Page 71 of What Is Love
“Okay,” she said as she stared down at the floor, looking like something was really bothering her. “I’ve been worried about you all day.”
“Makayla?” Reid said, sounding concerned.
She snapped out of it and plastered a smile on her face. “Sorry. I’m good.” She looked at me. “Text me later, okay?”
I nodded. “I will.”
She walked away to go back to tending her tables. I faced forward and found Roe and Reid staring at me.
“Why is she worried about you?” Reid asked.
“Are you trying to determine whether I’m worth worrying about?” I asked, still feeling raw from yesterday’s disagreement. Instead of feeling hurt and drowning in self-pity, I was going to be angry. That seemed to be the theme for me today. “I grew upwith money, so therefore I can’t possibly experience any form of hardship. So I don’t know why you even need to ask.” I glanced at Roe. “Please order me whatever you’re getting. I need to use the restroom.” I slid off the stool and headed toward the back of the pub where the restrooms were. For once, I actually needed to use it for its intended use instead of hiding.
When I was done and washing my hands, I stared at myself in the mirror. I didn’t feel great, and therefore, I didn’t feel like I looked great even though I did. My hair was down and straight today, making it seem extra long. My makeup was flawless. Prue hadn’t packed my good concealer. So I only had regular concealer and my hair to hide the bruises on my neck, but they were finally starting to fade. I glanced down at my uniform, made sure my above-the-knee socks were staying in place, and smoothed away the nonexistent wrinkles on my blazer.
Just as I stepped into the hall, I found Reid. He was leaning with his back against the wall as if he had been waiting for me. As soon as I came out, he pushed away from the wall and stepped in front of me.
“Listen, about yesterday…” he started, and sighed as he struggled to figure out what to say next. “You don’t know me.”
“And you don’t know me,” I said.
His whiskey eyes met mine as he smirked. “You’d be surprised what I know about you.”
I didn’t hide the confused frown that took over my face. “What do you mean by that?” My mind immediately went to bad things like punishments, scars, and what had happened with Clay.
He shook his head. “It’s not my place to say.”
“So you’ve been judging me this whole time based on something you know about me, but it’s something you can’t tell me because it’s not your place to say?” I said out loud, trying to make sense of it all. I was so tired of people hiding shit from me,especially when itinvolvedme, and leaving me with nothing but questions. Today with Ms. Clark had not helped.
“No, I haven’t been judging you?—”
“You’ve been a super judgmental asshole from the first moment we met,” I pointed out.
“I came to apologize.”
“Well, you suck at it,” I blurted and felt a little bit guilty after.
He didn’t respond to that. He just stared, as unreadable as he always was.
“She’s cute, isn’t she?” a voice asked.
I looked past Reid to see Roe standing behind him, arms folded over his chest.
Reid turned around to face him. “Why are you asking me if I think your girlfriend is cute?”
“BecauseIknow you,” Roe said, making it clear that he had heard our entire interaction.
They had a stare-off without either of them saying anything, until Reid broke it. He walked away, mumbling, “I need to get back to work.”
Roe stayed where he was, and I felt compelled to close the distance between us. He watched me come to him until I was within reach. His hand came up to cup my face and he leaned down to kiss me. I thought it would just be a peck, but the moment his lips touched me, I wasn’t all right with that. I pushed up on my toes to kiss him back. He seemed to get the hint that I wanted more, and his other hand went to the small of my back as he deepened the kiss. I moved my hands up until my fingers snaked into his hair on the back of his head. I fisted it and pulled a little. He let out a throaty groan before walking me backward until I was pressed up against the wall.
The impact hadn’t been hard, but I couldn’t hold back from wincing when the bruises around my ribs barked in pain.
Roe pulled back just a little to say, “What’s wrong?”
I shook my head. “I wish we weren’t in public.”
“Same,” a voice said.
