Reeve (The Phoenix Boys #3) (13 page)

“Leah, who the hell is in the room with you? We lost you for a bit there.” Bollocks. Reeve scoots down on the couch so that he is right next to me, in full view of the webcam. My sister-in-law’s eyes almost pop out of her head. I can feel the heat creep up my cheeks; great, now I freaking blush.

“Hi, Ryan, Hi Jade. I am Reeve Phoenix and I am Lipsy’s boyfriend. It’s nice to meet you, well as much of a meeting as this is.” All three of them laugh but I don’t.

“Wow, you don’t waste time, good for you. That knob Marc isn’t worth your time or tears. He is moving in with some new girl now. Nicola got a job and moved away some fucking where. This new girl works at the casino in Swansea.” Jade shrugs her shoulders, she never liked Marc. I hear a commotion through the screen, the kids shouting, saying that Gramps and Nana have arrived. My heart skips a beat and my muscles tighten. Reeve pulls me to him and he kisses the side of my head.

“Baby, it will be fine.”

“Will it? Because from your attitude, you don’t want to do this.”

“Yes, Leah I wanted to. I was annoyed that yet again, you couldn’t tell me what you were thinking.” We both are speaking in hushed tones so that Ryan and Jade won’t hear, but they aren’t paying us any attention anyway.

“Hey, Sweetie. Oh hello, handsome. And who might you be?” Fuck.

“Hi, Mrs. Adams, my name is Reeve and I am Leah’s boyfriend.” He pulls me tighter to him.

“Leah, why didn’t you tell us that you had a new lad in your life? A simple email would have been enough.” Great, now Dad speaks up.

“Sorry, Dad. Things have been busy here. Doing the tourist thing and then Lucy was taken into the hospital, but don’t panic her and the baby are fine. Rafe is taking very good care of them; in fact Reeve is Rafe’s brother. Reeve is one of the Phoenix triplets. I should have emailed, sorry.”

“Ok, well as long as you and Lucy and the baby are ok. So young man, you had better be treating my baby girl well. Because remember, I am just a flight away. I will come there and beat your arse down.”

“Bloody hell, Daddy. Reeve is treating me right, and stop treating me like a child; I’m twenty-one for Christ’s sakes. Now, how are you guys doing?”

We talk for another hour, Reeve taking over most of the conversation between the men in my life; even Peyton fought for his attention. I guess women of all ages fall at his feet. After saying a teary goodbye to my family, we take Reeve’s car and drive to Mama Phoenix’s house. I know that they need to discuss the details of the charity car wash that is tomorrow; it’s been the main topic of conversation.

We walk into Hayley’s house; well, I say house but it’s a freaking mansion. It’s huge. Music is playing and you can hear the chatter all the way from the front door. Reeve still hasn’t let my hand go, so I look up at him and he smiles at me.

“Your family rocks by the way, pretty fucking cool.” He lifts my hand to his mouth and places a soft kiss on the back of it. He leads me into the large dining room, where everyone is sitting around a large table. Reeve lets my hand go just as we enter the room and I miss the heat from his hand instantly. He walks straight to his Mam and hugs and kisses her head. He goes around the table greeting everyone, while I just stand here like a freaking sad arse. Why do I feel like an outsider right now? Demi sees me and runs over to me.

“Auntie Leah, I so happy you are here. I can show you my new swimsuit for the car wash tomorrow.” With her words, everyone stops and looks at me. Even Reeve straightens up; the frown on his face showing that he forgot I was even here. Why has this day gone from bad to worse? Maybe this just wasn’t meant to happen between us; my heart sinks a little and tiny prickles run all over my skin as I fight back the tears. Demi tugs on my hand and leads me to the spot at the table where Letty and Ryder are sitting. Ryder slaps Reeve on the back of his head, hard I imagine, as Reeve is rubbing the back of his head.

“What the hell, bro? Why did you slap me?” He asks Ryder.

“Because dumbass, you left your girl standing in the doorway. Here Leah, you can sit in my seat.” I sit between Letty and Demi. Ryder mutters ‘asshole’ under his breath and Reeve just stares at me, like I have done something wrong. I think we are both to blame for this act.

“Why did you just stand there, Leah?” Wow, Leah.

“I don’t know, I kind of felt like I was intruding on family time,” I say, dropping my eyes to my hands in my lap. My stomach knots and I feel sick. I turn to Mama Phoenix, “Can I use the bathroom please?”

“Of course, Leah, honey you don’t have to ask. Let me show you where it is.”

“No, I will take her.”

“Reeve, I think it’s best if I take her, now stay here.” I can feel the burn starting in my nose, why the hell am I feeling like this? This is bloody stupid. I follow Hayley out of the room and leave all the curious eyes boring into the back of my head.

“In here, Leah. Honey, are you ok? You seem out of sorts.” I shake my head as a tear escapes down my cheek. Bugger.  “Oh Leah, come on, follow me.” I follow her up the stairs and into a big, huge arse master bedroom. “Use the bathroom there and I will be here waiting.” I nod and walk in. I take a deep breath and look at myself in the mirror; why in God’s name does he even want me? Plain old, overly emotional Leah Adams. Taking a deep breath, I walk out and meet Hayley sitting on a couch in her room.

“Come sit.” She pats the seat next to her. “Tell me what is happening with you and my son.”

“Before I came here I had just broken up with my boyfriend; he basically told me I wasn’t enough, but he wasn’t the only bloke to say that. The two boyfriends before him said the same, pretty much. A few things happened today with Reeve and they made me feel like he thinks I am not good enough for him too. My head is going mental with all these thoughts and feelings running around in it.” I lean my elbow on my knees and bury my head in my hands and I cry for not feeling good enough and for possibly never finding someone who thinks I am.  Hayley rubs my back, comforting me.

“Leah, honey, believe me when I tell you that Reeve likes you for who you are. He knows you are good enough for him, if not too good. Reeve has always had a thing about failing, even when he was really young. He had to beat Rafe and Ryder at everything. I think that maybe the fact that those two boys have settled down may have a factor in his feelings, like he failed to settle down first. Think about that. But you hear me; you are good enough to belong in this family, ok?” I smile and nod through the tears. “Good, now let’s go sort this car wash out, I want it bigger than last year.” She smiles and we make our way back downstairs.

My steps falter when I see Reeve standing at the bottom of the stairs with a frown on his beautiful face.

“Go easy on her, Reeve. I like her.” Hayley joins the others in the big room.

“Can we not talk about this now, please?” I can tell he isn’t happy but he agrees and walks off. Well bloody hell.

Chapter 14

Reeve

We talked for what seemed like hours, planning the charity car wash. Leah sits next to me with Demi on her lap but she might as well have been over on the other side of the room. She barely looked at me, and when we did make eye contact, she would quickly look away. Fucking hell, why do I get the feeling that she is pulling away.

“Ok, this year need to be bigger and better than last year. Brax and Nix have booked a live band and a DJ to keep the music going. Nana Ruby will be handling the food tents. We will have two ports set up like we did last year. Get them through quicker. Anything you want to add?”

“I am going to wash soooooo many more cars than all you cootie carrying boys,” Miss Demi speaks up. She is standing on Leah’s thighs, hands on the table, as she leans over, looking at all the men in the room.

“Is that right, Princess? So you think that girls are better than boys then, do you?” asks Beck.

“Yeppers and you know I am right, so there.” She pokes her tongue out him. We all burst out laughing.

“Ok, what do you say boys? Boys versus girls. Who washes the most cars?” We all nod and smirk at each other. Leah speaks up.

“Challenge accepted lads.” She hasn’t said much since her talk with my mom.

“Oh, you think you can beat us, Lipsy?” I lean in and kiss her neck; when she shivers it pleases the fuck out of me.

“Yeppers, baby. We girls will wipe the floor with you lads. What do you say girls?” They all agree with my girl.

“Well, I will do as much as I can but with this,” Juicy points to her huge baby belly, “I can’t do much.” She fake pouts and yawns.

“And that’s our cue to leave, Snowflake needs to rest. Come on baby, let’s get you home and in bed.” Rafe helps Juicy up from the table and they say their goodbyes.

“You ready to go? Are you coming back to mine or am I talking you to your home?” I am not assuming anything with her at the moment; things are a little unbalanced with us right now. She looks down at her hands, debating what to do. I fucking hate this feeling, so I make the decision for her. “Tell you what, I will drop you off at Rafe and Juicy’s apartment. I need check in on a few things for tomorrow.” I walk over to Mom and see her scowling at me but I ignore the look. “Cya tomorrow, Mom.” I turn at walk to my car, not really caring if Leah is behind me. Damn, who the hell am I kidding, of course I fucking care. I stop and turn back to get her and she is hot on my heels. She walks to my car and waits for me to unlock it. She has her arms wrapped tightly around her slim waist and she won’t look at me again. Fucking shit. I unlock the car and she climbs in. I slide into the driver’s seat. Taking a deep breath I start the car Leah is staring out the window so she doesn’t have to look at me.

Katy Perry’s ‘Unconditionally’ is on the radio as we sit here, listening in silence. I take in every damn word that is sung as I drive and I know that Lipsy feels the words because a barely there sob escapes her beautiful mouth. I let the words wash over me and they make my heart race; could I actually be falling in love with Leah? Fuck. I pull up outside Rafe and Juicy’s apartment and turn the engine off but neither of us makes a move to exit the car.

“Lipsy, look at me. I know that I have hurt you today but you won’t talk to me so I don’t know how you are feeling. I have been getting death glares off my Mom all day because you confided in her and not me. I thought I was your boyfriend, shouldn’t you come to me if I hurt your feelings?” I wait for her to answer. It feels like hours before she speaks up.

“You hurt me a few times today, and it got me thinking, and those thoughts got my mind working overdrive about me … us. I told your Mam everything and she helped settle a few things.”

“And they are?”

“That I am good enough, that I want you to know that you are good enough for me, even though I think sometimes you don’t think you are.” My heart is pounding in my chest so hard that I think it’s going to burst through my chest any second now. Lipsy takes a deep breath. “I’ve fallen, Reeve. I have fallen in love with you. But I don’t think that you are ready to hear it or say it back and to be honest, that hurts but I will deal with it. I always bloody do.” With that she gets out of the car and walks into the building.

Well, fucking shit.

I sit there just staring at the door my Lipsy just walked through, my thoughts running around my head at a mile a minute. I shake my head and head to the studio; it’s my only sanctuary. People are mulling around but I go straight to our private recording studio. I bypass Nix, who just gets a chin lift from me. I throw my aching body onto the black sofa and pull my song book out, and start writing. This book holds all my thoughts and feelings, most of which I turn into songs that my boys and I lay down as tracks. I have enough for two Inside Noise Albums, one day. One Day.

I wake up to my phone playing Foo Fighters ‘All My Life’. Fucking Ryder, calling me so damn early. “What?”

“Where the hell are you, man? It’s after ten. You need to get your ass down here, now.” Shit, I bolt off the sofa and run to my car, driving back to my apartment. Lipsy comes to the front of my mind again and I can’t keep from smiling. She has me, I think she always has but I was too scared to acknowledge it. I run into my apartment and shower and dress in no time. Before I know it, I am driving down to the beach where Phoenix Records is holding the charity car wash.

Pulling up, I see there is a good line of cars already waiting, but I also see that there are pink balloons and banners and blue balloons and banners. I chuckle to myself, Demi got her challenge. Climbing out of my car, I walk over to where everyone is waiting.

“About freaking time, dude,” Zach states.

“Uncle Reeve, we are waiting for you. Can we get started now, please? All of the girls are going to beat you down. That’s what Auntie Leah said.” She pokes her tongue out at me. My back stiffens.

“Where is Lipsy?” I ask Skeet, who points behind me and my heart skips a shit load of beats. She is wearing a black bikini top and white linen pants and flip flops. Her hair is down and wavy and she looks so damn beautiful.

All the girls walk towards us, Lucy in the middle with Letty and my Lipsy flanking her. Tru, Ren, Maisey, Kenzie, Quinn, Sophie, Loren and Nix’s new girl Amy all walk towards us and I think to myself what damn shame it is that Trinity isn’t here. Rafe elbows me in the ribs and I let out a rush of air that I was holding and that is when I see that the boys are all lined up in order of their girls. This is one big ass Phoenix family and extended Phoenix family day. Hell, even Uncle Roger and Lisa are here with our cousin Kurtis.