Troy
What happened earlier with Reece was a bit unexpected, but seeing her looking the way she was looking, I couldn’t resist. I really wanted things to go differently between us, maybe get to know each other before leading into taking our clothes off, but I don’t regret a second of it. I know Reece didn’t either.
Now we were heading to Dallas as I was trying to keep myself together. I stared over at Reece, who was laying back in her seat, staring at the road ahead. I put my hand on her thigh as she glanced over at me.
“What’s going through your mind, mija?”
She hesitated. “A lot. Just going back to Dallas and facing a lot of things that I tried to get away from.”
“You mean with your parents?”
She nodded. “Not just that, but just trying to figure out where my life was heading. I’m still trying to figure that out.”
“That’s okay. Trust me, I had to do the same when I did my time. I was lost and didn’t know where to go.”
“But you figured it out.”
“And so will you.”
“I really don’t want to face my parents, but since Vanessa’s dad already mentioned I was coming back there, I don’t have a choice.”
“You always have choices, Reece.”
“You don’t know my parents.”
“You want me to come with you for moral support?”
She stared at me and gave a tiny smile. “That would be nice. I should warn you though, they are very blunt; so if they don’t like you, they will let you know.”
“I’m sure,”
“But thank you,”
“No problem.”
We were silent for a few minutes before I cleared my throat. Maybe I should mention to Reece what my future plans were with Suds.
“I want your honest opinion on something.”
“Sure. What is it?”
“I haven’t even talked to Vanessa or Mark about it, but I was thinking about seeing if I could claim a stake in the business. I would love to own one of the locations, possibly even Richmond, but since they’re opening up this one in Dallas, I was thinking about trying to own it. That’s if they want to franchise.”
Reece looked surprised.
“Is something wrong?”
Reece shook her head. “No, I think it’s great that you want to own your own location.”
“I know sometimes my priorities are not in the right place, but that has been a goal of mine to be more involved in the business. Suds actually saved me, so I always felt I should be a part of it.”
Reece nodded. “That’s amazing.”
I noticed Reece’s expression changed once I’d made my announcement. I was watching her, wondering if everything was okay. Maybe I shouldn’t have told her anything.
“Once this trip is over, I am planning to talk to Mark and Vanessa about my idea. I figured I don’t have anything to lose.”
“They will certainly be impressed.”
“That’s the idea. That, and this is something that I really want to invest in. I think I’ll be great at it.”
“You will be,”
Reece looked sort of nervous. Something wasn’t right, but maybe I was over analyzing things.
I focused on the road ahead, wondering if I should have kept my vision to myself. Regardless to what Reece thinks, I’m still going to strive to make that vision come to life. I just thought she would be a little more happy about it. But why would she? The two of us are still getting to know each other.
I wished that she would be a bit more supportive. I guess I really was falling for her more than I realized.
***
Three hours later, we arrived in Dallas. I was staring at downtown Dallas from my window, seeing how it was completely different from Houston since much of the city was more industrial. I couldn’t live here, but if I did become owner of the Dallas store, I would try to be in the city more.
I was still thinking about how Reece was acting after I told her my plan. Maybe she was still thinking about her parents, that’s why she wasn’t being herself, but she seemed a bit guilty. I don’t know why. If something else was bothering her, I hope she would be able to talk to me about it.
We had an early start in the morning since we had to meet with the contractors at seven. I needed to get some rest, but I couldn’t. All I could think about was Reece, who was in the room next to me. Just the thought of being close to her, smelling her scent, holding her, touching her, that’s all I wanted to do with her.
I was about to call her when there were a knock at the door. I went to answer it and I opened the door to see Reece standing outside with delivery bags.
“I thought you might be hungry, so I ordered food.”
“You read my mind. Come in.”
She smiled as I let her in. “So, what did you get?”
“Paella, croquetas, and beef empanadas.”
I smiled. “You’ve been hanging around me too long.”
“When I saw a restaurant that had them, I quickly ordered.”
We sat down at the table in the main room as Reece pulled out the food. She stared at me as I grabbed a container.
“You’re probably wondering why I was acting strange earlier.”
I nodded. “I was,”
She sighed. “It had nothing to do with what you said. I think you would make a wonderful owner. You know your shit as a manager, so you would do great as an owner.”
“Thank you,”
“It’s just that so much has been going through my head recently and I guess it sort of got to me. Even though you have been supportive of me with my hidden talent, I still feel lost in a way.”
“I don’t think you should feel that way. Everyone in life has ways to deal with certain things. I think with you, you’re just scared to fulfilled your dreams. You’ve probably had so much negativity in your life that you don’t know what’s real motivation and what’s not.”
“I wouldn’t say that. I had several people who believed in me. I guess I just never gave them the chance to let them support me.”
“Did something else happen to you to make you act this way?”
Reece looked at me and I could tell she didn’t want to cry. She looked away from me and focused on something outside the window.
“Mija, please look at me.”
Her body shook as I watched her. I knew it had to be something else besides her parents. Yes, her parents were probably the reason for her behavior, but I knew it had to be something else beneath the surface to why she lashes out and has a cold persona.
“Reece, if you don’t want to talk about it, then it’s okay. I’m not trying to overstep my boundaries, but I know there has to be something else that has happened in your life.”
She looked at me with tears streaming down her face.
“I was in an abusive relationship when I was 18 and I blame my parents for it.”
I glanced at her, not sure what to say. I definitely wasn’t expecting that.
She looked down at the carpet as I stared out the window.
“Why do you blame them?”
She paused then continued. “Because they were the ones who introduced us. Paul was the son of their good friends so they thought we would be the perfect couple. They thought he would be the one who would motivate me to be the person they wanted me to be. Instead, it just made me more cold and evil.”
“The relationship started off okay, but once I really got to know him, he showed his true colors. He was a jerk who basically always got his way. If he didn’t, he’d do whatever it took so that he could. That would include using me as a punching bag when he was pissed because he didn’t pass an exam or because his parents made him upset.”
“How long were you two together?”
“For two years. And no, I never told my parents. I figured they wouldn’t had cared anyway.”
“Reece..”
“It’s true, they wouldn’t have.”
“Did he verbally abuse you as well?”
She nodded. “He did, but I usually would do the same. I also used to physically attack him, but I would never win those battles.”
“He didn’t force you to have sex, did he?”
She shook her head. “No. He never has. He was my first, which I hated, because I never really want to get close to anyone else after him. Not only was he abusive, but he was cheating on me as well. I just hate what he has done to me, because I feel as if I can’t be with anyone. I can’t commit to being in a relationship because I can’t give myself to someone like I know I should.”
I hated what this man had done to Reece. I don’t even need her to go into details about the way their relationship was. I just hope we don’t ever see him because I will definitely beat his ass.
“Does he still live in Dallas?”
Reece nodded .”Yes, and he still visits my parents.”
“Reece…”
“I know, I should have said something, but that’s why I don’t really have a good relationship with them because of that.”
“But they don’t know about what he did, Reece. You should have told them.”
“Like it matters. Knowing them, they probably would take his side over mine.”
I shook my head. “Mija, there’re some things you shouldn’t keep from your parents. This is one of them. You need to talk to them. Not only about this, but about how they treated you throughout the years. You need to stand up to them because they really have torn you down mentally.”
She sighed. “I probably shouldn’t have said anything.”
“I’m glad that you did. You needed to talk about this, Reece.”
Reece wouldn’t even look at me. “Listen to me, mija, we can take as long as you want for us to be together. I’m willing to wait on you, because you’re worth waiting for.”
She stared at me with a shocked expression. “What?”
“Reece, I really like you, and I know you have seen and heard a lot with me, but I promise you, I would never hurt you. I can’t see myself hurting you.”
“Troy…”
“Reece, I’m in this if you want to be, but like I said, I’m willing to wait if you’re not ready.”
She extended her hands out to me as I slowly placed mine into hers. “Troy, from the first moment I saw you, I knew something was going to happen. I tried to deny my feelings for you, especially with all the shit I’d heard about you, but I couldn’t. I saw a different side to you, which I like by the way. You are truly something special, Troy Jimenez, but we don’t need to take thing slow. I feel as if we’re at a great speed right now.”
“You think so?”
She nodded. “We are,”
“I didn’t know if you thought things were going too..”
She put a finger to my lips to silence me. “We’re fine, Troy.”
I nodded. “Okay,”
She smiled as she blew out a long breath. “Wow, I didn’t think our conversation would go like this.”
“I didn’t either, but it helped me understand more about you. Thank you for letting me into your life, Reece.”
She nodded. “You did the same for me, so it was only right that I did.”
I leaned over to give her a peck on the lips. She put her forehead to mine as she exhaled. We completely forgot about our food as we just enjoyed this moment together. I pulled away from her, slowly running my finger down her cheek
“I think we need to go out. Don’t you?”
Reece gave me a curious look. “We probably need to get some sleep. We have to meet the contractors early.”
“I know, but we need to relax, so maybe if we get some fresh air, maybe a drink or two, then we both can get our minds off of things.”
“We can find other ways to relax.” Reece seductively said.
“We can, but I don’t think we should go there tonight.”
She nodded. “You’re right.”
I smiled and kissed her forehead. “Let’s head out in ten. We can save this food for later.”
She got up and headed to the door..
“I guess since you showed me a few of your favorite spots, I’m going to show you one of mine.”
“Sounds good.”
Reece nodded as she went to the door. Once she left, I went to it and locked it. I put a hand to the door, still in shock over what Reece had told me. I would have never thought Reece had experienced any of that in her life. She seemed as if she would take no shit from anyone; but maybe that was the reason why she has that persona now.
I already knew I could never hurt her, but after hearing everything about her tonight, I definitely can’t. She is too special for me to fuck her up even more. Instead, I’m going to be there and support her, because the way things are going between us, I could actually fall in love with her.