✿ Reid's POV
I knock back my scotch and wince at the burn of it, sliding down my throat. It had been a week since my last conversation with Aileen, and I was more than a little worse for wear.
I traveled out of town for a few days for work, but I had been back for two days now and staying at Hernan’s place without having contacted my family or anyone else.
Sleeping in an empty bed was now difficult, and I hadn’t been prepared for the keen sense of longing I felt each time I thought about Lee.
Even though I spent just two or so nights with her.
Nor had I been prepared for the white-hot ball of possessive rage I felt each time I heard that hippie artist visited Lee at the bakery. I had wanted to rush downtown, take Geo by the scruff of his puny little neck, and throw him the hell out of my Lee’s life.
“So... you're still at this?”
I look up at Hernan, noting the tentative smile on his face.
“Yup,” I reply, trying to appear nonchalant about the whole thing.
Hernan nods.
“She really said she doesn't want to see you?”
“Yup,” I reply with a shrug. “She's even blocked me everywhere.”
“And so you're drinking yourself to death?”
I chuckle.
“No one said anything about death, dude. This is just my second glass.”
This evening.
“And your last for a long time” he picks up the bottle.
“Dude c'mon.”
“Get a hold of yourself, Reid.”
“I do have more than a hold of myself. Now could you stop getting a hold of my bottle?”
“No. You're going to drink yourself to death because your fake fiancée... dumped you?”
I’m not able to hide my wince over my best friend’s words.
“We had a deal, Hernan.”
“To separate your ex from the man she's engaged to. The same ex you claim you don't have feelings for.”
“It's not a claim, dude. I don't. Nope. Not at all. Not even as a joke. Trust me. Anika and I... incompatible.”
“So what is all this obsessing over separating her from Ethan?”
“She can do better than that bald Aussie” I frown.
“Really?”
“Yes Hernan, really” I quickly reply. “But thanks to my family, Aileen wants nothing to do with me.”
“So hire someone else,” he says with a confused expression, then shakes his head and smiles at me, “Look, I'll help you find someone else to play your...”
“Don't bother, dude. No one can replace Lee” I mutter.
Hernan snorts, making me look at him.
“What was that for?”
“You caught feelings for the baker.”
I narrow my eyes at him.
“Absolutely not.”
“'No one can replace Lee'? What's that about then?”
I shrug noncommittedly, smile a little, and take a sip of my drink.
YOU ARE READING
To Capture A Bride
Storie d'amore|Updates every Tuesdays| "Come with me." I laugh and wipe the beads of sweat off my forehead. "And why would you think I'd go anywhere with you?" I ask. He fills his cheeks with air and glances at the time on his watch, before slipping his hands s...
