He looks sexy as hell, and I do not mind the way the muscles in his arms and shoulders ripple as he wrestles the TV into my house.

“I should have you move stuff for me more often,” I observe as he squats to set the box down on the floor.

He shoots me a quick grin. “Like what you see, huh?”

“Oh yeah,” I say solicitously. “Like a lot.”

“Well, let’s get this bad boy hooked up and then I’ll do a striptease for you in the bedroom.” His green-gold eyes flash with a mixture of humor and sensuality, and it’s a damn fine look on him.

“Or, you could strip first and hook the TV up while you’re naked,” I suggest. “I’ll just sit on the couch and watch.”

Reed laughs as he starts to rip open the box the TV came in, shaking his head. “If I stripped and you sat over there and had your hot little eyes on me, I’d get nothing accomplished. So I’m preserving our dignity and choosing to remain clothed while I hook up this TV. Besides, I’m dying to see if the quality is as good as promised.”

I roll my eyes as I turn from Reed to head into the kitchen. Such a boy with his toys sometimes.

“Want something to drink?” I call over my shoulder.

“Nah,” he says confidently. “This won’t take me long.”

TWO HOURS LATER…

“Perhaps if you read the instructions,” I suggest hesitantly to Reed as I cover the speaker of my phone that I’m holding up to my ear. He’s hunched over the back of the TV, brow furrowed in extreme concentration as he moves some cables around.

“I’ve got it almost figured out,” he murmurs distractedly, and I have to stifle a laugh, but apparently I don’t do it well enough because my mom—who is on the other line—hears it.

“Is he still fiddling with the TV?” she asks.

We’ve been on the phone for a good fifteen minutes doing our weekly catch-up on each other’s lives. I’ve told her about Reed and how we’ve sort of become an item, but she’s playing it close to the vest. After my sister, Jeanette bailed on the perfect wedding my mom helped plan, she’s afraid to dare to hope.

Reed had no problem getting the TV out of the box and plugging it in. The trouble started when he decided that he should move his Xbox over here, since he’s been staying most nights with me. We sort of fell into that habit over the last few weeks, mainly because of my work schedule. It was just easier for me to be here at my house in the mornings, since I needed to get up early on the days I worked.

There was a slightly more irritating reason, and that’s because some of Reed’s Barbies haven’t quite received the message that he’s off the market. On two occasions when we were at his house, both times fortuitously eating dinner and not having sex, some of his past conquests just showed up at his house without invitation.

The first time I was slightly amused, mostly because it was entertaining to watch Reed try to get rid of the woman like she was a hot potato and was worried I’d be offended. But I wasn’t.

The second time, though, my amusement was lessened as I was reminded that Reed did have a very particular type that he went to time and again, and I wasn’t it. It was a slap-in-your-face kind of reminder that Reed might decide he wants that again, and there’s nothing I can do about that.

Our relationship is, after all, casual.

At any rate, after the second one showed up, Reed tended to steer us over to my house so we wouldn’t be interrupted, and I know he felt bad about it.

Reed, however, insisted I get a TV. I go to sleep early and he’s a night owl. He refuses to sleep in his bed, always joking he likes the convenience of having me close by in the morning. I finally felt guilty enough since he was rearranging a bit of his life for my convenience that I broke down and got one today. And this came only after he ultimately threatened to buy one for me, which I was not about to let him do.

So, like a little kid with his brand-new big toy, he decided to move his Xbox over.

Although Reed might be a big geek when it comes to his electronic toys, we soon discovered he’s not all that great at figuring out how to hook them up. His current dilemma is that he can’t get the Xbox to connect, and I’m pretty sure if he’d just read the directions or Google the issue, the problem would be solved. After that, he needs to figure out how to hook up the HD antenna, and I figured we might be awhile, so I started to cook an early dinner for us.

“All right, Mom,” I say into the phone as I turn back to the kitchen. “I’ve got to get going. I’m cooking Noni’s sauce for Reed.”

“Don’t forget to roast the garlic first,” my mom says, and I roll my eyes. She says that every time.

“I won’t forget. Love you,” I say with a fond smile on my face.

“Love you, my darling. Tell Reed good luck with the TV.”

I grin, not able to help the good feelings that produces. That my mom already has an incipient bond with Reed even though she’s never met or talked to him. She only knows him through what I’ve told her, but it’s obviously all been good.

I decided to prepare my grandma’s famous spaghetti sauce today because I’ve got nothing better to do and I wanted to show a different side of myself. Every so often, Reed looks up from his work to sniff and say, “Damn, that smells good,” and, “I didn’t know you could cook.”

It’s a casual, relaxed Saturday and we have no obligations. Just two friends hanging together who will later have some hot, passionate sex.

But even I have to admit, things have changed.

Ever since that night he took me to see the meteor shower two weeks ago, I can’t really say this is just a friendship anymore. Reed’s unbelievably sweet gesture to give me something I would have never thought to give myself made it very clear to me he cares. And because it made me absolutely gooey, lying beside him on that blanket and just watching the stars streak across the sky, I knew that I was developing feelings as well. This alarmed me, but not enough to cool things down.

Instead, we’ve been together every night since. Many times it’s just the two of us chilling with a nice meal and conversation—followed by hot sex. Other nights, we’ll go out with some of his friends—also followed by hot sex. We even had a double date with Sutton and Alex so they could have some away time from the baby while her mother baby-sat. We’ve gone grocery shopping together, seen a few movies, and one day explored downtown Raleigh while eating ourselves sick because they had a food truck rodeo going on. That night we did not have hot sex because we were both too full to even try.

I stir the sauce again, turn the flame down to the lowest setting, then put the spoon on a rest beside the burner. “How much longer do you think you’ll be?” I ask Reed.

“Maybe another ten minutes,” he says, and I translate that to mean at least an hour. I’ll hold on boiling the pasta for a while.

Reaching into the fridge, I pull out a bottle of water and twist the cap loose. I walk into the living room and set it down on the floor near Reed’s knees. He glances at it and says, “Thanks, babe.”

And yeah…that little endearment gets to me.

I tap my fingers on the bill of his hat in response and head back into the kitchen, but a knock on my door stops me. Reed doesn’t even flinch but starts muttering some type of curse at the cable he’s fiddling with.

I keep my laugh to myself and change course toward the front door, figuring it’s an errant salesman or one of Reed’s Barbies snooping around for him. This thought actually amuses me, so my smile is flashing when I open the door.

And then it slides off as my jaw drops open to see Aiden McCune standing there. It’s been two years since I’ve seen him and he looks the same, and yet so different. He’s leaner, overly tan, and scruffy looking. The Aiden I knew in residency was always clean shaven with his hair clipped close.

But he’s not scruffy in a slovenly way. It’s more of an “I’ve been traveling the world” way.

“Hey, Josie,” he says, and I can hear the emotion in his voice and see it swimming in his brown eyes.

As if ignited, I can feel a rise of emotion within me to see him standing on my porch as the realization sets in that he actually came to see me.

Came. To. See. Me.

I can’t explain the response, but a weird combination of joy that he’s alive and safe and trepidation that he’s here fills me up, but I push the fear back and choose to concentrate on the good.

I throw myself at Aiden and he catches me in a big bear hug. “Oh my God…Aiden. What are you doing here?”

His arms squeeze me tight and he presses his cheek to mine briefly before releasing me. I step back, eyeing him up and down, and then lock my gaze to his waiting for an answer.

“I’m on a bit of a break and thought I’d come back to the area, see some friends,” he says casually. “You’re obviously one of the first I looked up.”

“I just can’t believe it,” I gush as I take him in, and I realize all of a sudden that my happiness to see him has almost nothing to do with my prior feelings but everything to do with the fact that I’ve had a low-burning worry about him doing such dangerous work. “You look great. And you’re in one piece.”

He nods somberly. “I’ve been in some hair-raising situations for sure.”

“Well, come on in,” I say as I step backward and press against the door to give him room to pass.

Aiden bobs his head in acknowledgment, gives me a shy smile, and steps over my threshold.

After I close the door, I go first into the living room and find Reed still kneeling by the TV with an expectant but pleasant smile on his face.

I make hasty introductions. “Reed…this is Aiden. We were in residency together. And Aiden, this is Reed. My neighbor.”

The minute I say the word neighbor, I know it’s wrong, but I don’t know why I’m feeling awkward about these two men meeting and how I characterize them. Reed, however, doesn’t seem fazed by my characterization as he pops to his feet and gives an outgoing smile to Aiden along with an outstretched hand. “Pleased to meet you, man.”

“Yeah, likewise,” Aiden says with a hearty handshake. He turns to look at the TV and mishmash of cords. “New TV?”

“Yeah,” I say with a nervous laugh, because all of a sudden I’m worried that these two are standing in the same room with me. “Reed’s been trying to figure it out for hours now.”

I wince internally at what could be deemed a backhanded slap at Reed’s abilities, but again, he laughs and points to the TV. “I’m about ready to give up.”

“What’s the problem?” Aiden asks as he takes a step closer to the TV and looks at it with grave concentration.

“I can’t get the Xbox to connect and I’m thinking maybe the HDMI cable is bad because I’ve tried everything else,” Reed says as he points to the mess.

“Mind if I try?” Aiden asks, but doesn’t wait for an answer. He just jumps in and starts rearranging things while Reed watches raptly.

I watch mesmerized as Aiden works and Reed offers suggestions. I focus in on Aiden’s hands. A doctor’s hands that can whip stitches or comfort a child who is sick. I compare them to Reed’s hands, which are large, calloused, and scarred on a few knuckles. Hands that know my body far better than Aiden’s ever did.

That thought requires a hard shake of my head and I inhale a quavering breath.

Reed’s head snaps my way. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, sure,” I say with a tiny laugh.

“There, that should do it,” Aiden says as he straightens up. He takes the remote, points it at the TV, and turns it on. He then presses a button, and lo and behold, Reed’s Xbox menu appears on the screen. “Voilà.”

“Awesome, dude,” Reed says exuberantly. “Thanks so much.”

“Yeah,” I mutter in agreement. “Thanks, Aiden.”

“Well, listen,” Aiden says as he rubs his hands together while turning to me. “I didn’t mean to intrude. Just wanted to let you know I was back in town and maybe we could get lunch sometime next week.”

“Um…yeah, sure,” I say with a bright, forced smile. “That would be great.”

“Still got your same cell phone number?” he asks.

I nod dumbly, feeling all kinds of weird about this, and yet…I want to know what he has to say.

“Great, I’ll text you and we’ll work around your schedule,” Aiden says cheerily. He turns back to Reed and sticks his hand out. “Nice meeting you.”

“Likewise,” Reed says with a return smile. “Thanks again on the TV.”

Aiden nods and then turns to the door. I walk behind him, realizing that my palms are suddenly sweaty. I get a final smile and nod of the head from Aiden, and then he’s gone.

My heart is hammering as I turn back to face Reed. Again, I get a carefree smile from him and he says, “Nice guy.”

“Yeah, nice guy,” I murmur, and then decide to put a little more distance between us. I walk to the kitchen and say, “I’m going to start boiling the pasta.”

“Sweet,” Reed says casually, then flops down on the couch, picking up a game controller. “I’m going to kill some enemies while you do that. Unless you want me to help?”

“No, I’ve got it,” I return breezily. “Happy hunting.”

“You’re the best, Josie,” he replies, but then his attention is fixed on his game. My attention is only half on the pasta, wondering why in the hell Aiden would ever come to see me when things ended so badly between us.