“But…but I told Skyler I was in love with him,” she stammered, feeling a tad awkward to be revealing it to AJ. “How come he didn’t hear that?”

“I guess he left before you got to that part,” AJ said flatly.

“So he decided to get back at me by hitting on another woman?” she grumbled.

“He wasn’t getting back at you. He was just kick-starting the inevitable.”

The inevitable… Reed had thought she was going to break up with him. Despite her irritation over his heartless method of protecting himself, Darcy’s heart ached at the notion that she’d made Reed believe she didn’t care about him.

“I’m so stupid,” she blurted out, swallowing a lump of frustration. “Why did I keep calling it a fling when I knew it had turned into something more?”

AJ chuckled. “You were in denial?” he suggested.

“I was. I totally was.” She moaned in misery. “Crap, I need to go and talk to him. Do you know if he’s home?”

“No, he mentioned something about hanging out with some kid named Devon today. Or maybe it was Kevin?” AJ offered a blank look. “Can’t remember the name. I had no idea he was doing that Big Brother program, but it’s pretty cool, huh? Oh, I think they’re meeting at the park behind your school.”

Darcy was already dashing to the doorway. “Can you let yourself out?” she called over her shoulder. “I’ve gotta throw some clothes on.”

AJ’s soft laughter tickled her back, but she ignored it. Her mind was already a million miles away, every fiber of her being focused on Reed and what she would say to him when she saw him.

Yes, he’d acted like a total jerk the other night, and she certainly wasn’t letting him off the hook for it, but now that she understood where he’d been coming from, she couldn’t bring herself to stay mad at him. She loved him, damn it. And she was pretty certain he felt the same way about her.

Now she just had to find out if she was right.

Darcy halted in the middle of her bedroom, a smile breaking out on her face as she experienced a stroke of brilliance.

She knew just what she had to do.

Chapter Seventeen

“That was the worst pass on the planet!” Devon’s laughing taunt floated across the field and penetrated Reed’s distracted thoughts.

Shit, he must have spaced out. He couldn’t even remember throwing the football, let alone what the pass had looked like.

“Why don’t we take a breather?” Reed called out.

He felt like an ass for putting a stop to the game, but at the moment, he was way too preoccupied to focus on football. Or Devon. Or anything that didn’t start with D and end with A-R-C-Y.

He was such a mess. He’d been wallowing in self-pity ever since Darcy had stumbled out of the club the other night. The devastated look on her face had been branded into his memory. At the time, though, it had seemed like the only solution. The only way to permanently sever the hold Darcy Grant had on his heart.

If she hated him, then she wouldn’t fight his decision to break things off.

If she hated him, then maybe he’d finally be able to get over her.

She didn’t want a relationship, and he didn’t want a fling. If he’d kept seeing her, they’d be forever in a standoff. His feelings for her would only have gotten stronger, which meant his heart would only break harder when she decided to move on. So he’d decided to end it first.

And boy, had he ended it. Reed still felt like throwing up when he remembered how he’d forced himself to flirt with that faceless girl, all the while feeling Darcy’s betrayed blue eyes boring a hole into him. It had been torture, but he’d made himself do it. Made himself live up to the selfish ass**le label Darcy had pinned on him the day they’d met.

“Hey! Ms. Grant! Reed, look, Ms. Grant is here!”

Devon’s voice once again pierced through the fog, jolting Reed back to reality.

Wait—Darcy is here?

His frantic gaze swept over the football field, his heart jumping to his throat when he spotted her. She stood near the home team’s bench, wearing skinny jeans, a black tank top, and bright red flats on her feet. The splash of color brought a smile to his lips. Lord, he loved that about her. The way her adventurous nature seeped out of that good girl exterior, the hint of naughtiness beneath her well-behaved surface.

He was rooted in place as their gazes locked, but neither one of them made a move to approach the other.

Devon, on the other hand, had no problem running over to Darcy. The boy flung his arms around her waist and hugged her, and Reed’s heart squeezed as he watched her return the playful embrace.

Their murmured voices carried over to him, but he couldn’t make out their words. A groove dug into his forehead when he saw Darcy kneel down and whisper something in Devon’s ear. There was a flash of movement, as if she’d slipped something into the boy’s hand, but they were too far away for Reed to see what had exchanged hands.

A second later, Devon sprinted toward him.

Darcy stayed put, and Reed’s bewilderment grew. He flashed her a questioning look, but all he got in return was a tiny shrug and what looked like a very mischievous smile.

His pulse sped up, even though he knew better than to think…to think what? Darcy’s presence made no sense to him. She was supposed to hate him, damn it. So why was she standing twenty feet away smiling at him?

Devon skidded to a stop at Reed’s feet, clutching a little green golf pencil and a folded piece of white paper in his small hand. “Here,” the boy announced, thrusting out his arm. “This is for you.”