I don’t answer as tears spring to my eyes and thinking about it a second longer will surely have me breaking down in her arms. “Please, just take me home.”
“Of course,” Courtney says, finally digging out her keys and unlocking the car. I hear Jesse yelling in the distance but I’m in the car with the door closed before I can even begin to make out what he’s saying.
Courtney and Kaylah both close their doors and she pulls off the curb, leaving my troubles, my heart, and my future behind. The girls talk between themselves as Courtney asks Kaylah more about the fight. I tune them out. I simply don’t have the mental capacity to keep listening to anything concerning Tyson.
I want to cry. I want to scream. I want to run away and never return to Broken Hill again. Why is it so hard to breathe? If only I wasn’t so stubborn in the first place. We could have avoided all of this and been happy, instead, he hates me, just as I knew he would. I broke his heart and clearly, he’s taking it much harder than I am. I’ve destroyed him. What am I going to do?
Courtney pulls up outside my family home and I look up at it with relief. It seems that all the lights are off so my parents are either out or already in bed, meaning I can sneak into my room and get the hell out of here without being forced to answer questions that will only have my parents constantly bugging me about my mental health and well-being.
“Are you sure you don’t want to come back to my place?” Courtney says softly, reaching over and taking my hand in hers.
“I’m sure. I just want to go to bed and try to forget about it.”
“I’m sorry,” she says with her heart on her sleeve. “I shouldn’t have pushed you to come home. You should have just waited to talk to him when you were ready. This is all my fault.”
“No, it’s not. This is entirely on me. If I’d just been honest with myself in the first place, things would have turned out differently.” I grab my things from the center console and push the door open. “I’ll talk to you in the morning, okay?”
“Okay,” Courtney says with a nod as Kaylah waves goodbye while looking like she’s just moments from passing out. “I’ll come and get you tomorrow. We can talk on the way back to the airport.” I nod as I step back and close the door. Courtney gives me one last smile before pressing the gas and disappearing.
I take myself inside and get up to my room. As I walk past the bathroom, I consider taking a long, hot shower but the exhaustion of my day is too much and I decide to get up a little earlier and have one in the morning. All I want is to curl up in bed and let unconsciousness claim me.
I peel myself out of Courtney clothes, feeling like an idiot for dressing up for him. He didn’t even notice that I’d put the effort in, all he cared about was making me feel like a fucking fool, and guess what? It worked.
I put on something comfortable and was sure to grab my box of tissues off my desk. After tossing them onto my bed, I go crashing down in the blankets and do my best to curl up, though all I really want is Tyson here with his arms wrapped around me, taking the pain away.
Just as I knew they would, the second my head hits the pillow, I crumble. The tears come on heavy and strong to the point where I bypass the tissue and head straight for smooshing my face into my pillow. There’s no point trying to dry these tears, it’s an impossible task.
I lay awake, unable to find the unconsciousness that my body is so desperately craving. I’m moments from raiding my mother’s medicine cabinet in hopes that she still has a few sleeping pills when a noise sounds at my window.
My head whips around, staring into the darkness as my heart begins to race. My bedroom is on the second story so the only time I ever hear noises is when there’s a storm, and right now, the moon is out and the stars are shining brightly.
I hear the noise again and not a second later, a shadow appears at the window.
Oh, hell no.
I throw my blanket back and begin scrambling out of bed as I hear the window sliding open. Fuck, fuck, FUCK. What do I do? Do I stay and fight or run? Yeah, I’ll fucking run until my feet fall off.
“Freckles, it’s me.”
That voice stops me in my tracks as tingles sail down my spine. My hand whips out faster than lightening, turning on the lamp on my bedside table, unsure if I should be believing my ears or not, but there he is, standing in front of me and looking like the man who I see in my dreams. Not the pathetic one who pushed me away tonight.
We stand in complete silence, simply staring at one another, both unsure of what to say or where to even start when a tear spills over and rushes down my cheek.
Tyson breaks. He runs to me, collecting me in his strong arms and crushing his face into my neck. His momentum has us crashing back into my bedroom wall. “I’m so fucking sorry, Freckles,” he says, desperately clinging onto me and making the tears start all over again. “Please don’t tell me that I’ve lost you.”
I hold onto him, letting all the agony I’ve felt over the last two weeks come to the forefront. It weighs me down, but with Tyson’s arms around me, I’ve never felt stronger.
I don’t know how to answer him, so I don’t, I just keep holding on, hoping to God that he doesn’t pull away. This is where I need to be. I need to stay right here in his capable arms, letting him hold me until my feet can’t hold me up any longer.
I’ve never felt such desperation as I cry into his shoulder. “Baby, please. Don’t cry. Your tears kill me.” I shake my head, trying to wipe them away but the second I do, they’re replaced with more.
Tyson lifts his head from my neck and as his tortured gaze meets mine, I see down into his soul. He needs this just as badly as I do. “I fucked up,” he tells me. “I was angry and hurt and I know that’s no excuse. I should never have talked to you like that. I’m so fucking sorry, Bry.”
“I hurt you,” I tell him. “I deserve to be yelled at. I didn’t even give you a chance.”
“No, Freckles, no. You never deserve to be treated like that. You’re my fucking queen and I should have fallen at your feet. I was a fucking coward. Instead of hearing you, I shut you out because feeling numb and angry is so much easier than the hurt of having you walk away.”
I shake my head. “But I wasn’t walking away.”
Tyson runs his fingers down my face before holding me again. “I know that now,” he murmurs. “I hate myself for talking to you like that.”
“I hate myself for not realizing that I was in love with you a whole lot sooner.”
Ty closes his eyes as his forehead drops back to mine. “I tried telling you,” he says, his voice filled with adoration and affection.
“You know I’m too stubborn for that.”
A soft smile lifts the corners of his lips. “Trust me, Bry. I know.”
Tyson’s arms travel down my body until their firmly planted on my ass. He effortlessly lifts me off the floor and I wrap my legs securely around him as my arms curl around his neck. He walks over to the bed and sits up with me straddled in his lap.
I meet his eyes, never feeling so unsure in my life. “Tell me that you forgive me,” he begs with his heart on his sleeve, making me want nothing more than to take away his worries and press my lips to his.
“Only if you can forgive me. I hurt you, Ty. I put you through two weeks of unnecessary bullshit, just because I wasn’t ready to admit something to you that I’ve felt since the very beginning.”
He pulls me in against his chest and I close my eyes, feeling completely at ease as his hand rubs up and down my back. “You know I can’t stay mad at you, Freckles. I fucking love you.”
His words rock through me and I never realized just how badly I needed to hear that again. “I love you too, Ty.”
He lets out a satisfied sigh as he pulls me in a little closer. “I thought I’d never hear those words from your mouth.”
I smile against his chest before pulling back and looking down into his eyes. “I want to make this work, Ty. I wasn’t kidding before. I came back to tell you that I’m r
eady and that I’m sorry. I’ll do anything to make this right.”
He brushes hair back off my face before wiping away my tears and leaning into me. He presses his lips to mine and everything seems to settle within me. It’s perfect. It’s everything my body has been needing since I got on that plane two weeks ago. “You don’t need to do anything,” he whispers with his lips gently brushing over mine. “It already is right.”
I look down at him. “So, we’re really going to do this?”
“Brylee, you already know I’m all in.”
“But you told me it was too late.”
Tyson cringes. “I’m sorry, babe. I was angry and talking shit. Fuck, you must know that it’s never too late when it comes to you.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, Freckles,” he laughs. “I’m fucking sure.”
“Even though I’m going to be at Yale for the next four years?”
“We’re going to make this work,” he tells me, more determined than I’ve ever seen him. “No more months at a time not talking, no more random hookups at parties, no more holding back. We’re doing this.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m fucking positive. I’ve been chasing this for over a year. It’s you who needs to be sure. This isn’t just some spur of the moment kind of thing?” he questions, looking up at me as though I have all the answers he’s ever gone looking for.
I shake my head. “No,” I tell him. “I’m all in.”
“Even though we’re long-distance?”
“Even though we’re long-distance,” I repeat. “I don’t know how we’re going to do it or even have a plan to make it work, but I just know that I need this more than my next breath. I can’t lose you again, Tyson. These past two weeks without you have been hell. We’ve gone months at a time without talking yet the past two weeks were so much harder knowing I’d lost you. I don’t want to suffer through that ever again. Please, Ty. I want this.”
Tyson grabs hold of me and before I can even take a breath, his lips are crushing down on mine. I melt into him as his lips begin moving against mine, making me feel things I never knew were possible. His fingers brush gently over my skin, raising goosebumps and making me need so much more.
Craving his skin against mine, I find the hem of my old, worn-out shirt and raise it over my head. I drop it down on the bed beside us and watch as Tyson’s eyes heat with desire. “Fuck, you’re beautiful,” he murmurs, trailing his fingers down my waist.
Tingles spread over my skin and I find it impossible to hold myself back as desperation slams through me. My lips crush down on his as limbs start flying around. Tyson reaches for my underwear and tries to tear them down my legs while I scramble for his shirt, needing to see and feel that magnificent body beneath mine.
I somehow manage to get him undressed and after actually remembering a condom, I slide myself down on top of him until he’s fully seated inside, absolutely no patience for foreplay. We both groan and my fingers squeeze into his shoulders. This is exactly what I’ve been needing.
I begin to move and have to clench my eyes as the satisfaction is nearly too much to handle. My hips rock back and forth as Tyson’s lips devour the sensitive skin of my neck. His fingers dig into my hips as I bite down on my lips. I have no idea if my parents are home, but I need to fucking scream.
My orgasm comes and rocks through my body and I bury my face into his neck, doing my best to keep quiet. “Fuck, Bry,” Tyson pants as his body stills beneath me. “Is it just me or was that better than normal?”
I grin. “Well,” I tease. “You have drunk a lot tonight. It could have been shit and you’d have absolutely no idea.”
“Shut up,” he laughs, holding me tighter. “You know that was fucking incredible. Don’t try to deny it.”
I can’t help but laugh as he grabs hold of me and throws me down to my bed. Tyson comes down on top of me, grinning with mischief sparkling in his deep eyes. “Fuck, I love you,” he tells me. “I hope you know what you’re getting yourself into because I’m never letting you go.”
“Same goes for you, Ty. I’m in this for the long haul.”
“Right until the end?”
I raise my chin, brushing my lips gently over his. “Right until the end.”
Epilogue
Tyson
8 Years Later
I take a deep breath and slowly let it out before counting backward from ten. I cannot lose my shit at this kid. I stare down at the intern who just spilled his fucking iced tea all over the plans that I’m due to present to the developer in less than a fucking hour.
Keep your fucking cool, Tyson. Walk away.
The intern looks like he’s about to be sick and does his best to fix his fuck up, but there’s no point. I can’t show these plans now. New ones will have to be printed and if he doesn’t get on it now, I’m going to lose my fucking mind and the developer.
I push up from the table and silently walk away as one of my other interns runs for her computer. I watch her screen as she hastily pulls up the digital copies of the plan and gets started on the replacement. I take a mental note to give her some sort of praise, but not now. Right now, I need to get to my office and close the fucking door before I knock the idiot out.
How fucking stupid can you be to bring an iced tea into my board room? Everyone knows that when an architect is bringing his final plan into a room, you back away from the fucking table, tie your hands behind your back, and forget to breathe.
Fuck!
I slam my door, feeling like a fucking kid having a tantrum, but I’d prefer to scream about it behind a closed door than allow my whole fucking office to see me lose my shit.
My door instantly flies back open and I spin around with fury pulsing out of my veins. Who the fuck would have the nerve to walk in here right now?
“Where the hell have you been?” Brylee demands, rushing into my office and grabbing my suit jacket off the back of my chair. “I’ve been calling you for ages. Heidi is in labor.”
I stare at my wife with my mouth hanging open. Did she just say…
“HEY!” she yells, clicking in my face when I don’t move. “Get a fucking move on, Ty. WE. HAVE. TO. GO!”
Well, fuck.
We’re having a baby.
Brylee grabs my hand and hauls me out of my office, making the anger fade away. Hell, right now, I can’t even remember why the fuck I was so angry. “Laura,” I yell over my shoulder to my PA. “Cancel all my appointments for the next few days. We’re having a baby.”
She beams back at me before shouting at my retreating back. “But the developer? Canceling this late in the game would look unprofessional. He’ll be here in less than an hour.”
“Shit,” I grunt, pulling back on Brylee’s hand. “Get Andrew to do it. He knows the plans like the back of his hand. Explain why I’m not there and apologize. Andrew cannot fuck this up. Got it?”
“Got it, boss.”
“Oh, and keep the fucking interns out of the meeting.”
She nods and I hardly have a second to make sure she’s getting on with it before Brylee tugs hard on my hand, making me fall through my own fucking office door.
Bry presses the button for the elevator and after waiting three seconds, she decides it’s not fast enough and pulls me to the stairs. “Seriously, Freckles?” I grumble, following behind her as she breaks into the stairwell. “The lift will come.”
“It’s too slow,” she says, hurrying down the stairs and freaking me out as I watch her, terrified that she might fall. “Besides, I can’t stand still long enough to wait. We have to get to the hospital. If I miss our baby being born, I’m going to kill you.”
“We’re not going to miss it.”
As I practically chase her down the stairs, joy overtakes me. It’s been a long fucking road getting to this point. We were married after two years together and the second, Bry finished college, we were trying for a baby. It took years of trying with failed IVF attempts which broke us
every single time. We came to the realization that it wasn’t going to happen for us, which is when we started the adoption process.
We couldn’t believe our luck when we met Heidi. She’s a young beautiful woman who happened to get herself in a tricky situation, which for her is terrible, but for us, it’s the gift of life that we’ve been waiting so damn long for. I couldn’t believe our luck when she chose us to be the parents of her baby. It’s one of the best moments of my life, it’s right up with our wedding day and the day we first got together.
We break down into the parking garage and Brylee is panting, trying to catch her breath, but that doesn’t stop her from flying through the parked cars until she’s desperately trying to rip the handle off my car.
I get in the car and as I’m starting it up, I look over at my girl. “We’re doing this, babe. You’re going to make the best mommy to this little girl.”
She beams back at me and I expect her to say something equally as supportive and encouraging, but what comes out of her mouth certainly isn’t that. “There’s no time for your sappy bullshit. Hit the gas. Let’s go!”
Well, damn. She’s fucking feisty today and I love it.
I do what the boss says and get us to the hospital. Heidi isn’t exactly a local so it’s a long two-hour drive, and I’ve never seen my wife so damn impatient. “I’m going as fast as I can,” I tell her, already breaking multiple traffic laws.
“I don’t care. Go faster.”
I reach over and take her hand, trying to help calm her. She’s a mix of nerves, excitement, anxiety, and terror, and it’s all too much for her to deal with. “You’ve got this, Bry. Just breathe.”
She gives my hand a squeeze and glances over to me. “I love you,” she murmurs, taking slow, deep breaths.
I smile back at her, knowing our world is about to get so much bigger. “I love you too.”
We pull up in the hospital parking lot and hurry in. Neither of us has been here before so we rush around the foyer looking like a couple of fucking idiots until we can find someone to point us in the right direction.
Tyson: Broken Hill Boys (Novella 4) Page 9
