26. Reed

26

REED

“COVER ME UP” – MORGAN WALLEN

A s we drive to my apartment, I realize I’ve never been so nervous to bring back a girl with me. I mean, not that I’ve ever brought a girl back with me to this apartment.

Anticipation builds as we walk up the stairs. “It’s been a while since I’ve done this,” I tell her.

“Had sex?” she asks. “Me too.”

“Well, yeah, kind of…” I shrug.

“My last relationship gave me some trust issues.”

I nod as I unlock the door and lead her by the hand to my room. “Same.”

I close the door behind us and light a candle.

“Let’s just sit on the bed and chat for a while,” I suggest. “Take it slow.”

I grab a couple of extra pillows from my closet, and set them up so we can lean against the wall.

“Reed, something’s bugging me.”

“Yeah?”

“How do I know you won’t, you know, change your mind at some point?”

“I’ve never felt more sure of anything in my entire life.”

“Sure of what?”

“That I love you. And I want you.”

My hand slides down her thigh, past her shorts. I grip her flesh as I kiss her long and slow.

Our lips are electric. It’s like there’s a current of energy connecting our bodies.

I tug gently at her cutoff shorts, and she contorts her body while I help slip them off, along with her tank top so she’s in just her bra and panties.

I stand up to unbutton my shirt, then remove my jeans.

“Damn, Reed.” She grins, then sticks her tongue out of her teeth and twists it part way.

I grin ear to ear, staring at her.

“Making out in the rain was hot. But I like taking our time.”

“In a warm bed.” She adds.

I slide onto the bed, palms on either side of her, kissing her, needing her more than I’ve ever felt, urgent but still knowing we have all the time we need.

Her breath hitches, and her hand falls between my legs.

“Oh yes, Reed. Oh…”

I let most of my weight fall onto her, scooping her hips with my hands and placing her in the center of the bed.

My hand drags down her belly until it’s between her legs, and kissing her still, I run my fingers over her.

“You’re so...”

“Wet. For you.”

I pull back from our heated kiss just long enough for us to lock eyes. She tugs at my briefs, and I help her help me get them off.

She bridges her hips so I can get her panties off, and I help unsnap her bra, then toss it to the side.

I get up and open my drawer on my beside table.

“I’m on birth control now,” she says.

“I’m clean. I haven’t even had sex with my girlfriend in a couple of months.”

“I trust you.”

Staring at her in the dim candlelight, I’m overwhelmed with relief that I found her again. That I don’t have to live out my life like the old woman and her surfer boy, leaving Luna to be some unrequited love that got lost in the annals of youth.

As charming as that old woman’s story was.

She’s so utterly gorgeous, it’s crazy. I feel like God has graced me, for some reason which I’m not going to question, with the dumb luck of putting Luna in my life. I’m just grateful.

I need to etch this moment into my soul for all eternity.

“What?” she asks, squirming a bit on the pillows.“Why are you staring?”

“Sorry I…I need to remember this.”

She smiles, sticking her tongue out a little. “It’s okay. You can stare.”

I crawl onto the bed, and kiss her neck as she opens her legs.

“I love you,” I tell her.

“I love you, too,” she says as she wraps her arms around me, and I guide myself in.

I wrap my hands around her hips and thrust, slow at first.

Our kisses are wet and hot and there’s a lot of tongue involved.

Okay, I know it’s corny, but there’s no other way to say it: we make sweet—and a little rough—love.

I’ve heard there’s fucking, and then there’s love making.

This—somehow—is both.

After we finish the first round, she runs her fingertip on my sweaty chest.

“Reed,” she moans, out of breath.

“Yeah?” I whisper back.

“This is the beginning of a very good sex life.”

“Hey, this might be weird, but do you want to say a prayer together?” I ask later as we’re drifting off to sleep.

“It’s not weird. But I’ve never prayed with someone. Always just alone.”

“Yeah. It’s personal. But I think with you, I’m up for it.”

“Okay.”

I take her hand in mine as we lay on our backs with our eyes closed. “Dear God, universe, or whatever’s out there, I just want to say thank you for the events of the past few weeks. I’m so grateful to have met this amazing woman, who fills my heart with a lot of joy. She’s shockingly good in bed, too.”

She giggles. “That’s just our chemistry. I’m not always like that.”

“Right. Well, whatever the case, thank you, and I’ve never been so excited for the adventures life has in store for me. I feel like a new man. Amen.”

“And he finally put my number in his phone,” she adds. “Amen to that.”

“Amen to that,” I repeat.

“Hey,” she says, rubbing my chest. “Do you think there’s anything that could come between us?”

“No.”

“What if you move to Nashville, become a star, and, you know. You forget about me.”

“I’d want you there with me every step of the way because you’re my day one.”

“I might need a lot of reassurance. You okay with that?”

I run my hand up and down her naked back, and I can feel myself revving up again.

“Absolutely. Wait. What about you, do you think there’s anything that could come between us?”

She taps her nose, thinking. “I’m just so happy to be with you, and to disconnect from my past. I feel like for the first time, I’ve let go of it.”

“Glad I can help with that.”

We don’t get much sleep. It briefly crosses my mind that it feels good to be the one making the noises, instead of listening to Mason with one of his girls again, but in reality, we’re mostly just in our own little world.

I order takeout at some point on Saturday, which we eat in bed, and we don’t leave my room except to grab snacks as needed, along with a shower.

The lyrics of that Jason Isabel song (notably covered by Morgan Wallen) “Cover Me Up” have never been more accurate. Luckily there’s no medical emergency, though.

I wake up early Sunday with a huge smile on my face, and Luna resting her head on my chest.

“Mmm…” Luna murmurs as I run my fingers through my hair. “Hey, you.”

“Hey.”

“So I was thinking,” she says sleepily. “What are we going to do now?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, you just opened for the Red Lemons on Friday.”

“Yeah?”

“So isn’t it time to go all-in on music?”

“You think?”

“We could go to Nashville.”

“I thought that was a joke.”

“Joke? Honey, this isn’t a joke any more. Maybe it was when we were tripping on LSD and on stage with them, but you’re literally friends with Henry Cooney now.”

“You really want to move there?”

She shrugs. “Why not?”

“What about my job?”

Luna laughs out loud. “Your job that you hate?”

I think for a moment. She’s right. Why not?

“Luna, how did this happen?”

“What?!”

“How am I actually considering this?”

“Because you looove me.” She smiles. “And you know it’s a good idea.”

She kisses my neck and presses her body against mine. “I’m going to the bathroom. Be right back.” She throws on a pair of my sweatpants along with one of my big T-shirts and steps out into the hallway.

I yawn myself awake and open the blinds on my window that looks out at the bricks of the building next to me. Nashville . That’s a crazy idea. The security of my job is something I’ve been clinging to, but maybe the magic lies in letting go. If I could just play guitar and sing all day, that would be heaven to me.

So why not go for it?

I throw on some shorts and a T-shirt, and walk out to the kitchen to put on coffee and start breakfast.

When Luna walks into the kitchen, and her normally olive complexion is pale white.

“You okay?” I ask.

“I just noticed something, and it’s freaking me out. Where did you get that painting in the hallway?”

“Of the blue horse?”

She nods. “Yeah.”

“My, ah, roommate got it a while back. I’m not sure where it came from.”

Her eyes widen, and she clutches her chest. “No. It’s not possible.”

“What’s the matter?”

At that moment I hear Mason coming down the hallway to the kitchen. “Yo yo,” he says as he comes around the corner. “Well, good morning, lovebirds?—”

He and Luna make eye contact, and he stops his spiel abruptly.

“It’s you,” he says.

Luna takes a step closer to me. I look between the two of them. “You two know each other?” I ask, confused.

Mason laughs. “Dude, this is my ex. How the hell did she get here?”

“Your ex? What are you talking about?”

It hits me that I’ve never seen the girl he always talked about—the ex that broke his heart, from the story he told me. The one he lived with last summer, when I was just back from the Peace Corps. I was traveling to California to stay with Sam, then helping her move back to Chicago for her internship. I was figuring out how to reacclimate to America after being abroad for two years. So I never actually met his ex.

“That painting of the blue horse…” I say, looking over at Luna.

“I made it,” she says.

The coffee beeps, and awkwardness fills the air as I put all of this together.

“Oh my God,” she says. “This is beyond weird.”

I stare at Mason. All of a sudden, everything adds up. Mason is the one who broke Luna’s trust. He’s the one who traumatized her and left her reeling.

I’m staring right at the reason Luna is on a mission for rebirth.

Luna leaves the kitchen and heads back to my room.

“Holy shit,” I mutter. “It’s you .”

“Holy shit is right. Why are you talking to her? Why are you…with her? Bro, this is unacceptable. A huge violation of bro code.”

I ignore Mason—not about to get into some silly one-sided, bullying argument—and follow Luna to my room.

“I can’t do this,” she says. “I’m sorry. It’s too much.”

“What’s too much? Our whole existence has been a bunch of coincidences.”

“I don’t want to be with someone who associates with him,” she says as she takes off my sweatpants and gets into the denim shorts she was wearing on Friday. “How do you even know him?”

“We went to college together.”

“He’s the worst. If you’re anything like him…”

“Luna.” I take her hands. “Look at me.”

She averts her eyes for a moment before she gazes into mine, finally. I see pain. I see suffering. I see the manipulation he put her through.

“I love you. That wasn’t bullshit. I’m not like him.”

“How can I trust you? How do I know this is real?”

“You want the honest truth?”

“Duh.”

“You can’t know for sure. But I’m not lying to you. Do you really think I’ve faked this?”

Her eyes fill with tears. “No.”

“This is how life is. There’s a time to trust and a time to doubt. A time to love and a time to let go. And I think we both know what this time is for the two of us.”

“But I wanted to leave my past behind. Completely. ” She steadies her breath. “This is too crazy.”

“I’m not surprised, though, that there would be one more connection like this. It’s like the stars are confirming how much we want this. I want this. Do you?”

She closes her eyes for a moment before she finally says, “Yes.”

“So let’s do it. Let’s go.”

“Go where?”

“To Nashville. Like you said.”

“Right now?!”

“No time like the present. I know what I want. I don’t want to wait anymore. Let’s get out of here.”

Her eyes open, and she searches mine, probably looking for any sign of doubt. “You’re sure?”

“I’ve never been so sure of anything.”

She takes a deep breath and blows it out. “Then let’s go.”

“Let’s get your van.”

“What about your car?”

I shrug. “I’ll leave it here for now. It can stay parked on the street.”

“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but all right. I trust you.”

We slip out the back without another word to Mason. I drive Luna out to her van, which is parked on the street in a different part of the city now.

“I’m going to start packing,” I tell her as she gets out. “Come get me in about an hour? I’ll come outside so you don’t have to come back in. Love you.”

“Love you, too.”