I lean against the railing, ignoring the smart ass undertone that all of his words seem to be laced with. “What the hell do you want with Mia?”
He chuckles then, and I straighten up, causing him to wipe the smile off his face.
I really don’t want to hit him, but he isn’t making the decision easy on me. I’ll deal with the ramifications later.
“Nothing. I mean, she’s a cool chick and I like hanging out with her, but just as friends. Maybe if you hadn’t marked your territory, I would’ve tried something, but I’m not stupid. I don’t think she’s interested in me like that anyway.”
“She’s not a fucking fire hydrant for me to piss on, dick. Don’t refer to her as territory.” I step closer to him, remembering what he said yesterday in the sandwich shop after Mia insisted the two of them weren’t on a date. “And if I ever hear you joking around about touching Mia again, it’ll take a lot more than Luke to stop me from tearing you apart.”
He runs his hands down his face before letting out an exhaustive sigh. Turning around, he starts back into his house.
“Where the hell are you going?” I ask, stepping forward and grabbing the door. This conversation isn’t over until I fucking end it. I follow him inside, stopping at the end of the hallway that dumps out into the kitchen.
He emerges from the fridge with two beers. “Here. I sure as hell need one of these, and maybe if you have one you won’t be so inclined to murder me on my porch.” He places my beer on the counter and leans against the fridge, taking a swig of his. “Actually, if you are going to kill me, do it outside so I at least have witnesses. And avoid messing up my face too much. I’m sure my mom would prefer an open casket.”
“I’m not going to kill you. I might make it so you can’t walk for a few days, but you’ll still be breathing. And you can’t blame me for wanting to find out what the hell your motives are with my girl.” I walk over to the counter and grab my beer, keeping my eyes on him as I take a drink.
“Look, man, I’m not moving in on Mia. I swear. But I would like to keep being friends with her, and I don’t fucking think I should have to ask your permission to do that.”
I grin and take another sip of my beer. I have a good amount of muscle on Reed, so the fact that he has the balls to talk to me like I can’t wipe the floor with him, earns my respect. “No, you don’t have to ask my permission. I’m fine with you being friends with Mia. I just wanted to make sure that you weren’t trying to be anything else with her. I’m fucking crazy over that girl.”
He arches his eyebrow at me. “Really? I had no idea.” We both laugh, and he pushes off from the fridge and moves across from me. “You’re fucking crazy over a girl you’re trying to be friends with? That makes a hell of a lot of sense,” he states sarcastically.
I grimace. “I’m doing what’s necessary. The torture I’m going to endure by not acting on my feelings will be worth it if she lets me in.” He looks at me with a perplexed gaze, like I’ve just explained myself to him in another language. I take another sip of my beer and frown. “When you meet a girl that gets to you the way Mia gets to me, you’ll understand. Friends genuinely like each other and I need her to like me. She’ll never love me if she doesn’t like me first.”
He places his beer down with a shake of his head. “I had a girl get to me like that, and she completely fucked me over. I don’t see how any of it is worth it. That’s why I’m just with girls for one night. They can’t rip your heart out if you don’t let them anywhere near it.” He smiles. “I hope it works out for you though. I think you have a pretty good shot with her from what I’ve observed.”
“Why do you think that? Did she say something to you?”
If Reed and Mia are friends, she could’ve shared things with him like she does my sister. And I am suddenly all for their friendship if it helps my cause.
He regards me with a smile like he knows things. Things I desperately want to know.
I place my beer down and leer at him. “You’re not going to tell me shit, are you?”
He smiles again, more cunning this time, after taking a huge chug of his beer. “I don’t have much to tell. But a fucking blind person could’ve seen the way you two acted around each other yesterday. I could’ve burned the place down and I doubt either one of you would’ve noticed. You flustered her so bad she could barely speak, and she definitely wasn’t paying attention to a damn thing I was saying once you stepped in the shop. I could’ve asked her to carry my children and she probably would’ve agreed without knowing it.” He shakes his hair out of his eyes and registers my annoyed expression. “Not that I would’ve asked her that. I’m sure you’ve claimed that uterus.”
I wave him off dismissively, holding the neck of my beer bottle with my free hand. “I’m glad I make it difficult for her to form a sentence, but I don’t need to convince her body that we should be together. I’ve proven that point already.”
He grabs another beer, tossing his empty bottle into the trashcan and offering me one.
I
