Page 22 of Complete Me
Me: My brothers got to ya, huh?
Trey: They did. I really need this job to pan out. I feel really good about this move and just don’t need to get on their bad side.
Trey: Scary fuckers, huh?
Me: I get it, no worries.
Trey: How about Friday night?
Me: You know what, I’ve got some plans with my best friend that night. I’ll text you some free days?
Luckily, he lets me off easy and doesn’t press.
Trey: Whatever works for you, Kinsey.
Trey: Just so you know, you really are a beautiful, smart, incredible girl, and any guy would be lucky to take you out
Trey: I’m sorry it can’t beme.
Just not incredible enough to stand up to my brothers to actually date me. Frustrated, I close out of the chat and bring up Piper’s pinned thread.
Me: I’m swearing off men
P: Haven’t they already sworn you off?
Me: Ouch! Too soon!
P: Who hurt you? I will murder them and make it look like an accident.
Me: Finn’s best friend, who crashed our lunch today. He’s cute and seemed fun, but I didn’t feel any chemistry between us. He asked me on a date, I said yes, my brothers got to him, and he backed out. It’s not like I felt this deep connection and had some insta-love thing happening.
P: Right…
Me: So why am I disappointed?
P: Because you’re used to this happening time and time again.
P: I’m in a lab, I’ll video call you as soon as I get back to my apartment
Me: K. Love you, smarty pants
P:Love you KiKi
I spend the entire next day floating around my studio apartment, moving things around the space and making it perfect. Even though I unpacked fully last week, I need to occupy myself before I lose my mind. The downside of small-town living is the lack of options, and right now, I’m going a little stir crazy. A date would have been something fun to do to fill the quiet that I’ve discovered I’m not a fan of.
My friend situation needs serious work if I’m going to stay in Aspen Ridge. I’ve only been back from college for a year, and I was so busy getting settled in at my new job at the elementary school that I hardly had time to even think about my lack of friends.
I could call some girls from high school that I was friends with. We’ve caught up a bunch when we see each other, and they came to my birthday party last December. My own insecurities have forced me to keep them at a bit of a distance. Even though they never outright went after my brothers, I was always on defense because it had happened so many times prior. All of the girls are now in committed relationships, and even though I am far from being in one, I doubt that would make a difference.
I make a mental note to see if any of them are free to grab a drink or even hit up Grace Beach. While it does get hot here, the Pacific Ocean is still frigidly cold, but lying out in the sun actually sounds pretty amazing.
The sun has started to set on our sleepy mountain town, and I consider going to The Night Owl for a beer,but the idea of seeing people today just sounds exhausting. Instead, I pad across my little apartment and open the door that leads downstairs to Rogue. The moment my foot hits the first step, the creaks from the ache in the wood hitting my ears, butterflies take flight in my stomach.
Reid typically works late into the night, which I don’t mind at all. I’m such a night owl, and it’s been nice to sneak down here and talk to him. Surprisingly, he’s not tattooing anyone right now, so I continue through his shop to get to his office. The door was left wide open, the interior room only lit by a lamp on his desk.
I lean against the doorframe of Reid’s office, and for someone as big and strong as he is, he seriously lacks situational awareness. Or maybe he’s just so relaxed in his own space that he isn’t worried about someone sneaking up on him. So, obviously, here I come like a tornado disrupting his peace.
I assumed he’d be in here drawing again, but instead, he’s . . . reading. And not just reading anything, like a murder mystery or thriller, or I suppose even a classic. No. Reid is reading pure romantic filth of the absolute best kind. I recognize the cover,Haunted Love, about a woman who moves to a haunted manor to work for the Lord of the Manor, who is more mysterious than the grim grounds themselves. It’s dark, spicy, and completely delicious.
