Charity Case - The Complete Series - Piper Rayne Page 0,97

eyes.

“We were always in competition. Who got a better grade? That night, I stole Vic out from under your nose and you’ve never forgotten it.” Pete crosses his arms, a smug look on his face like he’s won the argument.

“I saw her first,” Reed fires back. “You may have spent the better part of a decade with her, but she was always mine. And you know it.”

The buzzer drops from my hands and they both look over at me.

“What?” I ask quietly.

Reed steps toward me, reaching out but I back step until I hit the metal barrier.

“No.” I shake my head, putting the eyewear in my hand on my face. “I’m some sort of prize in a sick game between you two?”

“No. That’s not it.” Reed fights for me to listen to him, but Pete stays in place, happy with what he’s accomplished.

I hit the timer, grab the baseball bat and a can of spray paint and push past the barrier toward the car.

Jumping on the roof, I swing the baseball bat down on the windshield, hitting it over and over again until it shatters. For the next five minutes, I stomp, hit, pound and generally go ballistic on the scrap of metal. My shitty marriage to Pete wham, Reed only being with me to get back at Pete wham, my feelings for Reed wham, the fact he’s leaving me wham...all the tension and emotion that’s been whirling around inside of me unleashes.

The buzzer goes off and I wipe the sweat from my brow before I pull out the can of spray paint. In big pink letters on the hood, I spell out what must come first. ME.

I drop the bat on the pavement and walk past Reed without a word. Everyone else is standing around like I’m Negan from The Walking Dead.

Haven’t they ever seen a woman let off a little steam before?

Chapter Thirty-Three

I’m not even to the street before Reed’s hand is clasping my arm.

“Hold up. Let me explain.”

I stop and turn, showing him my tear-stricken cheeks. There’s no more hiding how much this man means to me. How much what was said hurt me.

“Come here.” His arms tighten around me and I bury my head in his chest. “He’s making it sound bad, but it’s not. I promise.”

I look up at him, waiting for an explanation.

“Come.” He leads me to that same park again, sitting me on a swing this time. “He’s right on one thing. I saw you first. That night you met Pete, I was there.”

I try to remember him being there, but I was enamored with Pete immediately and I was in college and drinking, so the details are fuzzy.

He sits down in the swing next to me. His large body and the small swing gives him the illusion of a giant.

“I pointed you out, but you were having so much fun with your friends I didn’t want to be that douche who approached you and took you away from them. My eyes were on you the entire night. The more attention I drew to you, the more Pete was intrigued. I went to the bathroom and by the time I came back, you were talking to him and laughing at something he said. I paid my share of the tab to my other buddies and left.”

“Why didn’t you say any of this before?”

He looks at his feet digging a hole into the wood chips. “How does it sound?”

“Sounds like you had a reason to chase me.”

He raises his eyebrows. “That’s not why I’m dating you.”

A small smile creases my lips. “I know.” I do. Deep down I know Reed and he wouldn’t use someone to seek revenge on Pete.

“You do?” The chains creek as he turns the swing so he’s facing my direction. “Have I always been attracted you? Yes. Even when I shouldn’t have been? Yes. I like to think fate interceded and gave us a second chance. If I’d barged my way in there that night, Jade might never have been and she’s the true light in your eyes. As much as I was pissed at Pete and hated him asking me to stand up there to watch you marry him, it wasn’t for naught. It was for Jade. I’d never wish things were different.”

I lean forward and place my hands on his cheeks and plant a kiss on his lips. “You truly are a prince.”

“I only want to be your prince.”

I sit back, twisting the swing.

“Vic?”

I have to do what’s