Page 43 of Audiophile

“No.” My fingers itch to touch my necklace. “A procedure that insurance didn’t want to cover.”

Reed frowns, but doesn’t push. “Didn’t want to stay in the advocacy field when you moved here?”

“Not a lot of options.”

“Portland is only an hour away—”

I can’t handle his pity. It’s my own fault I ended up back in Swift River. “Right now, I need to get back on my feet.”

Reed wants to say more, but he presses his lips together and takes in the mist dampening the sidewalk. “When’s your next day off?”

“Tuesday.”

“Okay.” He stands up from the table and offers his hand. “Day after next, we’re going to the coast, but today is my day. Do you want fresh clothes from your place?”

He’s making plans?I flounder while Reed tugs me up from the table. “What are we doing?”

“Something outside. Yes or no on the clothes?” he asks.

I’m so thrown by the suggestion he’ll still be here that I’m not listening as we walk. “Yes?”

“Great,” Reed says. “We’ll go there first. Can I convince you to pack an overnight bag?”

That brings me to a screeching halt. “Hold on, you can’t come to the house. My parents will—”

“Already know? From Livi?”

I choke off my answer because he’s right. Livi can’t keep her mouth shut. I shift my panic mode into proactive. “If you’re serious, we need rules: One, I can’t handle my parents’ inquisition first thing in the morning. Two, no discussing my sex life or listening habits with my family. Three, you can’t become best friends with Livi.”

“Jealous?” he asks, grinning.

“Ha! I don’t want to die of embarrassment.”

Reed squeezes my hand. “Let’s do something, just you and me first. I won’t bring up our sex life, and Livi and I will be good—but not best—friends.”

My brain, however, gets caught on three words. “Oursex life?”

He chuckles, and a heat pools in my belly. “I think it’s very intertwined.”

“Okay,” I squeak, considering how right he is.

Reed tugs me toward the car. “Perfect. Thought you’d fight me on that.”

“Fight you on what?” He opens the door for me and I sit, dazed, still processingour sex life.The rest of his conditions are hazy. “Wait!”

Reed shuts the door and climbs into the driver’s seat, smiling, light brown hair glistening with dew in the morning sun. “Already agreed, baby. Nothing you can do about it now.”

I glare, thoroughly confused as to what he roped me into. “How do you keepdoingthat?”

He tucks a wayward curl behind my ear, his smile fading. “Are you actually upset? I enjoy teasing you, but I don’t want to push. Show me the limit and I’ll stick to it.”

His fingers against my ear make me dizzy. He must notice, because he pulls his hand away, allowing me to focus. “Talking to my parents about sex is a limit.”

He nods solemnly. “Noted.”

“With Livi—this is my family, Reed. You’ll leave and—”I’ll be left here.I can’t finish because there are ridiculous tears welling up. I desperately want to go back to LA, where I didn’t share a bathroom with my brother, or sleep in the same bed as when I was twelve. “I have consequences here, and you don’t.”

“I understand,” he says, cupping my jaw. “But I genuinely like you. When I leave, we can still be friends.”

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