𝐑𝐞𝐝 𝐑𝐢𝐝𝐠𝐞

F A R R I S

"You two hanging out in Charlie's room?"

"Why, so you can finally bang Reed?" Xander asks and I roll my eyes.

"Yes," I don't bother hiding the fact and he cringes at the thought. I furrow my eyebrows. "Don't picture it!"

He holds his hands up, his eyes wide. "It's your fault!"

"I just answered your question honestly!"

"But you—"

"Don't stop on my watch," Reed says from her spot on the couch. It seems as though neither of us noticed she'd come in through the unlocked door and I can't seem to remember what we were fighting about when I take a good look at her.

Reed's hair is down in wild waves like she's been swimming in the ocean and let it air dry. I can only see her shoulders but they're bare and slightly freckled, her sun-kissed skin looks warm and inviting and I want to bury my head where her shoulder meets her neck. She smells so good right there.

"Alright have fun kids..." Xander pretends to gag, grabbing his bag on the way out and slamming the door. I look at Reed, my body already facing her and I can't stop myself from smiling. My feet move on their own and before I realize it, I'm launching myself over the back of the couch to land with my head in her lap, looking up at her.

I feel her bare thighs under my head and her top is light green and thin and I sit up, alert. "Jesus, is that a new top?" I'm immediately twisting to face her, reaching for the band above her belly button to feel the thin fabric.

She nods, a less-than-innocent smile pulling ever so slightly at her pink lips. "You like it," She says, but it's not a question. She can probably tell by the way my eyes trace all over her, my finger sliding back and forth under the fabric just to feel her skin.

"The only thing I like more than this top is you without it," I'm practically drooling at this point, my eyes looking between hers and her chest where her cleavage is devastating, the top is tied behind her neck in a halter style and the middle dips down below her breasts. I really want to trail my finger down and feel but I don't dare.

Instead, I clap my hands and pull myself together, looking back up at Reed's face and not daring to move my eyes below her chin. "Dinner? Movie?"

"We both already had dinner, Fare. I thought we were studying," She says, holding back a laugh and I nod.

"You're absolutely right, Buttercup. Let me just grab you a hoodie because the AC is blasting," I say, shooting to my feet.

"I'm good, thanks though," She smirks, bending at the waist to reach into her bag at her feet and shuffling around in it before she pulls out a textbook and a notebook.

"I'm not strong enough for this, Reed," I tell her honestly and she hides her face by looking down.

"Yeah, grab that hoodie."

"Dear god, thank you," I say, looking up.

"You're so dramatic!" She shouts after me and I grab a hoodie off the top shelf in my closet.

"You love it." I toss the hoodie to her and she pulls it on. I avert my eyes for my own sake.

She sighs. "Yeah. Now let's get to work so we can play later." She says as I take a seat beside her on the couch, far enough away that we can put our books on the cushion between us.

I groan into my hands. "Reed."

She laughs. "I meant a game!" She gestures to the console under the TV. "Get your mind out of the gutter."