Page 11 of Mr. Broody

The waiting room at the hospital is half full as Reed and I try to find a seat after leaving Mom before she was taken away for her eye surgery.

“I don’t know how she’s going to keep her head down for seven to ten days,” Reed says, placing his messenger bag on the chair and going over to the coffee station.

“It won’t be easy, that’s for sure.” I follow him.

He prepares his coffee black while I use some of their vanilla creamer and a packet of sugar.

“Word is Aubrie had a great birthday.”

No sooner does he say that than we hear women talking loudly as they enter the waiting room.

My gaze shoots to Reed’s as I stir my coffee.

He shakes his head. “Should’ve known,” Reed mumbles, but his smile says it doesn’t bother him that my mom’s friends, Chelsea and Hannah, have come to wait with us while she’s in surgery. “Chelsea. Hannah.” He nods hello to them.

They swarm him with a hug.

“How’s our girl?” Hannah asks, but then she sees me. “Ah! There she is.” Hannah pushes off Reed and comes over to me.

As usual, she’s dressed as if she walked off the runway at Paris Fashion Week. I realized a long time ago I’d never be as put together as Hannah always is.

“Hi, Aunt Hannah,” I say as she hugs me and kisses my cheek.

“Still gorgeous. Chelsea was just telling me how grown up you look.” She pulls back from me and takes me in.

I’m sure she’s admiring my frumpy jeans and sweater set.

“Your mom misses you. You need to come home more.” She studies me to make sure I understand.

I get it, but it’s not like I don’t see my family. They just come to me now.

I nod since I don’t want any issues. Chelsea and Hannah will grill me as to why I’m not coming home if I argue.

“Jade, Aubrie had the best birthday. How can I thank you?” Chelsea nudges Hannah out of the way, hugging me just as tightly as her daughter does.

I don’t have the heart to tell her the truth—that I ditched Aubrie for Henry and left three horny rookies in charge of her that night.

When we’re done hugging hello, Reed’s already sitting in a chair, messenger bag at his feet. Hannah slides gracefully into one across from him, and Chelsea gets comfortable in the one next to her. I sit next to Reed and sip my coffee.

“Henry is so sweet,” Hannah says out of nowhere.

Reed’s head raises, and he looks at her as though he doesn’t understand what she’s talking about. Obviously, Aubrie must’ve shared that I saw Henry the other night.

Henry’s parents died when he was young, so he was raised by his grandparents. They signed him up for Big Brother/Big Sister to have a male mentor, and Reed was assigned to him. The two of them have remained close all these years.

It’s the entire reason Henry and I were best friends. Reed and my mom started dating, then their marriage solidified the fact that we’d spend a lot of time together.

“Henry?” Reed asks, turning his attention to me then back to Hannah.

This is Reed’s natural reaction when it comes to Henry being mentioned in my presence. The breakup was uncomfortable for all of us.

“Yeah, Aubrie wanted to celebrate her birthday at Peeper’s Alley.” Chelsea glances in my direction. “Didn’t Jade tell you?”

Reed swivels in his chair. “No, she didn’t. Did you know he’d be there?”

Here’s the thing about Reed. He’s definitely more of a father figure to me than my own father. Not that I hate my dad. I love him, but he picked his career over raising me. He’s more like the fun dad, and Reed is the one who spent time with me, who knows what’s hurting me before I do sometimes. In terms of a stepdad, Reed is the best one ever. Except for times like this when he can read me too well.

“Not until I got there and saw the sign outside the building,” I say.

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