dpracket

Part 1:  http://dpracket.livejournal.com/37857.html
Part 2:  http://dpracket.livejournal.com/39608.html


UPDATE:

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"You as turned on as I am?"

Yes! my mind screamed.  And as if to echo the sentiment, my dick, which had softened during Bob's lecture, stirred back to life at the doctor's words. 

"What?!  NO!" I lied, moving my gaze away from the doctor's eyes.  I couldn't look at him.  "You're unbelievable.  I mean, really unbelievable.  I've never met anyone like you."

"Of course.  I'm unique," Dr. Oliver teased.

I looked up reluctantly.  A small grin played upon his lips.  His lips.  "I'm talking about your overly inflated ego. Seriously...does this approach usually work for you?"

"What approach?"

"This caveman method of seduction you've got going on..." 

"Usually," Dr. Oliver said, quirking an eyebrow.  "You mean it's not working with you?.  Would it help if I told you that you are beautiful, that I can't get you out of my head?"

"Shut up," I said, fiddling with the file folders in my hands.  "Beautiful?  You are so full of shit."  Dr. Oliver shrugged.  I wasn't really sure what that shrug meant.  "And no offense," I continued, "But you're not my type.  At all."

"What is your type?"

"Human."

"Ouch," Dr. Oliver replied.

 "What?  Does that hurt your feelings?"

"Not particularly.  Don't flatter yourself."

"You know what I mean," I said.  "You're not exactly the warmest guy around."

"So...warmer guys are your type, huh?...like your ex?  Because, yeah...he was real warm, keeping you at arm's length for months, and then as soon as he had his sight back, dropping you."

I felt the hair on the back of my neck bristle up.  "Oh my God," I said.  "You need to stop talking.  And you have some nerve, when YOU are the reason he distanced himself from me.  You're the one who told him to stay away from me."

"No...see?  That was Mr. Mayer's spin on things.  What I told him was to keep you away from ME...out of my way.  I couldn't very well forbid him from seeing your outside the hospital.  And even if I did, why would he go along with it?"

"You're lying," I said, a flush creeping up my neck and emotion prickling my eyes.  I looked away.

"Yup.  I'm lying," Dr. Oliver said sarcastically with a sigh and began walking toward the door. 

"You have no right commenting on a relationship that you know nothing about."

"You're right.  I'm shutting up.  See you later, Mr. Snyder."

I watched him leave the room wthout another word.

******************************************************************

I seethed the rest of the day.  I couldn't stop thinking about what Dr. Oliver had said about Noah.  I couldn't stop thinking about Dr. Oliver in general.  I hated him.  Or at the very least disliked him strongly.  So, why did I find myself repeatedly thinking about sucking on his bottom lip?

I met Casey for lunch at Al's.

"So, what do you think about Dr. Oliver?" I asked, while we waited for our food.

"I don't know," Casey said, sipping his Coke.  "Why?"

"I don't know...just wondering."

"He's sort of an asshole."

"That's exactly what I called him about an hour ago," I sighed.

"No shit?  And you're still alive?"  Casey laughed. 

"Yeah...alive to tell the story."

"All the nurses have crushes on him," Casey said.  "But then they hate him too, if that makes any sense.  They all seem to think he's hot.  I guess he's a good looking guy...but who am I to judge that?  I don't interact with him much.  He doesn't seem very friendly."

"He's not."

"Ali says he's really good though...ya know, at what he does...all that brain surgery shit."

"He is."

"And he fixed Noah," Casey said, as Henry put his plate of food in front of him.  "I've gotta give him that.  I mean, that's like close to a miracle, right?  Making the blind see?  He probably has a right to some of his arrogance.  I mean, he's in a pretty specialized field, and apparently he's at the top of it."

"Are you talking about Reid Oliver?" Henry asked in disgust, placing Luke's food on the table.

"Yeah," Casey said, thanking Henry.

"I don't care if he IS a miracle worker...there's something not right about him," Henry said.  "I don't trust him.  Katie, on the other hand, adores him, and frankly, I don't get it.  Excuse me...I need to ring up a customer." 

I nodded and picked at my food as Henry walked away.  "He's been hitting on me."

"Who has?" Casey asked, taking a huge bite of his burger.

"Dr. Oliver."

Casey coughed and sputtered and reached for his soda.  He chewed and swallowed quickly.  "Dr. Oliver has been hitting on you?  Seriously?" 

I nodded., relieved to actually tell someone.

"Holy shit," Casey continued.  "I didn't even know he was gay.  He completely flew under my gaydar. "

"Yeah.  He told me awhile back, when I accused him of being homophobic.  Guess he flew under mine too..."

Casey laughed.  "Dude, that's classic.  But shit...the nurses' station is not going to like this.  All of their hopes dashed.  Well, except for Randy.  I guess he still has a shot." 

I shook my head, chuckling a bit.  "So, he's been hitting on me, and it's making me really uncomfortable."

"Like blatantly hitting on you?  Or just flirting with you?"

"He asked me if I wanted to go back to his place and fuck.  That blatant enough for you?" I pushed my plate away and sipped my soda.

"Bro...that's hot.  You lucky fuck.  Girls don't say that kind of shit.  I'd pay good money for a girl to lay a line like that on me."

I rolled my eyes and smiled at my friend.

"So, what are you gonna do about it, Luke?"

"Do about it?"

"Yeah, are you gonna take him up on it?"

"NO!  No.  Of course not."

"Why not?" Casey asked.

"Why not?" I repeated.  "Well, for one, I can't stand him.   He's crass and arrogant.  He's rude.  Cold.  Did I mention, RUDE?"

"Oh my God," Casey laughed. 

"What?"

"You want him."

"No.   No, I don't."

"Awww, c'mon, don't lie to me, bro..." Casey said with a wink.  "What's that song by Rihanna?  Rude Boy?"  Casey started humming and snapping his fingers.

"Oh my God...shut up, Case," I said laughing at Casey's silliness.

"Come here, rude boy, can you get it up?" Casey sang, and I laughed harder.  "Come on, rude boy, is you big enough?"

"Great.  Now I'm going to think of him whenever I hear that song on the radio.  Thanks, Case..."

"You need to do it, Luke."

"Do what?" I asked.

"IT.  With him.  Dude, he's hot, at least he is according to the nurses.  And you haven't had sex in forever, right?  Grab the bull by the horns, man...you're due for some lovin'."

"Casey, I don't even like him..."

"So what?  You have this romantic notion about sex, and yeah...it's nice when it's like that, but dude, sex for the sake of sex has its merits.  C'mon, you're 22 years old.  Sow your wild oats, man!  You need to drag that rude boy to a room at the Lakeview, roll him over, and show him who's boss.  Shut him up.  Damn...he's so in control and in charge in everything else...he probably gives it up in bed.  Holy hell.  You need to do it, Luke."

I groaned at the visual that Casey had put in my head.  "Maybe you should do it, Casey.  You sound pretty into the idea."

"Awww, c'mon...no, man...gross.  I don't like dick."

I laughed and waved at Henry to bring the check.

****************************************************************

Later that day, I was driving down Route 7 on my way home.  When lo and behold, who do I see but Dr. Oliver leaning against his car on the side of the road, talking on his cell phone.  The hood of his black Mercedes was up, and steam billowed from the engine.   I slowed down for a second, but then I thought "Screw that," and kept driving.  Five minutes later, I past Pete's Garage, my conscience got the better of me, and I turned around. 

I pulled up behind Dr. Oliver's car.  He was sitting inside the car with his door open and one foot on the ground outside of it.  One foot, covered in a dusty boot, attached to a long, slender leg.  I shook dirty thoughts out of  my head  and hopped down out of my truck.   I could hear the hissing from his car.   I approached the driver's side.  "Overheated?" I asked. 

Dr. Oliver stuck his head out and looked back at me.  "Mr. Snyder.  What are you doing here?"

I couldn't tell if he was happy to see me or not.  I assumed NOT.  "I saw you on the side of the road.  Thought you might need some help."

"What are  you the Oakdale Calvary?" he asked with a smirk.

"To the rescue," I joked.

Dr. Oliver grinned, and I don't even think it was a fake grin.  "Like a knight in shining armor, eh?  I already called the wrecker service, but they won't be here for like an hour and 15 minutes...said they're back logged.  How can they be back logged in this postage stamp of a  town?  I could probably push the car to the garage before they got here...but it's a little too hot for that, and I don't have any water or coolant, so I guess I'm stuck."

"Well today's your lucky day," I said with a self-gratified smile.  "I just so happen to have some water in the utility box."  I walked around to the back of my truck and returned with two gallons of water and a gallon of coolant.  "Tah-dah!" I said, triumphantly.  I walked to the front of his car and saw that Dr. Oliver had already lifted the steam valve on the radiator cap.  "Hey," I said. "Will you go get the hand towel out of the utility box for me?"

"Sure," Dr. Oliver answered.  When he returned, I was struggling with my shirt.  The shirt was off, but my hands were stuck in the cuffs.  "What are you doing?" Dr. Oliver asked, chuckling.  "You look stuck." 

"I didn't want to get my new dress shirt dirty," I said, embarrassed and pulling at the sleeves.

"Here," he said, grabbing one of my wrists.  "You didn't undo the buttons on the cuffs, dumbass..."  My eyes caught his for a moment, and I noticed the amusement in them.  He undid the button near my right hand, his fingers lingering briefly on the inside of my wrist before moving to my left hand.  "There," he said, tugging at my shirt and pulling it away from my wrist.  "I didn't expect to be undressing you today, Mr. Snyder.  My day's looking up."

I smiled despite myself and rolled my eyes at his attempts at flirting.  "Thanks," I said, smoothing my undershirt.  Dr. Oliver turned the sleeves right side out and placed my shirt on the driver's seat before joining me at the front of the car again.  I had used the towel to remove the radiator cap, and I was pouring water into the radiator.  As I did, I noticed the water running out from underneath the car and pooling at my feet.  "Uh-oh..."

"What?" Dr. Oliver asked.  "That doesn't sound good."

"I think you have a cracked radiator.  All the water is leaking right out."

"Great..."

I laid down on the ground and scooted underneath the car to get a better look.  As I struggled to see exactly where the water was leaving the radiator, I found myself wondering if Dr. Oliver was checking out the lower half of my body, as it stuck out from underneath the car.  And then I scolded myself for being so vain and told myself to focus.

I scooted out from underneath the car a few mintues later.  "I can't see where the crack is."  Dr. Oliver lowered a hand to help me up.  I grabbed his forearm, and he grabbed mine and hefted me up.  "Thanks," I said, once I was standing, reluctantly letting go of his arm.

"Oh, well...thanks for trying...I guess I'll wait for the wrecker."

"You don't have to.  I have a tow strap, if you're comfortable doing that.  Pete's is just five minutes up the road.  He's fair.  He'll take good car of you.  It's a straight shot, so we should be able to do it with the strap.  You'll just have to put the car in neutral and ride back there so you can hit the brake when necessary and steer it a bit.  We can't turn the car on, but we should be able to put it in auxilliary so that your power brakes and steering work."

"Okay," Dr. Oliver said, but he seemed a little reluctant. 

"Let me just pull the truck in front of your car, and we'll get it hooked up."

As I turned to walk away, Dr. Oliver grabbed my arm to stop me.  He then brushed grass off my back.  "You have some on your jeans too...you can get that."

"Thanks," I said, brushing my hands across my back pockets, thankful that Dr. Oliver hadn't been so bold as to touch my ass.  "It's a work truck...not too worried about getting grass in it."

*************************************************************************

Twenty minutes later, Dr. Oliver was handing his keys over to Pete.  He pulled out his cell phone.

"Who are you calling," I asked.  "Katie?"

"No, a cab."

"Why?  Don't be stupid.   I can drop you off at home.  No big deal."

"You sure?" Dr. Oliver asked.

"Of course.  It's practically on my way.  Do you have anything in your car that you need to take out?"

"Oh, yeah...your shirt is still in the front seat.  And I have some files in the trunk.  I'll be right back."

Dr. Oliver returned a few mintues later with a box that held my shirt, some files, and a basketball.  I opened up the back door of the cab so he could put it on the floor.  I pulled my shirt out of the box and put it on without buttoning it.  "You play?" I asked, pointing to the basketball.

"Sometimes.  There's a park by the apartment with some courts.  I mostly just shoot around."

"I used to play in high school."  I pulled the passenger door open before going around the front of the truck.  "Hop in."

Dr. Oliver used the step and hoisted himself up into the cab of the truck.

When I got into the driver's side, he remarked, "You must feel like king of the road in this thing.  It's high up off the ground."

"Yeah.  I love it.  When I drive my car, I feel small."  I laughed.  I pulled out onto the road and headed toward Dr. Oliver's apartment.  "This is supposed to be for the farm, but I prefer to drive it over my car.  Speaking of which, do you want to borrow my car so you can get to work tomorrow?"

"Thanks, that's nice of you...but Katie will be able to drive me in.  I don't have any surgeries tomorrow, so I won't be in a big rush in the morning.  So.......farm?  What farm?  Are you a farmer?"

"There's plenty you don't know about me, Dr. Oliver.  Yes.  In addition to being a crime family heir, the executor of  a multi-million dollar charitable foundation, and the owner and CEO of a land-locked international shipping company, I am also a farmer.  My family owns a farm, just outside of town.  I can chop wood, birth a calf, drive a tractor, and muck stalls with the best of them..."

"I had no idea."

"Why would you?"

We rode in silence for a few mintues before Dr. Oliver spoke again.  "Can I ask you something personal?"

"Sure.  You've been asking me some very pointed questions lately.  What's one more?  Go 'head. Shoot."

Dr. Oliver laughed, somewhat nervously.  "Earlier today, Bob said you spent a lot of time in hospitals as a patient.  What's that about?"

"It's nothing.  I just had some a few medical issues when I was younger.  I was even paralyzed for awhile."

"Paralyzed?"

"Yeah, Noah's father shot me."

"What???"

"It's a long story...let's save it for another time."

Dr. Oliver seemed to take the hint that I didn't want to talk about it.  "But...you're okay now, right?  I mean, you're over all of your medical problems?"

"Yeah.  Of course, " I lied.  "Fit as a fiddle, doctor."

"Good," Dr. Oliver said.  "That's good."

A few mintues later, I pulled into the parking lot in front of Dr. Oliver's apartment.  I cut the engine and hopped down out of the truck.  He got out too and removed the box from the back seat, setting it on the asphalt.

"You want to come in?" he asked.  "For a soda or something."

Or something I thought.  Roll him over.  Show him who's boss.  Shut him up.

I shifted my weight uncomfortably.   I lied again.   "No.  I have to get home.  My family's expecting me for dinner.  Thanks though."

"Okay," Dr. Oliver said, rubbing at the bridge of his nose.  "Well, thanks for stopping today.  You didn't have to do that.  You probably didn't want to."

I shrugged.  "You're right.  I didn't.  But I'm glad I did."

"It was really nice of you.  I'd probably still be sitting there waiting for the tow truck."  He tapped his hand against his thigh.  He's nervous.  I smiled at the thought.  "And...um, Mr. Snyder...Luke...I'm sorry I called you an idiot in the meeting this morning.  It was uncalled for and way out of line.  Sometimes my mouth gets ahead of my brain."

I shrugged again.  "No big deal.  And I'm sorry I called you an asshole."

Reid.  Reid smiled.  "But I am an asshole."

"Still...it's rude to point out the obvious," I said jokingly and laughed.

And then Reid laughed too, a big, toothy grin cutting through the normally rough edges of his face.   And it broke through the last of my Reid Oliver defenses.  My eyes locked on his and then dropped to his smiling mouth.   I wanted to kiss him.  But instead, I stepped back.

"What?" Reid asked.

"Nothing," I said, feeling awkward.  "It's just...you have a nice smile.  You should wear it sometimes."

Reid cocked his head and put a hand subconciously over his mouth.  Our eyes locked again.  Neither one of us seemed able to look away.

After a few moments I cleared my thoat.  "Well, then...I better go." 

Reid stuck his hand out to me.  I took it, feeling his grip all the way down in my toes.  "Thanks again, Luke."  I didn't want to let go of his hand, warm in mine, but I did anyway.

"You're welcome.  Anytime, Reid."  There.  I said his name.  Reid.

Reid picked up his box of things and began walking toward the apartment building.  He turned around as I stepped up into the truck.  He looked like he wanted to say something, so I rolled down the passenger window.

"Maybe we could go shoot some hoops sometime...play a little one-on-one?"  Oh, the connotations...

"Yeah, maybe..." I said calmly, while my mind again was screaming  yes, yes, YES!  "See you at work, Reid."

"Yeah...ok.  Bye, Luke."

Part 1:  http://dpracket.livejournal.com/37857.html
Part 2:  http://dpracket.livejournal.com/39608.html
Part 3:  http://dpracket.livejournal.com/39953.html




UPDATE:
http://dpracket.livejournal.com/40288.html

That evening, my phone buzzed on the coffee table.  I picked it up.  There was a text from Reid.

So...when you're playing the part of farmer Ted, do you wear overalls?   Please, tell me yes.  I need some new jerk off material.

I smiled.  I wish I could say I was offended, but I wasn't.  I texted back.

No, I don't own any overalls, but in the summertime I sometimes wear jeans, boots, and no shirt.  And if you need to, you can pretend I'm in a straw hat and chewing on a piece of hay while I ride the John Deere.

I couldn't believe I just texted that to him.  Oh my God.  I was sexting Dr. Oliver.  I chuckled and put my phone in my pocket.  I shook my head.

"What's so funny, baby?" my mother asked as she entered the room.

"Nothing.  I'm just texting a friend. He's being goofy.  It made me laugh."

"Oh?  Which friend?  Casey?"

"No...it's no one..."

"Will?"

"No...it's um...it's Reid."

"Who's Reid?" my mother asked, really having no clue who I was talking about.

"Reid Oliver," I said and waited for the inevitable gasp.

"Dr. Oliver?!"  There it was.

"Yeah.  Him."

"You're friends?" she asked.

I shrugged.  "Yeah.  I guess.  Sort of."

"He doesn't seem like a very nice man."

"He not," I said, laughing. 

"And so what makes you want to be friends with him?"

I cocked my head and thought for a mintue.  Finally I answered.  "I think maybe he needs one?...I don't know..."

My mother leaned over and kissed my cheek.  "You're such a sweetheart, baby.  You always did want to take in the strays..."

I smiled.  My phone buzzed in my pocket.  My mother headed upstairs.

I pulled out my phone and read another text from Reid. 

Have you ever have sex in the barn?

Oh my God.  He didn't know when to stop.  I texted back.

No.  And cut it out. 

It only took a minute or two for Reid to reply.

I'm adding that to my to-do list.  Blow and/or fuck Luke Snyder in the hay loft. 

I flopped over onto my back on the couch and covered my eyes.  This guy was too much.  I let the phone rest against my stomach, thinking I should just not respond.  Because, really...what could I say to that?  I laid there for a few mintues, happily considering the fact that I, myself now had new jerk off material.  I picked up my phone.

You're relentless.  I'm done fueling your fantasies for the evening.  Goodnight, Dr. Oliver.

His response was almost immediate.

Sweet dreams, Mr. Snyder.


********************************************************

The next day, I had some foundation work to do for Pediatrics at the hospital in the morning, and afterwards I visited with a few of the peds patients.  I played some games with them and later ducked into the sixth floor break from to fill out some paperwork that I wanted to leave with administration before I left.

"Hey..."

I looked up to see Reid standing there, balancing two trays of food.  I looked at him without saying anything but smiled.  I thought of our texts from the previous evening, and my cheeks immediately heated up.

"I saw you come down here a little bit ago when I was headed to the cafeteria, so I....I uh...I got you some lunch.  Is it okay if I sit with you?"

I cleared the papers from the table and nodded.  

Reid put the tray on the table and sat down.  "I didn't know what you liked, so I got a little bit of everything.  I hope iced tea's okay.  They were serving meatloaf and grilled chicken and vegetables...I got extra gravy.  There's mashed potatoes, french fries, a couple of side salads, cheese cake and cherry pie.  Take your pick, Mr. Snyder."

I took the chicken and a side salad and placed them in front of myself, smiling silently.

"Oh, here...uh...Italian?  Thousand Island?  Ranch?"  Reid pulled some dressing packets from the mound of packets sitting on one tray.  "There's also some BBQ sauce, ketchup, honey mustard...need any?"

I took the packet of Italian dressing from his hand.  "Thanks...I think I'm good.  Did you raid the condiment bar?"

"I like sauces," Reid said pulling out some ketchup and BBQ sauce packets.  "If I'm in a restaurant and there's something that comes with a sauce...I always ask for extra on the side.  And gravy.  God, I love gravy.  You ever go to Chick-fil-A?  I don't know that I've seen one around here.  The chick-fil-A sauce is..."  He couldn't seem to find an adequate word and just groaned instead.  "I could take a bath in the stuff."  He licked his lips.

He squeezed ketchup onto the plate of fries and then put the plate between us so that we could both eat them. 

I ate my food and watched Reid devour his.  He sort of had horrible table manners.  But he ate with such passion, it was fun to watch.  If he could find that much pleasure in hospital cafeteria food, I found myself wondering what it would be like to watch him eating a steak. And there ya have it.  I was turned on again.

We talked a little about nothing in particular but mostly just ate.  At the end, Reid had finished his cherry pie and reached across the table with his fork and scooped a bite of cheesecake off my plate without asking.  He put his fork down and then looked back up to find me staring at him with my  head cocked.  "Oh, uh...sorry?"  he said, with a grin on his face, looking like a kid caught with his hand in the cookie jar. 

"Thanks for lunch," I said.  "It was good.  I was hungry."

"You're welcome," he replied, sitting forward in his chair and reaching for my hand.

"Ah, Luke...Reid...."  Bob entered the break room, and Reid immediately sat back, his hand dropping away.  "Eating lunch together?  I'm glad you took my words to heart.  Thank you for making an effort to get along."

Reid tapped the fingers of his right hand on the table and looked away, smirking.  I smiled at Bob.  "Hi, Dr. Hughes."

Bob poured himself a cup of coffee.  "I know it's hard sometimes, when personalities don't quite match up," he continued, "But I'm happy to see you working together toward a common goal.  The payoff will be worth it."

"I hope so," Reid said softly, looking right at me.

"I'd love to stay and talk with both of you, but I'm expected on the eighth floor.  Gentlemen..."

"Bye, Bob," I said, my eyes not leaving Reid's.

"Payoff," Reid said, as Bob left the room, cup of coffee in hand.  Then he leaned forward and ran his thumb from my wrist down to the tip of my middle finger.

I swallowed and pulled my hand away. 

"You're persistent...I'll give you that much," I said, looking away.

"When I want something, I go after it with the intent of getting it."

"And are you successful?"

"Usually.  Yes."

"And what do you think your chances are here?"  I smiled and motioned between us.

"I think they're looking up..." he said, nodding his head and grinning.

"Oh, yeah?"

"Yes..."

We were both quiet for a few moments.  "So, you're just going to keep hounding me, is that it?" I asked, trying not to smile.  "Bringing me food?  Sending me lewd texts?  What if I'm just not that into you, Dr. Oliver?"  Now I was definitely smiling and sort of feeling awkward about my blatant flirting.  I was flirting, wasn't I? 

Reid smiled back.  He knew I wasbullshitting.  "Do you want me to stop?  Say the word, and I will cease and desist."

I looked down, a small grin lingering on my lips.

"Your silence is noted," Reid said in a low, gravely voice.

"Why?" I asked.

"Why what?"

"Why me?"

Reid laughed.  "Certainly you own a mirror, Mr. Snyder..."

I rolled my eyes a bit. "Oh...so it's all physical, huh?"

Reid shook his head and looked down at his hands.

I started to get up, to clear away the lunch tray, but then Reid spoke, and I sat back down.  He didn't look up, just started speaking.

"You're funny.  You smile a lot.....you're kind.  You're generous...and not just with your money."  Reid raised his eyes to find me staring at him, my lips parted.  He ran a hand over his face.  "You're smart.  You're outgoing.  Everybody likes you.   You're tenacious, stubbon.  Loyal.  You don't back down from me.   And, yeah...shoot me, but the packaging's not bad either.  You are a very handsome man, Luke Snyder." 

I swallowed and tried to take in what Reid had just said to me, realizing he saw things in me that I couldn't even see in myself.  Things he found attractive?  Things he even liked about me?  But what stuck out most to me is that he called me a man.  Not a boy.  Not a guy.  But a man.  I still felt like a kid most days, and I knew for certain many people still saw me as a kid in this town, Holden and Lily's son.  Reid was older than me...I didn't know by how much, but at least eight years, probably more.  So, it would have been easy for him to see me as this 22-year-old kid.  But he called me a man.

Reid looked at his watch.  "I've got to go.  I have a consult in 20 minutes."  We silently cleared the table together, and I returned my paperwork to the tabletop to keep working on it.  I sat back down as Reid grabbed a bottle of water from the break room fridge.  Before he left the room, Reid reached from behind me and ran theback of his knuckles down my right cheek.  I turned my head toward his hand and looked up at him.  "See you later, Mr. Snyder," he said, tweaking my chin before turning and walking out of the room.

*******************************************************

I sat across from Casey in a booth at  Java early on Friday morning when Reid walked into the coffee shop and approached the counter without looking in our direction.  Casey caught him out of the corner of his eye.

Reid finished his muffin.  "Did you ever kiss him?"