Total pages in book: 75
Estimated words: 84985 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 425(@200wpm)___ 340(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 84985 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 425(@200wpm)___ 340(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
All Trevor’s emotions churned through his heart. His leg lay carefully propped on pillows Reed placed underneath him. The relief of seeing Reed at the end of the ramp staggered Trevor, making it hard to think things through properly. Earlier this morning when the plane first took off, Trevor’s heart ached because Reed hadn’t call. As he’d flown away, it only grew worse. His heart grew heavier with each passing mile. Trevor didn’t understand how he could be so attached after such a short time. The long flight helped convince Trevor he would never see Reed again.
Regardless of having Rylie and his parents in his life, Trevor decided he would go out of his way to make sure he never ran into Reed. He just didn’t think his heart could take seeing the guy ever again. Then when the plane landed and he realized who waited for him, his heart went into summersaults. Trevor had to remind himself to breathe. In those first few seconds, Trevor wondered if he’d taken too much medication. But when Reed’s lips touched his, and his scent filled him, he knew it wasn’t a figment of his imagination. The real thing stood there waiting for him.
Now, sitting in this back seat, driving twenty five miles an hour, listening to Reed talk about nothing at all, Trevor realized all his care was carefully and completely orchestrated at the hand of this striking man sitting in front of him. Reed drove so very slow and too cautiously so he wouldn’t risk further injury. This gesture sealed the deal. Trevor would be forever devoted to this one man. A staggering amount of love poured through his heart. Never did he ever experience this magnitude of feeling for another, and it took his breath away.
Fear set in. Trevor thought loving Brody from afar was bad—that had nothing on what could go wrong in this deal. Dear God, when Reed got through with him... It would feel like losing another appendage. Reed sat up there, making conversation, not requiring him to speak at all, acting as if he had no idea he just rode up and became Trevor’s knight in shining armor.
About twenty minutes into the drive, Reed reached back to hold Trevor’s hand. He brought his gaze back to the front of the SUV, meeting Reed’s stare in the rearview mirror. Trevor didn’t hesitate. He reached out and took what was offered. He ran his thumb over the palm of Reed’s hand. His knight in shining armor wanted to hold his hand, it was the least he could do in return.
“I like touching you, handsome,” Reed said with a wink in the rearview mirror.
Reed watched him through the mirror for the length of the stoplight. A blush spread across Trevor’s cheeks. He gave a grin, holding Reed’s hand tighter while he spoke. “You didn’t listen to me at all when we were in Germany, did you?”
“I hear everything you say, Trevor. I just retain the parts I like.” Reed grinned and kept one hand on the wheel, the other in the backseat holding Trevor’s. If it were possible, Reed went even slower as he drove on.
After a time, Trevor lowered his head, kissing Reed’s hand. “Thank you for this. I didn’t realize how much I would miss you. I stared at that dumb phone all night. I was so afraid.”
“Afraid of what?”
Trevor looked up to see Reed watching him in the rearview mirror. Trevor moved his eyes, looking out the passenger side window. After a minute, he finally answered. “I was so afraid I ran you off. And I didn’t like it.” It came out in little more than a whisper. Trevor was surprised Reed heard him at all.
“I told you that you were mine...I meant it. I always go after what I want, and I always get what I go after. And I want you, Trevor.”
Chapter Seventeen
A soccer ball flew across the windshield of the Escalade, forcing Reed to jerk the steering wheel to the right to avoid hitting the ball and any children running after it. He never got over ten miles an hour on the neighborhood street, but he tore his eyes up to the rearview mirror, silently praying the sudden movement didn’t jostle Trevor too much. After running a concerned gaze over every part of Trevor’s tempting body he could see in the small mirror, Reed looked over his shoulder to see first hand if he was hurt. All Reed saw was a small wince, but Trevor’s face quickly relaxed when their eyes met. If Trevor was hurt, he hid it well, but stayed braced with his right arm on the passenger side seat, holding himself in place. After the minute long assessment, and feeling reasonably sure Trevor wasn’t hiding the pain, Reed looked back out the front window over the children. He let the SUV idle in place while he calmed his nerves and settled his pounding heart.
Many young faces stared back at him. One grabbed the ball that came to a rolling stop in the middle of the street in front of the SUV. The little one scurried to the sidewalk with their other teammates. One side of the street looked happy, jubilant, and ready to keep playing, waving Reed on with a sense of urgency. The other side all glared at him with deep distain. All Reed could do was chuckle at the intensity of their disappointment. Rolling down the driver’s side window, Reed yelled a quick apology and a wave for driving through the weekly Saturday morning kickball game. He gave an apologetic smile to the disappointed children standing on the other side of the street as he drove by.
Yesterday morning when first arriving home from Germany, Reed was met at his front door by the captain of the underdog team, the ones who now stared Reed down with their sad, little, dejected faces. Every stare made it clear their defeat rested on his shoulders. They came to him prepared, using all possible tactics to draw him into their desired result, including having one of the girls carry a cute little puppy. Their worried faces and sweet little voices begged him to play with them in today’s game, like Reed did occasionally when time permitted. They explained how they strategized for days, following him inside his house and pulling out several pages of playbooks they created throughout the week. They showed Reed very clearly how they needed him to be their secret weapon in winning this week’s contest. They even pulled out a half used ten dollar gift card to Starbucks—one of their mother’s donated to the cause—because they knew how much Reed liked his morning Carmel Macchiato.