Broken Dreams

  “Wait, you didn’t let them out when you were making breakfast?”

  “No! I forgot about them, but I was sure we—”

  “Courtney? Courtney, honey, are you upstairs? The front door was unlocked, so I just came in.”

  Courtney’s eyes got so wide, and the face she was making caused me to start laughing. She hit me in the stomach and quickly started looking for clothes to put on.

  “Oh. My. God! It’s Mimi,” Courtney said in the midst of running around.

  “Mimi? What is she doing here? Why was the front door unlocked? Did she let out the dogs?” I asked, standing there like an idiot.

  Courtney stopped and looked at me. She shook her head. “Um…she wanted to bring Layton and Whit their wedding gift before they got home. I think I forgot to lock the front door yesterday morning after I checked the mail.”

  “Man, we suck at this house-sitting thing,” I said.

  I slowly smiled as I pulled her to me and kissed the shit out of her. She let out a small moan and ran her hands through my hair. When I pulled away quickly, she was trying to catch her breath.

  “Wow. What was that for?” she whispered.

  “No reason. I just love you so damn much. How we didn’t see this long ago is beyond me,” I said in a low voice.

  She wrinkled up her nose and asked, “See what?”

  “How we are made for each other. We fit together so perfectly, Courtney. I love you so much.”

  She let out a sigh and lifted the left corner of her mouth. She quickly gave me a kiss and said against my lips, “That was Nick swoon-worthy.”

  She turned and began putting on a pair of my sweatpants and one of my T-shirts. She grabbed her hair, twisted it somehow, and piled it on top of her head. “Come, Lulu, let’s go say good morning to Mimi.”

  “Wait…that was Nick swoon-worthy?” I called after her, confused.

  She stopped right outside the door and smiled. “Oh yeah, Mr. Moore.” She winked and bolted down the stairs.

  I stood there, more confused than ever.

  I sat down on the bed and said, “So, the horseback riding in the moonlight was not swoon-worthy, but telling her we fit together was Nick swoon-worthy?” I rubbed the back of my neck and shook my head. “Fuck, I need to read more. Clearly, I’m missing something.”

  I sat at the kitchen island, smiling, as Mimi told me all about this book she’d discovered and how she hadn’t been able to put it down all night.

  “I’m telling you, it was amazing, Courtney. You should really read it.”

  I nodded my head and took a sip of tea. All I could really think about was how Reed had just made the most amazing love to me. It had been so slow and romantic. It was like he hadn’t wanted it to end any more than I had.

  “What’s the name of the book?” I asked.

  “Oh, darn…I can’t remember. What is the name of that book? Oh, it was so funny. Crap.”

  I started thinking about last night and this morning—Reed falling in the field, Reed naked, Reed and me in the pool, Reed and me in the shower, Reed and me horseback riding, Reed telling me we were made for each other. I touched my lips gently and felt the ache growing between my legs.

  “Courtney? Courtney, are you even listening to me?” Mimi asked.

  I snapped my head up and looked at her. “What? Of course I’m listening to you.”

  She leaned back in her chair and folded her arms. “Really? What did I just say then?”

  “Um…you were trying to remember the name of this really good book you read,” I said with a small smile.

  “Wrong answer. I was telling you that you looked lost in thought, and then I asked what in the world you were thinking about because the blush on your cheeks was a beautiful red.”

  I instantly put my hands on my face. “What?”

  Just then, Reed walked in, and the room felt like it was filled with electricity. I even found myself catching my breath.

  He sauntered up, leaned down, and kissed Mimi on the cheek. “Good morning, Miss Mimi. You look as beautiful as ever.”

  Mimi let out a little giggle. “Oh, Reed, you always were such a sweetheart.”

  Reed gave her that smile of his that had been driving me insane for months. He turned and looked at me. He placed his finger on my chin, leaned down, and gently kissed me. “I missed you,” he said on my lips.

  “I’ve only been gone for a few minutes,” I barely got out, totally forgetting that Mimi was sitting right there.

  “Doesn’t matter. I still missed you.”

  The moment he moved away, I felt the longing for his touch grow ten times worse.

  “There goes that beautiful red blush again,” Mimi said.

  I couldn’t pull my eyes away from Reed. Has Reed always been such a gentleman like this? I tried desperately to remember him with Mimi in the past, and then it hit me. He has always been this way. I just chose not to see it.

  When Reed laughed, I was pulled out of my trance. I looked between him and Mimi. Is this really happening? Are we finally together?

  I felt a hundred times better after telling Reed about Noah. And how Reed had made me feel last night after I told him was amazing. He was amazing. He’s better than any book boyfriend could ever be. I decided to keep that little bit of information to myself.

  “Court, I’m going to go make sure Ryan and Johnny have everything ready for the feeding. I won’t be gone too long,” Reed said.

  I chewed on my lower lip and nodded my head. We were in public now, and I had a feeling as soon as Reed stepped out the back door, I was shark food for Mimi.

  As he began walking away, I called out, “Be careful. I love…um…” I turned to Mimi and then back to Reed, who was standing there with his cowboy hat in his hand, smiling. I couldn’t help but smile back. “I love you, Reed. Be careful.”

  His smile grew about ten times bigger. “I love you, too, Courtney, and I will.”

  After he left, I waited a good five to ten seconds before I turned and looked at Mimi.

  She was grinning from ear to ear. “Well, land sakes alive, it’s about damn time.”

  “What’s about time?” I asked, knowing she was talking about the exchange I just had with Reed.

  “Oh, don’t play coy with me, young lady. You and Reed, huh?” She wiggled her eyebrows up and down.

  My mouth dropped open. “Mimi! You didn’t just—”

  Right then, we heard a gunshot.

  “What in the hell? Was that a gunshot?” I jumped up and looked out the window. I let out a small scream when I saw Reed lying down on the ground with Ryan standing next to him, holding a shotgun. “Oh my God! Reed!” I yelled as I ran out the back door.

  I started calling out Reed’s name, and it should have registered in my head that he was okay when he jumped up and turned around, but my heart was beating so fast.

  I skidded to a stop and looked him up and down. “Are you…have you been shot? Are you hurt? Oh my God.” I didn’t see any blood anywhere on his body. I quickly looked back and forth between Reed and Ryan.

  Ryan looked confused as hell.

  “Who did you shoot? Why did you shoot?” I asked Ryan. I looked all over Reed’s body again. Nope. Still no blood.

  Reed grabbed on to my shoulders. “Court, baby, look in my eyes. I’m not hurt. Ryan was trying to shoot a rattlesnake, and I was looking to see if it had gone under the car.”

  I shook my head and tried to calm my beating heart. “What? A snake?” I asked.

  Mimi was laughing behind me.

  I took a deep breath in and let it out. “Wait, what if it had struck you?” Tears were burning my eyes, and I wasn’t sure where this pussy-ass girl had come from. The thought of losing the man I’d waited so long for overtook my body, and I lost it. “Reed, I don’t ever want to lose you—ever. God, I was so scared when I saw you on the ground, and I thought…I thought…”

  I choked back the tears as Reed grabbed me and pulled me into his arms.

  ??
?Oh, baby, I’m so sorry you got scared. It was stupid of me to look under the car, and I promise not to do stupid shit like that. I don’t want you to be scared. I’m so sorry.”

  Then, he started laughing.

  I pulled back and looked at him. “Why are you laughing?”

  “Uh…I’m not really sure.”

  I put my hands on my hips and looked at Ryan, who was now in a full-out laugh.

  “Miss Will, you should have seen your face. You were freaking out!” Ryan said before laughing harder.

  My mouth dropped open, and I glanced back to see Mimi’s shoulders bouncing up and down. When I turned back to Reed, he was at least attempting not to laugh anymore.

  I pointed to him and said, “I take back that you were Nick swoon-worthy.”

  Reed’s face dropped, and I was so pleased that I wanted to hug myself.

  I’d absolutely fallen more in love with Reed when I saw him reading my favorite book. I’d known why he was reading it, and nothing had touched me more, so I knew taking back his swoon moment would gut him.

  “What? You can’t take that back.”

  Smiling bigger, I said, “Oh, I do believe I can, and…I just did.”

  “Um…” Reed said as he looked around.

  I let out a small scream when Layton honked his horn as he was driving up before he parked.

  “I’ll help Mr. Morris with his luggage, Mr. Moore,” Ryan said as he carefully engaged the safety before setting the gun down.

  “Oh, look at her face. She’s glowing,” Mimi said as she took off toward Whitley and Layton.

  When I turned back to look at Reed, I slowly smiled and walked closer to him.

  “Did I really get it revoked?” he asked as he pulled me to him.

  When he pressed himself against me, I felt how hard and ready he was for me.

  I let out a giggle. “No, you didn’t, but don’t ever scare me like that again. Reed…I just can’t even begin to tell you what these last few weeks have meant for me. Thank you.”

  He leaned down and kissed me oh-so gently and then barely pulled back from my lips. “I feel the same way, Courtney. I can never lose you now—ever. You’re mine for always.”

  I swallowed hard and looked into his eyes. He had my stomach doing all kinds of crazy shit. All I wanted to do was jump into his arms and beg him to make love to me.

  “You’ve been reading more, haven’t you?” I asked as I winked at him.

  The crooked smile that spread across his face said it all.

  “Um…excuse me, but we’re home!” Whitley said.

  I spun around and faced my beautiful best friend. I let out a gasp when I saw her. She looked stunning. We both screamed as we ran into each other’s arms and hugged. I couldn’t wait to tell her everything that had happened with Reed and me.

  She moved her mouth toward my ear and whispered, “I take it, you and Reed made it public? Glad to see y’all made nice with each other.”

  I pulled back and smiled. “Oh hell, we made more than nice! I had fucking shower sex.”

  Whitley’s hands sprang up to her mouth as she let out a small scream. Her eyes quickly looked over at Reed, who was now helping Ryan and Layton with the luggage. He had a huge smile on his face, and the next thing I knew, Layton dropped a suitcase and slapped him on the back. He brought Reed in for one of those bro hugs and then said something in his ear.

  “Well, I’m going to let everyone get settled, and then I plan on throwing a big barbeque in a few weeks to celebrate your marriage,” Mimi said. Before heading to her car, she stopped and kissed each boy on the cheek, and then she turned back to look at Whit. “I’ll call you, Whitley, with the details.”

  “Yes, ma’am. Talk to you soon!” Whit called back to Mimi.

  Whit turned back around and hooked her arm with mine, and then we made our way toward the main barn.

  She called back over her shoulder, “If you’ll excuse us, gentlemen, we need some girl time.”

  I turned around, and my eyes caught Reed’s. We smiled at each other, and the way he smiled back told me he would miss me as much as I would miss him. When he winked, my heart melted, and my stomach took a nosedive.

  After walking into the barn, out of earshot from everyone, Whitley pushed me onto a wooden bench. “Oh. My. God! Finally! Tell me everything,” she said as she jumped up and down and clapped her hands.

  Two of the horses nickered, excited at the chance to go for a ride.

  I rolled my eyes at her and tried to play it off. “Nothing really to tell. I mean, we fought some, hung out together, fought some more, went horseback riding a few times, Reed ran around some cows while he was naked, made mad, passionate love—”

  Whitley held up her hands in a motion for me to stop talking. The smile on her face was making it hard for me not to smile from ear to ear.

  “Okay…I’m pretty sure I don’t want to know why Reed was naked while running around cows. Although my curiosity is getting the better of me on that one, I want to hear about the mad, passionate love!” She dropped to her knees, put her elbows on my legs, and propped up her chin, ready to hear a story.

  “There really isn’t much to tell,” I said with a shrug of my shoulders. Just thinking of being with Reed was causing the want between my legs to return.

  “Bitch, don’t even try it. I’ve been waiting for months for this shit to happen. I want details, Lollipop—now.”

  I threw my hand up to my chest and said, “You want me to kiss and tell?”

  “Uh…hell yeah, I do, and the sooner, the better before my hornier-than-hell husband comes looking for me! He actually wanted to pull over and have sex in the truck on the way home.”

  I covered my mouth and let out a laugh before I said, “My God, you just spent three weeks together on your honeymoon. Did y’all not have sex? Speaking of honeymoon, how was it?”

  The way the blush moved across her cheeks made me so happy. I knew they both wanted a baby, so I had no doubt in my mind that a lot of babymaking had happened during those three weeks.

  She put her head in my lap and let out a long sigh before looking back up at me. “Oh, Court, it was amazing. He made it so incredibly romantic the whole time. Gah! The places he made love to me were unreal. I don’t know how many times, but the things he whispered in my ear melted me on the spot.” She shook her head and smiled bigger as if she was remembering something.

  “Whitley, I’m so happy for you. You deserve your happily ever after more than anyone I know.”

  She looked up at me, and tears filled her eyes. “So do you, Courtney.”

  I let a small smile play across my mouth as I nodded in agreement. I ignored the familiar sick feeling in my stomach that I’d been feeling for the last couple of days. I’d been waiting to wake up to find this all had been a dream.

  “We can talk about the honeymoon later. Court…you and Reed?”

  I shook my head and then dropped it back as I let out a long sigh. I pulled my head forward and looked into her eyes. “I love him so much, Whitley, and that scares the shit out of me, but when we’re together…” I slowly smiled bigger. “My God, when we’re together, I feel so…so…”

  “Safe? Loved? Peaceful and content?” Whitley asked with a smile.

  “Yes! He makes me feel all those things. I never felt that with Mitch or any other guy I dated. Reed’s touch…it does things to me and makes me feel like a horny teenager.”

  Whitley giggled and sat back as she nodded her head for me to keep going.

  “I feel this connection with him, and a part of me is so scared by it, but the other part of me wants to just take off running with it and never look back.”

  Whitley raised her eyebrow and whispered, “Tell me about the first time.”

  I smiled and wiggled my eyebrows up and down. “Well, two words—wall sex!” I said as I began bouncing up and down on the bench.

  “Oh my God! You finally got your wall sex!” Whitley screamed.

  I slapped her acros
s the head. “Jesus, tell the whole damn countryside, why don’t you?”

  She gave me a look and asked, “Was it good?”

  I closed my eyes and pictured the moment when Reed had called out my name as he came. Opening my eyes, I slowly nodded. “It was beyond good. It was amazing…wonderful…magical.”

  I felt myself beginning to choke up as I remembered Reed whispering in my ear how much he loved me and how I felt like heaven. I looked down at my best friend, and her smile made my stomach take a small dip as I thought about Reed’s love for me. I began chewing on my lower lip.

  Whitley got up and sat down next to me. She grabbed my hands and turned me, so we were facing each other. “Why do you look worried?”

  “I, um…I just don’t want it to end, and I’m scared he will leave me, or something will happen, and I’ll mess this up. Whitley…Reed is the second guy I’ve ever been with, and well—”

  She let out a gasp and pulled back. “What? You mean, Mitch was your first?” She shook her head and looked confused. “But…you’ve dated, and…you were a virgin when you began dating Mitch? Courtney…I thought…”

  My heart started pounding. Shit! Shit! Shit! How did I let that slip? Son of a bitch.

  Just then, I heard Layton and Reed talking and laughing as they rounded the corner. I instantly felt better when Reed looked at me and smiled. I went to stand up, but Whitley pulled me back down.

  “Courtney, what’s going on? The look on your face just then scared me.”

  I tried to smile. “Maybe we can talk later, okay?”

  I quickly stood up and walked toward Layton. He smiled bigger, so I was pretty sure Reed had already filled him in on what happened between us. I walked into Layton’s arms and welcomed him home.

  He whispered in my ear, “It’s about damn time. I’ve never seen him this happy before, Court.”

  I pulled back and grinned. I stepped back and looked at Reed, who was smiling from ear to ear. I walked up to him, and he pulled me into his arms.

  He quickly kissed me before pulling back and saying, “I had to tell him.”

  I chortled and said, “I had to tell Whit, too!”

  Layton slapped his hands and made his way over to Whitley, who was still looking at me with a puzzled expression. I knew she was confused because I had always talked about having sex with guys I dated. I tried to give her a reassuring smile, but it didn’t work.