Reed's Reckoning Read Online Free PDF Page B

me with venom in her eyes. “This is Reed’s girlfriend. She’s moving here for the rest of the semester and for the draft. Seeing as you have been spending so much time with him, maybe it’s time y’all met. Bailey and Reed are high school sweethearts.”
    My stomach rolls and my head spins. Did she say girlfriend? I look at this girl again and she is staring through me with an icy glare.
    “It’s time you step back from the fairytale you’re living and leave him alone. We’re all here to root him on and watch his dream of being an NFL player come true. He always wanted to slum for a while, but now it’s time for him to concentrate.”
    “No way, you’re full of bullshit. We’ve been together far too long for me to believe a girlfriend would come conveniently out of the woodwork when he’s so close to the draft.”
    “Believe it, bitch!” Bailey speaks up and her face is so full of hatred, I sit back. “He’s mine. Always has been. We may have taken a few small breaks, but I’m back in his life for good now. You need to back the fuck off.”
    “Small breaks? Is that what we call breaking up nowadays? What makes you so sure he still wants you? Seems to me like what we have is pretty special.”
    “Special? You call screwing a two-bit whore special? What can you offer him? I can tell you—nothing! You’re trash.”
    Her words hurt but she’s just getting started. “You need to stay away from Reed starting today. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll back off.”
    “And if I don’t?”
    “How much do you and your precious friend Luke need your scholarships? What about your housing allowance and stipends? That’s the first to go. We’ve got influence here that you can’t even imagine, Arianna. Our connections combined could have your ass off campus before Spring Break.” Dorm girl practically hisses at me. Her friends look amused.
    All I can think is that this can’t be happening. I shake my head in disbelief.
    “Yeah, bitch, believe it.” She pulls out her phone and her friends do the same.
    My phone starts buzzing on the table and I look to see a barrage of text messages. There are pictures of me with Sophie, Luke, and Reed all at different places at different times.
    “Make a decision now. If you don’t leave Reed alone, he has given us permission to post the pictures on all social media sites claiming you’re a stalker.”
    “What? Reed?”
    “Ding, ding, ding, the idiot finally clues in. Of course he approves. He’s the one who sent us today. When Bailey got to town, he told her everything. Their reconciliation took hours, but we finally got her out from under him. He told us to meet you here.”
    All of them laugh and my eyes well with tears but I refuse to let them get to me.
    “Well, in that case, nothing to talk about. If he sent you to me, then message received. You all can kiss my ass. You can have him.” I say pointedly to Bailey.
    I get up to leave and push through them.
    “Oh and Ari, don’t feel bad if he told you he loved you. He’s a charmer.”
    My breathing hitches but I don’t answer her. I walk to my car and slide in. I grab my phone and dial Reed but his phone goes straight to voicemail. The sound of his voice crushes me.
    I hang up without leaving a message. Everything in my body is screaming to go find him, but I’ve had enough humiliation today. The next call I make is to the only two people who won’t let me down.
    When I finish my story, Reed is staring at me with a mixture of hate, anguish, and sadness on his face. Just reliving the day hurts so much. I twirl my glass in my hand waiting for him to say something.
    “What happened next?”
    “Pardon?”
    “What happened after you left the café? Where’d you go? Who’d you talk to?”
    “Um, why?”
    “Ari, I’m hanging on by a thread here, I want to fucking punch something. I need to know what you did and why you didn’t come straight to me.” His hands flex into fists and his knuckles