Chapter Two

“Darcy, wait. Seriously. Come on, wait up.”

She kept up the brisk pace, ignoring Reed’s increasingly annoyed shouts from behind her. Her heels snapped on the pavement in an angry click-clack as she barreled down the sidewalk. She’d taken five more steps when a heavy hand clapped on her shoulder.

“Must you always be so damn difficult?” His aggravated rumble heated the back of her neck.

Darcy twirled around to face him. “Dude, just go away.”

His lips twitched. “Can I at least apologize first, dude?”

“No.”

He grasped her arm before she could walk away. “What do you mean, no?”

“Should I say it in a different language so you can understand? Fine. Non. Nein. Niet. Nej. Nai. Um—”

“Nai?”

“That’s Japanese,” she said haughtily. “Duh.”

“Do I even want to ask why you can say the word no in so many languages?”

She blew a strand of hair out of her eyes. “I’m a teacher, Reed. I know things.”

His deep chuckle sent an unexpected—and extremely unwelcome—shiver scurrying through her. Before tonight, she’d never felt anything even close to warmth or awareness toward this man, but somehow her system had short-circuited, and now she couldn’t stop staring at his mouth. His firm and surprisingly sensual mouth.

And all that dark stubble sweeping across his strong jaw… She wanted to run her fingertips over it and feel those bristles scratching her skin.

No, you don’t.

Right. Of course she didn’t.

God, what on earth did the Krib’s bartenders put in their drinks? Those shooters were obviously messing with her head.

“Look,” Reed said, “I really am sorry for acting like such an ass. I had no idea you and AJ broke up. I honestly thought you were messing around on him.”

He looked befittingly repentant, and Darcy supposed she understood how it could have looked to an outsider who didn’t know that she and AJ were kaput.

“Fine.” She sighed dramatically. “I forgive you, Reedford.”

He made a rumbling sound. “Why do you always call me that? I’m not an English prince.”

Darcy laughed. “It makes you sound like you have manners. I like you better that way.” She reached into her purse and rummaged around for her tiny can of mace. “Okay, now that everything is all sunshine and rainbows between us, I can go home and not have to lie awake all night plotting your death.”

Reed’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Did you call a cab already?”

“No need. I only live six blocks from here.”

“You’re planning on walking? At this time of night?”

She snickered. “It’s barely ten o’clock. I think I’ll be just fine.”

“There’s no way I’m letting you walk home alone.” He set his jaw and spoke in a stern tone. “Come on, let’s go.”

Although she was tempted to argue, she couldn’t deny that she’d feel safer having someone along. This part of Boston was by no means sketchy, but as Darcy constantly harped to her students, better safe than sorry.

As they took off walking, Reed was quick with the sarcasm. “Wow,” he cracked. “You’re not going to rip my head off for having the audacity to walk you home?”

She shrugged. “Naah. I know when to pick my battles.”

Since it was the end of August, the temperature was still hot even at night, and the humid breeze felt nice against Darcy’s face. The lampposts lining the sidewalk shone down on them and highlighted Reed’s rugged features, yet again drawing her attention to his lips. According to AJ, Reed was a major player, and she suddenly had to wonder how many women had had the pleasure of kissing those lips.

Though was pleasure the right word? She got the feeling that he might not be the greatest of kissers. He came off as so cocky and selfish, she wouldn’t have been surprised to learn that those qualities extended to the way he kissed.

“Did AJ ever tell you how the two of us met?”

The question caught her by surprise. “No, he didn’t. All he said was that he’s known you forever.”

“He has.” Reed’s voice contained a faraway note. “I’ve known him since the first grade, but we didn’t officially become friends until we were about nine years old. This one day after school, I was walking home and bumped into a group of older guys. Ninth graders, I think. Somehow I picked a fight with them—”

“Somehow.” Darcy snorted.

He shot her an evil look. “Anyway, they pounded on me real good in an alley on 4th Street, around the corner from the school. I was doing my damnedest to fight back, but I was just a scrawny kid back then. Next thing I know, this other skinny kid comes barreling into the alley.”

“AJ?”

“Yup.” Reed chuckled. “That crazy mofo threw himself into the fray without a single thought to his own safety, and in a total fluke shot, he knocked the group’s leader unconscious. The other guys scrambled to help their friend, and the two of us ran off and ended up in the little park near my house. We were riding the adrenaline high, spent a good hour recapping the entire fight, and after that day, we were the best of friends.”

Darcy laughed as she pictured the two young boys bonding over a street brawl. “Of course you were.” She paused. “You know, it’s still so weird to me that AJ used to be a professional fighter. I mean, he’s so laidback and calm all the time. If I hadn’t seen footage of his MMA fights with my own eyes, I wouldn’t have believed it.”