“Oh, God,” I whined and even to my own ears I sounded like a child. No wonder he never took me seriously if I sounded like that to him too. I dropped my forehead to his shoulder. Tyler chuckled softly and reached over to brush away the hair that fell over my face.
“I have never seen you so…disturbed. Are you sure you are okay?”
“Yes.”
“Do you need anything?” The question made my head snap up. By the look on his face I could say he was as surprised he asked that as I was. “I could do something stupid and steal your thunder,” he tried to hide his good intension behind a wicked grin.
His words sank into my mind, my brain. They grew branches that spread all over my body and I knew, I just knew, with my entire being that all I had to do is say the word and he would go out there and do something just to get people’s attention off of me. Something that will cement everyone’s opinion of him. That he was unreliable and reckless and couldn’t be trusted with a spoon. I couldn’t bear the thought of them accusing him of that because of me.
“I should have brought a stripper tonight,” he said softly. I shook my head with a smile, which was probably what he was waiting for, because he pushed himself of the counter and away from me.
He shoved his hands into his pockets, and I slid down to my feet. I took two steps in his direction. He was looking down at me with unreadable expression.
“Thank you,” I said and tilted my head up so that my lips could meet his.
It meant nothing. Just a simple gesture. A thank you, that lasted only a second. All I wanted to do was to send him a message that he was seen. And that if I saw him for what he truly was, others could too.
When I pulled away his eyes were wide open and fixed on me. For a moment I expected him to shrug the kiss off just like he did with everything else or make some kind of a sex joke and shut down.
Instead, his whole body tensed. He frowned at me as if I had done something so bizarre and inappropriate, he couldn’t wrap his head around it.
A heat wave slammed into me. Shame and embarrassment made my face hot. Of course I did something inappropriate. I had a boyfriend in Boston and here I was, tucked into a bathroom with another man, a man I had once slept with, who was my best friend’s brother, and on top of it all, I kissed him.
I kissed him.
Taking a step back, I was determined not to flinch under his scrutinizing gaze. Tyler erased the space between us and slammed his mouth down on mine. Electricity lit my entire body. It zinged between us. The heat from a moment ago turned into flames. They burnt me from the inside out. I pressed myself against him, pushing away the thoughts of our shared past, my present with Nick and my future and my plans to stay away from men like Tyler Hartley.
His hands pressed hard into my body, leaving dents, punishing me for something and I doubted even he knew what it was.
That kiss was not simple. It wasn’t a gesture.
It was raw. Demanding.
Brief.
He tore his mouth away from mine, his eyes scanning my face. His frown didn’t seem accusing anymore. He looked confused.
We stood like that for a few beats. Our bodies touching everywhere, looking at each other. I thought he would pull away from me and leave, but he exhaled one sharp breath and thrust his hands in my hair, fisting it and tilting my head back. His tongue invaded my mouth again and I pressed myself into him even harder.
Both pleasure and guilt piled up inside me, but I didn’t want to end it. I wanted the recklessness of that moment to engulf me. To consume me. His recklessness. His wildness.
He groaned into my mouth and broke the kiss. He took his phone out of his pocket and looked at it. I did too and regretted the minute I saw Chloe’s picture on the screen. She was holding a little boy. He stared at his phone for a few seconds, then took a step away from me.
“I have to get this,” he said without lifting his eyes to meet mine. He just turned his back on me and left the bathroom. I stood there like someone had glued my shoes to the floor.
I just kissed Tyler Hartley, the man that broke my heart for years on end.
I just kissed Tyler Hartley and I have a freaking boyfriend. A great boyfriend.
I just kissed Tyler Hartley at his sister’s engagement party. My best friend’s engagement party.
Tyler Hartley just kissed me and then left me without even a glance to answer the phone to another woman. The same man who didn’t even bother to pick up when his sister called him for two weeks straight.
I closed my eyes for a moment contemplating on my stupidity. Then I turned to the mirror to examine my face for obvious signs I engaged in a scorching kiss just a minute ago. My lipstick was smudged. I hoped Tyler didn’t have any of it on his face.
Not more than five minutes after he left me alone in that bathroom I returned to the party with a perfect smile on my face. I noticed him on the other side of the yard. He was still on the phone.
Bastard.
I went straight to Clem and Lucas. They both looked tired and bored. I could probably entertain them with my story of how I just cheated on my boyfriend. With a man that repeatedly showed me he had no interest in me, other than maybe to fuck me. I could entertain them with that story if the man wasn’t Tyler. But since it was, I thought it might be best for them to stay bored and for me to wallow alone in my own guilt and stupidity.
“What happened?” Clem asked. “I saw Tyler dragging you out like half an hour ago.”
Half an hour? Really? How long that kiss lasted? Or I had spent a lot more time in my head before we started talking?
“My father,” I said, and I knew it would be enough for her to understand. “I’ll tell you tomorrow. Madison saw me and thought I might cause a scene.” Clem slightly narrowed her eyes at me. I pretended I didn’t notice. “He took me to the bathroom upstairs. To splash my face.”
“You have makeup on.”
“Yeah,” I laughed. “Men. What do they know?”
Clem fixed her gaze on Tyler, who walked back and forth with his phone pressed against his ear. Her parents and Mike joined us, but she continued talking to me.
“For someone who dodged my calls for two weeks, he sure as hell talks a lot on the phone.”
“Your brother?” Sylvia asked. “He’s talking with that boy again. The son of a friend of his.” So Chloe had a son. “Oh. Richard? Do you remember how you used to call him Ace when he was little? Tyler calls that boy the same way. Isn’t it cute?”
I shivered. Goosebumps covered my body.
Chloe had a son. Tyler always answered Chloe’s calls. She defended him that first night I dropped in unannounced.
What did she say to me then?
Tyler is not a bastard. He does everything for the people he loves.
Was she talking about her? Her son?
Their son?
It made sense. He was cagey about his life in Boston. He didn’t want to leave. But why would he keep them a secret? And also why would Chloe defend him so vigorously, if he was the father of her son, when he paraded his fuck buddy Tracy?
Something wasn’t right.
“Hannah, dear,” Sylvia said with a tone so sly, I wanted to walk away from the conversation she was about to start. She was a person to hold a grudge for the way I contradicted her earlier when she was insulting Tyler. “Where is that doctor of yours? I hope everything is good between you two.”