I knew just who to call.
Sarah
I might as well have had roller blades strapped to my feet for the way I was gliding around The Kinky Starfish Wednesday night. Then again, judging by the way I’d fallen on my face in the park, maybe that was a bad analogy. Still, I felt like I was skating, floating, completely weightless as I bussed tables and helped the wait staff fill orders. We were busier than normal, every seat in the house taken, and while everyone else was wearing the stress on their sleeves, I couldn’t stop smiling.
Maybe it was because I could still taste Reese on my lips from the day before, could still feel him pressing me into the piano when he’d had enough of our lesson and wanted to spend our last hour together very much not working. Maybe it was the memory of his fingers inside me Saturday night, the butterflies that flurried to life in my stomach when I thought of the possibility that we could have a round two tonight. Kissing between lessons had been nice, but ever since I’d had a taste of Reese, I’d wanted more.
Tonight, I hoped I’d get it.
I told my uncle I was staying the night with a friend, to not expect me home after work, and though he didn’t seem entirely comfortable with the idea, he’d agreed. It wasn’t that I really needed his permission. I was certainly old enough not to have to ask. But, I was staying in his home, under his roof, and I wanted to respect him and all he’d done for me that summer. It was more of a courtesy, letting him know where I’d be.
Even if that courtesy was technically a lie.
But I couldn’t find it in me to feel guilty, not with Reese stealing glances across the room at me all evening long. The way his eyes darkened when they found me, the way the left side of his mouth quirked up into that familiar smirk — it was enough to drive any woman mad.
And I was the one who had his attention.
He had just finished playing one of my favorite songs by Debussy when I slid behind the bar, collecting the dishes from the couple who had just left. We had a long line of people waiting to be seated, and as soon as I cleared those two spaces, someone else would occupy them. I glanced at Reese as the last note played, and when our eyes met, he winked, sending a wave of heat from my neck all the way down to my toes. I felt the flush shading my cheeks as I tore my eyes away, smiling and shaking my head as I continued clearing the bar.
“He’s incredible to watch, isn’t he?”
I smiled even wider, still collecting dishes. “He really is,” I answered, but when I lifted my gaze to the woman who had spoken, every hint of a smile fell from my face in an instant.
Jennifer Stinson.
“Oh, hello,” I breathed, trying to replace the smile. My lips twitched, but I couldn’t manage anything more than that. “Jennifer, right?”
Her lips curved up wickedly at my attempt at nonchalance. “That’s right. And you’re Sarah Henderson, Randall’s niece.” Her eyes narrowed, sizing me up from head to toe before she tilted her head to the side. “And the lucky little lady studying piano with tonight’s main attraction.”
My cheeks burned again, though this time it was much less pleasant. “Is there anything I can get you?” I asked, even though she already had a full glass of red wine clutched between her manicured fingers.
She tilted the glass in my direction, still smiling as she took a sip. When the glass was back on the bar, she tilted her head to the other side, not bothering to cover her blatant observation of me.
“It must be somewhat distracting,” she said after a moment. “Learning from Reese. I mean, let’s not be coy, dear. He’s not exactly hard on the eyes, is he?”
I swallowed, tossing the last dish in the bin I’d carried over from the kitchen before whipping out a rag to wipe down the bar. “I don’t really look at him like that,” I said. “He’s my teacher.”
“Oh, right,” she said, face twisting up conspicuously as she made an ok sign with her hand. “I’m sure your professional relationship with him makes it impossible to see how insanely hot he is.”
All pretenses of fair play were gone with that sentence, with the way her eyes narrowed as she took another sip of wine.
“Well, enjoy your evening, Miss Stinson,” I said, tossing the rag on top of the dirty dishes in the bin. I picked it up, balancing it on my hip as I turned for the kitchen, but I didn’t make it a step before she spoke again.
“It really is too bad, you know,” she said.
As much as I wanted to just keep walking, to deny her request for me to play whatever game she had in mind, I turned anyway, still balancing the bin against my hip as I waited for her to continue. “What’s that?”
“Well… it’s just that… as his student, I’m sure you know how well he works with his hands.” Her eyes slipped over my shoulder, and I knew she was staring right at Reese. “Let’s just say that talent isn’t only reserved for the piano.”
All the blood drained from my face, trickling down my spine like icy cold water. My feet were frozen, rooting me to the spot as I tried to blink, tried to breathe, tried to shake off what she’d just said.
She’s just trying to get to you, I assured myself. She doesn’t know anything.
But I could still see the lipstick on his mouth from Saturday night. I could still close my eyes and imagine his lips on hers, her hands on him, the two of them rolling in what I imagined to be red silk sheets on her bed.
He said she kissed him, and he didn’t kiss her back.
He said he only wanted me.
He wouldn’t lie to me… would he?
I internally shook my head, because I already knew the answer. He wouldn’t. Reese cared about me. He wouldn’t lie about something like that.
“Aw,” Jennifer said, and I popped my eyes open, not realizing I’d squeezed them shut. She clucked her tongue, shaking her head at me as she sipped on her wine. “You really think what you two have is special, don’t you? Let me guess, he fed you all his sad, woe is Reese stories about Charlie, right? He told you he felt different around you, that you’re what he wants, that she broke him, but you make him feel whole?”
I tried to swallow, but it came up dry.
Jennifer chuckled. “Oh, sweetie. Reese is very good at saying what he needs to in order to get what he wants. But trust me when I say that Charlie is the only woman he’s ever loved, the only woman he ever will love. And you’re just a distraction.”
A chill ran down my spine, and I shook my head against it, glancing at Reese over my shoulder as Jennifer spoke again.
“I know the truth hurts, but once he’s had you, once he’s gotten his fill?” She clucked her tongue again when I turned to face her. “He’ll find a way to get you out of his hair. It’s what he did with Blake, and with me, and I assure you, you’re no different.” She tilted her glass toward me, taking another sip off the top. “No matter how many times he tells you otherwise.”
I still couldn’t swallow as I watched her turn in her barstool. She was focused on Reese once again with a satisfied smirk on her face, like the dagger she’d just shoved in my heart brought her absolute joy.
I forced a breath, dragging my lead feet back into the kitchen and dumping the dishes into one of the giant sinks. My vision blurred as I ran the water as hot as I could, letting it burn my skin as I scrubbed the dishes that weren’t even my job to wash. I needed to move, to keep my hands busy, to work and think about anything other than what Jennifer had just said to me.