Page 209 of Tell Me Something True

He used to spend an hour or two at The Cockeyed Chameleon. Grab something to eat and bullshit with whoever was tending bar. But Sundays were notoriously slow—the reason why he was never scheduled that day—and Hayden asked too many questions.

Specifically, questions about him and a certain curvy, smart girl who just happened to be her best friend’s boyfriend’s younger sister.

Fucking small town.

Everyone knew everyone.

But today had been different. Instead of going to the lake or driving around town, he’d somehow ended up in fucking Columbus, Ohio.

He’d spent the morning there. Walking around Ohio State’s huge campus, Titus whining and throwing him injured looks at having to be on a leash. Even though it was still summer break and a Sunday, there were plenty of people hurrying down the walkways, throwing frisbees or just hanging out.

It was like a movie set, complete with lush, neatly-mowed grass, a mix of well-maintained, perfectly spaced-out buildings—both modern and new—and a cast of too pretty, too entitled kids his age.

Soon, Verity would be one of them.

He didn’t get what she was so afraid of.

She was going to fit right in.

Hell, it would only be a matter of time once she was there before she realized how stupid she’d been to be worried. Only a matter of time before she stopped missing Mount Laurel.

She’d meet new people. Make new friends. Date new guys.

She’d move on.

Fuck, she already had moved on.

With some professional baseball player who called her babe and told her how pretty she was.

And Reed was sitting in his truck, in the dark, staring at her house like a goddamn stalker.

Not that there was anything to move on from. They weren’t together. Never had been.

Never would be.

He knew that. It had been his choice not to go there with her.

And he’d still driven to Columbus, just to see how long the trip took. Went to her campus, just so he knew how easy it was to find. Had stayed there until lunch time, just so he could get a small feel of what it was going to be like for her when she was there.

He’d taken the long way back home—as in all the way up to Cleveland and then over to Erie before heading back to Mount Laurel. Had slowed the trip down even more by stopping three times to let Titus out. But even then, he’d gotten back way too early and had spent the past three hours parked at a secluded spot at the lake.

All so he wouldn’t be tempted to do exactly what he was doing now.

Looking at Verity’s house and trying to figure out if the lit window on the second floor was her bedroom.

Wanting to pound on her front door and beg her to talk to him.

That was the thing about Verity, even when she pissed him off, even when she was being all snooty and a smartass and showing him how much smarter she was than him, he liked listening to her. He liked that she shared her thoughts with him. Liked how honest she was, even if that honesty sometimes cut him off at the knees.

He liked that she was so open and trusting and so fucking good.

He liked her.

Jesus. Fucking. Christ.

On a groan, he tipped his head back against the rear window. Tapped it there a few times until Titus whined and nudged Reed’s hand with his big head.

Reed stopped and patted his dog’s head. “I’m okay, buddy.”

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