“Are you sure you want to swim tomorrow, for a while?” Kendra didn’t want her friend to feel alone.
“Yes, absolutely. I would love to get some swim time in. I feel so much better when I get in the water. It’s quiet, and I can just concentrate on breathing and my speed. You know when I swim, I’m totally zoned out. So, don’t worry; I will be fine without you. I’m going to rock climb and then sit in the sauna. Two hours to swim, an hour of rock climbing, and an hour in the sauna. Probably another hour to shower and get dressed there. There, five hours and then you can pick me up. I may even do a little weight lifting; I’ll see how I feel. I need to get rid of some of this stress anyway. Now, text Skylar and tell him to pick you up around noon. You guys can drop me off and then pick me up around five or so. If you guys feel like it, we’ll try a few rounds of bowling.” Kendra loved her friend.
“Ok, I’ll text him now.” Brynley watched Kendra make fast strokes on her phone while texting Skylar. “All set! He said he would pick us up around noon and drop you off, and he said that he definitely wanted to bowl. I also told him not to invite Reed.”
Brynley felt bittersweet about that. She hated the way he treated her, but when he was sweet, he was something to miss. She had to shake him away; she wouldn’t be mistreated again. The girls finished polishing toes and nails. They decided to make homemade masks and eat ice cream. They had used it before and swore by it. It was an avocado mask. They combined an avocado, two tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, one tablespoon of coconut oil in a can, mix all ingredients well, and spread on to the face. The girls would let this mask stay on their face for about forty-five minutes to an hour. This allowed the skin to absorb the ingredients. This mask was packed with vitamins, and it left the skin glowing. They used rice water that they had let set for twenty-four hours to rinse their face with. They were always careful to rinse their rice so that no pesticides would be in the water and their pores. They used white rice and sterile water for the mixture. The Japanese women were known to use rice water, and their skin always glowed. Brynley and Kendra also used rice water on their hair. They swore it helped their hair to grow.
Shiny toes, nails, and glowing faces, the girls decided that they were tired and going to bed. Brynley would shower at the gym before she went swimming. She always used conditioner in her blonde hair so that it wouldn’t get a green tint from so much chlorine.
Reed had stayed the night with Skylar and Jamison. Skylar excitedly told Reed that he and Kendra were going out tomorrow afternoon after they dropped Brynley off at the rec center. “Dude, this is your chance to get Brynley to yourself for a few hours and fix this crazy mess!” Reed felt a glimmer of hope. If he could just get her to hear him out. He could explain away this whole mess and be with her. He swore he would never screw up again!
“You think she’d get mad at me or think I was a weird stalker?” Reed was worried about upsetting her; he didn’t want her to feel like he didn’t respect her boundaries or that he was harassing her.
“Dude, Brynley really liked you. You screwed up and hurt her. She’s mad at you because she feels rejected by you. Had that not have happened, you’d be with her right now. I don’t believe the girl just turned her feelings off from you. She’s just trying to protect herself. Confess your stupidity, undying love, and that you will spend the rest of your life, making it up to her; she’ll forgive you. Giving her something romantic wouldn’t hurt either. Girls love that crap. Just make it personal; something no other girl could have from you. Dude, you’re Reed Hinton! Every girl in the school is in love with you! Give Brynley all of you, and she’ll be in love with you too!”
Reed wanted to believe Skylar; his heart depended on it. He just messed up so badly, and Brynley was so upset with him. He wasn’t sure he had the confidence that he could change her mind about him. He would try, though. What in the world could he give her that would endear her to him? He had to think. It had to be a symbol of how much he cared for her, and it had to be something Brynley would consider special. Brynley was funny, smart, sweet, and beautiful. It had to be something to capture her heart and attention. She loved it when he was funny; she thought he was cute, which seemed to attract her to him. Reed contemplated for several hours and then felt like he came up with a perfect idea. He would have to get up early to have this made, then meet her at the rec center and give it to her. Pray-fully, she would accept it.
Reed fell asleep on Skylar’s couch. He wanted to wake early tomorrow morning and get to the mall. He had something he wanted to be made for Brynley. He just hoped that she would accept it from him. The morning came, and the mall opened at nine o’clock. Reed was one of the first patrons to enter. He dashed straight to the jewelry shop. He was sparing no expense; he wanted Brynley to know how deeply sorry he was, how much he wanted her to be his, and he was willing to do anything to be hers. Reed had purchased three, small-stoned, stackable rings.
The first ring was sapphire (blue representing how he felt when he hurt her). Inside the band, he had ‘forgive me’ etched inside it. The second ring was diamond (represented how pure his trust and loyalty was to her). Inside the band, he had ‘loyalty and trust forever’ inscribed. The third band was rubies (red representing his affection for her). He didn’t want to scare her using the word ‘love,’ but his heart hurt without her. Maybe, he was already in love with her. He had never been in love before; so, he wasn’t completely sure. Inside the band, he had ‘I adore you’ inscribed. It took several hours for them to be engraved, but he waited patiently because it was important.
Reed paid his bill and was thrilled with the results. The rings were perfect, and the jewels glowed. He was sure Brynley would love them. They were unique and described how he felt about her. He didn’t care about the money; he only cared about her. Reed was going to surprise her at the pool. He went home to get his gear and then would travel on over to the rec center to meet her. Before he left, he said a prayer to God for a favor. He hadn’t done that in a while but knew that he would need God’s help to convince her to forgive him. Reed placed his faith in the Lord for guidance, courage, and high favor.
Reed didn’t want to look stalkerish; so, he arrived a little early. He had a locker there. That was usually where he would swim, for practice, and work out with his trainer. Skylar had texted Reed to let him know that they were about to leave. “I said a prayer for ya, buddy! Good luck!” Reed smiled to himself, thankful for his friends and God. Reed took a deep breath and went down to the swimming pool, where Reed swam in lane four. He had planned on keeping his head close to the water; so that Brynley wouldn’t recognize him until he wanted her to. He swam for about twenty minutes, trying to work off some of his nervousness. He was at the end of the lane, furthest from the entranceway. He saw that gorgeous blonde hair come in. He ducked his head closer to the water. He wanted her in the water before he made his move. That way, she couldn’t run to the girl’s locker room and avoid him. He watched her tuck that luscious hair inside her cap. It was red, and it matched the one-piece swimsuit that she had on. She was a dream, one that he never wanted to wake up from. He watched her dive into the water, and gracefully glid her way back and forth. He wanted her to swim for a while, wear her down a little, help her relax. Two lanes separated him from the girl he wanted to be with. Reed contemplated what was the best way to let her know he was there. She had swum nine laps. He pulled himself out of the water, and he walked over to her lane and had a towel ready. He bent down, waiting for her to recognize him. Brynley actually swam two more lapses before she paused. She caught the sight of Reed smiling at her. She felt her heart flip.
“Fancy seeing you here. I’m really glad that you’re here, Brynley. I know you are disgusted with me, but I am begging you for the chance to give you an apology that you deserve.” Reed’s voice was deep and pleading. His eyes were taking in every line of her face. He watched her cheeks blush. He immediately recognized the wariness in her eyes, though. He didn’t want her to run away from him. “Brynley,
I acted like a colossal ass yesterday! My apology will not erase my stupidity, but I want you to know, I reacted out of pure fear and anger, thinking you were leading me on. I thought you didn’t like me, the way that I was feeling about you. I thought you wanted Jamison, and I was eaten up with jealousy. I didn’t know how to handle it because I’ve never felt like that before. How I reacted was wrong, no matter what I thought, I cannot change it, but I can promise that it will never happen again. I would never do anything to upset you or chance the possibility of losing you again, Brynley.” Reed felt like he was rushing through his words, but he was so fearful that she would leave without hearing him out. “I’m sorry; I didn’t mean to corner you like this, but I saw you and had to talk to you. I am terrified that you will never talk to me again, Brynley, and I don’t think that I can bear that. Would you get out of the water and let me talk to you properly and explain everything, please?” Brynley had so many emotions ruling her head and heart right at this moment; she was stuck, though. He was here in front of her, and she could tell that he was determined to speak with her. Brynley watched as Reed extended his arm to help her out of the water. She decided to get this over with. He pulled her out effortlessly and handed her his towel to dry off with. She followed him over to a set of bleachers and sat next to his gym bag.
Brynley could see that Reed was nervous; that made her feel a little better. She was tired of being the only one, feeling nervous between the two of them. “Ok, I’m going to start from the very beginning, to make you understand what I was thinking.” Brynley remained quiet and allowed Reed to speak. “You know, for a couple of days now, I’ve been trying to show you how much I like you. I’ve been trying not to come on too strong, so I don’t scare you away. I didn’t want you to think that my fascination was just physical because I genuinely like who you are. I like who I am when I’m with you. I love the funny banter that we share. I genuinely laugh, and I haven’t done that in a long time; actually, if ever. I am addicted to feeling good and romantically attached after being with you. What I have been experiencing with you is not something that I have experienced with someone else. I cannot explain how excited I was seeing you that day in the park. When we ran and got into my car, I was feeling a high being around you. I constantly crave to be with you, and I desire to be more to you than just a friend. I had planned on telling you that before you got that phone call from Jamison. I thought he was asking you to go to the fair with him. I thought you were contemplating about going with him. I kissed you, Brynley, and that kiss meant something to me; I felt like it didn’t mean anything to you, and I was hurt and scared. I felt totally rejected by you, and I couldn’t handle it. I instantly wanted to smash Jamison’s face for interfering with us. The anger and pain that I felt were so intense that I couldn’t control it. I should have, and I should have talked to you about what was going on. I’m sorry that I failed and hurt you; I just blindly lashed out. Brynley, I have never been in that position before; I have never felt such crushing pain and devastating anger like I did at that moment. I don’t want you to think that I’m foolish by saying that I’m in love with you, but I swear, I don’t know how else to describe it. It’s without a shadow of a doubt, more than ‘like.’ No other girl makes me feel as passionate as you do! When you left me, I was sick. Literally, vomiting. I went over to Skylar’s house to talk to him, see if he could help me. I saw Jamison’s car, and that uncontrolled anger hit me again. I wanted to blame everything on him instead of myself. I walked inside the house, and I smashed my fist in his face without thinking, and I broke his nose. I am thoroughly ashamed, and I begged him to forgive me. He did because he is one of my best friends; it doesn’t excuse the fact that I acted like an ass, though. I swore to him that I would never lose my temper like that again; I plan on keeping that promise.”
Brynley’s expression was pure shock. Reed was terrified that she would think he was a Neanderthal, with no control! I want to give you what you deserve, which is a sincere apology. I want to beg you for your forgiveness.” Reed instinctively got down on a bent knee to express his need to beg her. “I want to fix all the wrong that I caused between us and start over; this time, I won’t act like a stupid idiot. I want to give you something to remind you of my promise to you and express how I feel about you.” Reed turned to his bag and lifted out a small black velvet box. He opened it, and Brynley saw the three rings he had engraved. Reed picked up the sapphire ring first. “The blue in the sapphire is how I felt when I hurt you and thought I lost you.” He placed it on her finger; he was thrilled that she allowed him to. Then he picked up the diamond band. “This diamond is pure. It represents my pure loyalty and trust that I want to give to you.” He placed this band above the other. Reed picked up the last ring, the ruby. “I am passionate about you. I don’t even know how to describe the feelings that I am having for you, Brynley. They’re strong, powerful, and overwhelming. I am going to control them because I do not ever want to hurt you again, and I do not want to lose you.” Brynley sat in utter astonishment! She could see how Reed could misunderstand the conversation with Jamison; because she didn’t explain that he had called to see if Reed would mind him being there. She was afraid to mention it; because Reed hadn’t mentioned taking her out on a date to the fair yet. Reed explained how he felt about her helped her understand his horrific behavior, not that she was excusing it, but she understood his feelings. The rings were an amazing gesture, but they looked so expensive; then, Tabitha was a concern.
“I can appreciate and understand your emotional state and how it caused a horrendous mistake. I forgive you for that. I didn’t fully explain the conversation involving Jamison to you, and that could have saved us both some grief. I take some responsibility for that. Jamison asked me to ask you if you would allow him to go to the fair with you and me. I was embarrassed to say anything about it yet because you hadn’t asked me to go with you. I didn’t want you to think I was being pushy or demanding of you.” Reed kissed her hand. She felt tears welling up in her eyes. “Reed, you just professed all of these wonderful feelings for me, but I saw you with Tabitha last night at the Chinese restaurant. I can’t trust that you are honest when I saw you run right back to your girlfriend.” Reed’s countenance truly looked puzzled.
Reed started shaking his head. “No, Brynley, I wasn’t at the restaurant with Tabitha. I went there to pick up food for all of us at Skylar’s house, and Tabitha saw me there. She came up to me and asked me to go out with her that night. I told Tabitha that I wasn’t interested. I told her that I wasn’t interested in going back out with her again, in fact. She got angry and followed me out to my car, and screamed at me for a few minutes, and then I left. You can ask Tabitha or Skylar; because I told him what had happened when I got back to his house. I swear, I am telling you the truth. Brynley, I haven’t even spoken to Tabitha since I have been spending time with you; I am not interested in her romantically at all. It was a pure accident that I ran into her at the restaurant. I don’t want her; I only want you, and I sincerely mean that. I want you to wear these rings as a reminder of what you mean to me and my promise that I am guaranteeing you if you’ll just give me another chance to be with you. I want you to be my girlfriend, but if you just want to start out as friends, I’ll do it. I’ll do anything to have another chance with you.” Brynley saw the earnestness in his face. She smiled, and he returned the gesture. He was still on his knee, waiting for her answer.
“I would like very much to be your girlfriend, Reed; I just ask that if you ever question anything regarding me, please, ask me first. I want you to know; I don’t believe I could bear it again if you hurt me. I felt as sick as you said that you did. I love these rings, but they are too expensive; I don’t need these to want to be with you.” Reed had placed a finger over her lips.
“Those rings are yours, and I want them to stay on your finger. They are a promise and a commitment that I am making to you, and to you only. Besides, I want to make sure that everyone knows that you are my girl and
mine only! Reed gently caressed Brynley’s jaw and tilted her face up to his. He kissed her gently and longingly. He could hear his heart thumping in his ears. His lips didn’t want to let her go, but he remembered that he was at the pool with people watching. He didn’t want to embarrass her.
“Let’s go take a shower and get ready; I want to take you out to eat. I want to talk about us and canoodle with you.” Reed gave Brynley a mischievous smile, and she laughed.
“I love it when a guy talks to me like that.” This time, Brynley wiggled her eyebrows at him. The sensation that Reed was feeling right now was indescribable!
Chapter Twelve:
Brynley met Reed at the front entrance of the rec center. He was all smiles, especially when he saw that she was still wearing the ring he had given her. She looked fantastic! She had changed into a pair of jeans, a chambray button-up shirt, with the sleeves, rolled up; and just enough makeup to enhance that natural beauty of hers. She wore her long hair up in a ponytail, with long, wavy tendrils hanging alongside her face. Her gilded tan made her cerulean eyes sparkle. Her lashes were dark and long, and her makeup was very natural, just the way Reed liked it. The gloss she wore gave her full lips a sheen that just beckoned him to kiss her.
Reed reached for her hand, and she happily offered it to him. They walked towards the car, and Brynley watched Reed text Skylar. I have Brynley. I’m going to take her out to eat. We’ll meet you and Kendra at the bowling alley at five. God is good, man!
Pride and Passion Page 12
