After the game, Reis jogs to the bleachers to meet me. He gives me the keys to wait for him in his Jeep and says he’ll take a quick shower and be right out.

It’s easy to find his ride the parking lot. He drives a big red Jeep on oversized tires. I climb inside. It’s a very utilitarian vehicle, very unlike Colt’s sexy luxury sedan, built for speed and agility. This is all about function. The seat is rough underneath me, faded by the sun and elements.

Reis saunters out to the parking lot, his damp hair hanging in his eyes. He’s changed into jeans and a vintage Pink Floyd T-shirt with sandals. He looks cute. Very California.

He gets in and the Jeep rumbles to life, vibrating the seat underneath me.

“I’m starved. Want to grab dinner?”

I nod. “Sure.”

Reid drives us to a little diner along the main street of the town where he and Colt grew up. He parallel parks and hops don from the Jeep. I climb carefully down, my sandals slapping against the pavement with a thud.

Once inside, he relives the highlights from his game and we each order soda, a cheeseburger for him and a grilled chicken sandwich for me. Our food is out lightning fast.

Reis douses his burger in ketchup and takes a big bite. I cut my chicken sandwich in half and have only taken one bite when he’s stuffing the last of his burger into his mouth.

“So Colt says your pissed at him and I’m supposed to try to talk you into forgiving him,” he says, moving onto his fries.

“And?” I ask around a bite a grilled chicken.

“I’m not going to.” He grins. “If he’s stupid enough to fuck this up, his loss could be my gain.” His look is smug, and he tosses a few more fries in his mouth.

“Not going to happen, Reis.” It’s best to shoot his crazy ideas down now.

“A guy can hope, right?”

“What about MJ?” I remember the glances they shared.

“She’s a little too wild for me. I like girls that are more down to earth.”

He doesn’t say like me, but I can tell that’s what he’s thinking. I’m flattered, but have no idea what to say next. He eats the last fry on his plate and looks longingly at mine. The temptation process too great and he steals a fry from my plate and tosses it in his mouth.

“So why are you mad at him? He didn’t say.”

I’m not sure if I should drag Reis into my relationship problems, but then I figure why not? Colt’s thrust us together and it might be nice to get a guy’s perspective on it. “He didn’t tell me about Bria, his ex-fling, going with him.” I remember the way I found out, in the heat of the moment by seeing her name on his phone. My stomach sinks at the memory, my appetite waning.

Reis’ eyes stay on mine. He’s an attentive listener. “You can have another.” I shift my plate so he has easier access to my fries.

He hesitates for a second, then reaches over to grab one, dipping it in my ketchup too. “Listen, Colt’s a little rough around the edges, and I’ve never known him to have, or want a girlfriend, so I know you’re important to him. Maybe you should cut the guy a break.”

“We’ll see.” I take another bite of my sandwich.

“You’re trouble, Shrimp.”

“Why do you call me Shrimp? I’m not that short. More like average.”

“What are you? Five-two?”

“Five-two-and-a-half.”

He chuckles. “Oh, let’s not forget that half. Being five-two – and a half – makes you a Shrimp. It just does.”

“How tall are you?”

“Six-one,” he answers, straightening his shoulders, a smug smile pulling at his lips.

“Colt’s six-two,” I blurt out for some unknown reason.

“Yeah, but he was only six foot when he was my age.”

I shake my head. It’s funny how competitive guys can be.

My cell phone chimes. “Speaking of…” It’s Colt.

Reis motions for me to go ahead and answer it.

“Hello?”

“Hi baby,” Colt’s low voice washes over me.

I try and quickly fail to figure out the time difference between Connecticut and London. “Hi. I’m out to dinner with Reis right now.”

“Cool. Did he win his game?”

“Yep, they won. He did awesome too, he was by far the best one on the field.” Reis smiles and shoves another of my fries into his mouth.

“Don’t be falling for my brother when I’m gone. I’m going to make up for every dumb ass thing I’ve done when I get back.”

“We’ll see. Just make sure you don’t fall for Bria.” I remember seeing her the morning they left, her sweats riding so low, her thong was visible in the back. I know she did it purposefully for Colt to see.

“You have nothing to worry about there. Trust me. She’s getting on my nerves already. I’m starting to regret that I brought her.”

I know it’s shallow of me, but it’s good to hear. “Kay, well I’ve got to go. I don’t want to be rude to Reis, plus he’s eating all my French fries. But call me later. There’s some things we need to talk about.” We haven’t yet talked about that conversation I overheard of Britt’s, and before I allow jealousy to build, I want to hear the truth from him.

“Okay, I’ll call you later,” he confirms, his voice serious, like he may have something to confess. I do my best to focus on Reis, and his happiness over winning his game and try not to worry.

Colt

It sounds like Taylor and Reis were getting along nicely, which eases my mind a little. Bria and I on the other hand…not so much. This girl has PMS from hell.

“Colt!” she shrieks from the living room of our two-bedroom suite.

What now? I stuff my phone back in my pocket and head into the living room. Bria is standing in the middle of the room, her shirt lifted to expose her stomach and she’s twisting around trying to look at her back. “What’s wrong?”

“Oh my God. Come here. I think something bit me and I can’t see it.”

I roll my eyes, but head over toward her.

She points to her side. “Over here. On my waist I have bump. It might be a spider bite.”

I lean down and look to where she’s pointing, lifting her shirt out of the way. It’s nothing I haven’t seen before. Bria and I had a brief fling last year. Brief as in one time, but we never had sex. We just did all the other stuff. She was hesitant to go farther since she knew my reputation.  She thought she’d keep me around longer by not sleeping with me. Which might have been true, except I couldn’t stand her high maintenance attitude. Plus after meeting Taylor she became my new fascination.

Her skin is tan and smooth, and as usual a thong peeks from the back of her jeans. This one’s bright orange. Her underwear come in every color of the rainbow, apparently. I inspect the red bump and chuckle.

“Oh God. What is it?” she asks, in a near panic.

I stand and face her. “I think you’ll live. It’s a pimple.”

Her face contorts in disgust. “A what?!” She twists around again trying to see it, like the thought of a pimple is much worse than a spider bite. She straightens her shoulders, swishing her long dark hair over her shoulder. “I’ll just get some blemish cream, that should take care of it.” She saunters off to her bedroom on a mission.

“Glad to be of assistance,” I call to her retreating back.

This is the most motivated I’ve seen her. We’ve been here a couple of days now, and really need to start working. Bria insisted on playing tourist before we spent the entire trip working the case. We’ve been to see many of the major attractions, West Minster Abbey, the London Tower and went to get fish and chips in a traditional pub. But tomorrow, we need to get down to work. We have our first meeting with Geoffrey.

I settle onto my bed and try Taylor’s cell. She answers on the first ring.

“Hey baby.”

“Hi.” Her voice is guarded.

“What are you doing?”

“Lying on my bed,” she answers.

I picture her in the girl’s dorm. “Are you alone?”

“Yeah,” she breathes.

I imagine her lying on her side, facing me, like we’ve done so many times on my pillow. Her hair falls in soft waves over her shoulder and her blue eyes look up at mine, so trusting and bright. She’s utterly beautiful. But she doesn’t know it.