Promise Me (24 page)

Her sardonic low laugh brings my attention back to her when she pulls herself up to stand and strides casually towards the door.

"Have a safe flight home, Sabrina. I'll make sure to watch over Tyler while you're gone," and then winks at me before leaving the room for good.

I turn to face the desk again in a daze. How many times has he been with her? It would seem as though to her it's recent enough to stake some sort of claim on him. And when I look at her, even I couldn't blame him. I can't compete with that! The girl is beyond sexy and alluring and...Ugh!

I take my palms and press them against my eyes to try and erase the vision of Tyler and Ava together. Who am I kidding, not enough bleach in the world could wash it away now. It's permanently etched into my brain like a tattoo.

"Sorry I took so long," Tyler says when he comes into his office to meet back up with me. He takes one look at me and hones in like a beacon on the worried look I have on my face. "Are you okay?"

What can I say to him?
Um, yeah, the girl you told me you occasionally used to sleep with just came in here and threw down the gauntlet. Nice, right? I thought so too.
That might not be the wisest thing to say since I don't want to sound too jealous or insecure, even though the feeling is running through my veins like a runaway train. So, what do I do? I lie. I lie like a rug. I take my hands away from my face, put on a fake smile and chalk up my mood to being tired. I know it's a cop out, but really, what good does it do for me to get into this with him now, right before I'm set to hit the road.

He asks if I'm sure that's all it is and sits across from me in the chair that had been tainted by Cruella Deville. The entire room is laced with tension and I go to stand up not being able to stay here a second longer.

"I've got to start heading out to beat some of the traffic," I announce knowing damn well how lame that sounds out loud.

He remains seated and takes both my hands in his, pulling me to stand in between his legs. When he looks up at me, I wish that for once I wasn't such a sucker for those brown eyes of his because they have a way of making me feel like he's ransacking my heart.

"Whatever you're thinking in that head of yours... whatever doubts you have about this...
whatever
it is, I can see it in your eyes and you need to know that I'm going to do everything I can to try and prove you wrong."

He stands and cups my face with his hands, caressing my cheeks with his thumbs and softly says, "I knew the real you was going to be so much better than whatever I could dream up in my head and there is no way in hell I'm letting you get away this time."

"Tyler, when you say things like that it makes it even worse," I respond sounding defeated.

"How is it worse?"

"It just is. I mean, I'm flying home and… I don't know how this could possibly work."

"What the fuck happened from the moment I left this room a few minutes ago to now?

Even though this is my perfect chance to tell him about Ava, I chicken out, again.

"Nothing happened. I'm just… I don't know… scared?"

That's not really a lie so I don't feel too guilty not spilling my guts about Ava's visit. I am scared. I'm utterly terrified at how he's already set up shop in my heart and my thoughts are saturated with him to the point that I'm second guessing every little thing he says or doesn't say.

Tyler rests his forehead against mine, takes a quick breath and exhales. "I'm going to let you in on a little secret. I'm scared too."

"You are?"

"Sabrina, the things I've said to you, I've never said to anyone else. The way I feel when I'm around you, I've never felt anything like it before. I want to be a part of you... your life, because everything... every little piece of me was always meant to be yours." He slides his hand to stop just above my heart before pressing a light kiss on my lips. "So, yeah, all of that scares the living shit out of me."

It's a huge leap for me but one that I want to take so badly that I can taste it. Life sometimes is about taking risks and this is one that I'm willing to throw the dice on. I want to trust him and forget about Ava, the distance, and the other myriad of reasons or doubts I have.

"I believe you and I want the same things, but," I whisper to him.

"But nothing. We'll figure it out. You just have to have a little faith. Can you do that for me?"

The pushover in me sighs because she knows when she's beat. "Do you always get what you want?"

A boyish grin comes across his face as the words fall out of my mouth and I giggle at the sight.

"What's so funny?" He asks.

"Nothing. You're just... how do I put this?" I'm stalling, while he wraps both his arms around me bringing me closer to him.

"I'm just what?" He says raising his one eyebrow in curious amusement.

"It's just a little bit funny that back in high school all of us girls thought of you as a 'bad boy', but here you are, saying some pretty romantic things to me. It's sweet."

He brings his lips to my jaw and kisses a trail to my ear. "I can still be a little bad for you if you want? Maybe I was just waiting for the right girl."

My hands come up to grab hold of his hair, pulling his lips to within inches of mine, "Promise?"

"Most definitely, promise," he says with a devilish twinkle in his eyes before his mouth covers mine in a searing kiss that makes my toes curl.

Reluctantly, I'm the one that breaks off the kiss. "I don't want to be the one to say this, but I really have to get going,"

He runs his index finger from my temple to underneath my chin, his eyes following the motion in deep concentration. His brow furrows slightly when he nods in agreement and then bends his head down to press a quick kiss to my lips.

I grab my purse and pull my keys out as he takes my other hand in his, walking me back through the restaurant and eventually to my car, thankfully with no other Ava sighting to speak of.

"Drive safe, baby," he says and pulls me in for one last hug. I nuzzle into his neck and take one last whiff of his delicious skin before I let go for good.

Driving away, he stays standing on the sidewalk watching me. Jesus, this is like something from the movies. I swear if I sneak a peek in my rear view window I'm going to start crying like an idiot. So, what do I do? I look. And there he is. My tears come with every inch of distance I put between us, until I take a turn at the end of the block and he's gone. I angrily wipe them away before putting on my sunglasses and settle in for the long drive ahead. When I reach the highway a few minutes later, my phone buzzes with a text from him.

Have some faith xo

It's exactly what I needed to hear. The smile on my face is so wide that I probably look like the Joker right now to anyone driving by, but I don't care one bit because Tyler, Willy Wonka, Anderson is mine… finally… I think.

Laundry sucks. There is no person in their right mind that will tell you that laundry is the most fun thing to do, ever. And if there are people out there like that, they need to get their heads examined.

I'm back at my parent's house, having arrived about an hour ago and decided to wash my clothes so that I wouldn't have to when I get home tomorrow. In retrospect, I probably should have just put it off because I absolutely detest doing laundry. Too late now, I think to myself and gather my "whites" up to toss into the washing machine. One article of clothing sticking out of the pile catches my eye. I snatch it back out of the machine and bring it to my face to inhale the sweet smell of Tyler.

Yeah, I kind of stole his t-shirt.

I couldn't help myself. It was just begging for me to swipe it. I'm sure he won't miss it either. It's just a plain old white t-shirt. Plus, guys in general must have dozens of these so with one less lying around, I probably did him a favor. Now, not only do I get to have him with me, albeit in a weird way when I get home, but I got new pajamas out of it. Because I'm definitely going to be sleeping in it until the smell wears off.

God, I really need to get a grip but I can't stop, it smells… glorious.

"What are you doing?"

My mom's voice scares the living crap out of me since my eyes were closed and sniffing away at his t-shirt like a hunting dog. So much so, that I jump a little and drop the t-shirt to the ground. I quickly gather it back up and turn around to find my mom staring at me with a very curious look in her eyes.

"Mom, did you turn into a ninja since I've been gone? You scared the shit out of me!"

I shove the t-shirt behind my back and onto the top of the dryer that has a pile of clothes from my previous load waiting for me to fold.

She cocks her head to the side to try and get a glimpse of the t-shirt. "Were you sniffing that shirt?"

Going straight into defensive mode, I respond, "Yes. Yes, I was. Is there something wrong with that?"

My mom covers her mouth with her hand to keep from laughing. She doesn't do a good enough job since she's currently doubled over and laughing so hard she can barely get a word out.

"Oh, sweetie, I wish you could have seen your face," she says while wiping the tears from her eyes. "It must smell really good, huh?"

I purse my lips to keep from smiling and choke out my answer. "Yes, it does."

"Well, don't let me interrupt," she adds and turns around to head back upstairs, still laughing. "I was just coming down here to tell you that dinner will be ready in about an hour."

"Okay, thanks," I say to her legs that are disappearing up the basement stairs.

Great. Now my mom thinks I've officially flipped my lid.

I turn back around to start folding my pile of clean clothes, being careful to extract Tyler's t-shirt first. Once that's taken care of, I place it to the side and tackle the rest. In between the shirt sniffing and folding of laundry, I forgot that my cell phone was tucked away in my back pocket until it vibrates. Putting down the blouse I was in the process of folding, I dig it out to see that I have a text from Tyler.

I know you just left, but I already want you back in my bed…

My Joker-like grin is back with a vengeance while I quickly type out a return text.

Miami isn't that far away ;)

He answers me back just as fast.

Anywhere but here is too far xo

The sigh that escapes me borders on ridiculous as I text back a simple "
xo
" to him and get back to folding my clothes. By the time I finish, the second load is done with its rinse cycle. I transfer it into the dryer and haul myself and my folded clothes up the stairs to start packing. When I turn the corner into my old bedroom, there's a knock at the front door. I toss the pile of clothes onto the bed and yell out to my mom.

"I'll get it."

She must be busy cooking since she doesn't even answer me back. As I approach the door, I can hear her and my dad arguing about what temperature a grill should be for steaks. So, I guess we're having steaks on the grill tonight. With that I open the door and see Chris in mid freeze with his hand in the air ready to knock again.

"What are you doing here?"

At least he looks a little better than he did a few nights ago at the reunion. I don't know why that makes any difference to me since I can't stand him, but even I have to admit the man is still pretty darn good looking. He pulls his sunglasses off his face and there they are… the baby blues that I use to get lost in. Before I get too upset for showing up here, not to mention if my parents see him they may kill him, I ask him one more time.

"Chris, what the hell are you doing here?"

"I came to apologize," he says and shoves his hands in his jeans pockets.

I dart out onto the porch and close the front door behind me, careful not to make too much noise so that my parents don't notice.

"I appreciate that, but you already tried doing that the other night and it didn't go over too well. So what I'd like for you to do is just turn around and leave and never come back here again."

He runs his hand through his hair, visibly stressed over this. Do I care? No, not really. He made his bed and now he has to lie in it. It's not my problem that he shares that bed with the most awful person in the free world. As Julia would say, "sounds like a personal problem to me".