by Brooke Page
Chapter 23
Becca
Tyler’s confessions last night were sobering and terrifying at the same time. He’d never had an anxiety attack that bad, at least not since the one time I found him struggling to breath in his office. I was thankful he brought the Xanax, and I was going to slip it in his food if he didn’t start taking it regularly.
I wasn’t going to bring up Chino again this weekend. I told him what I needed to and was going to leave the decision up to him. I knew he’d make the right one. I believed in my Ty. He’d know the right thing to do so we could have our happily ever after.
When I woke this morning, it was after 9:00 a.m., and I was relieved Tyler was sound asleep next to me. I longed to run my hands through his brown hair but resisted. He needed to sleep. The dark circles under his eyes when he came home from Chicago or Cleveland proved he rarely slept when we were apart.
So I silently watched him sleep, taking in his relaxed features. He was so handsome, and he was going to be mine forever.
Tyler’s eyes fluttered open, catching me studying him. He stretched and ran his hand over his face, letting out a groan at the same time. I smiled at his morning routine that I hardly saw. He normally always woke before me.
“Happy birthday. Sleep good?” I asked.
He took a deep breath then pulled me to his chest. “Thank you, and yes I did,” he said bashfully. I grinned as I pecked his cheek. “What would you like to do today?”
I nuzzled his chest. “It’s your birthday. You pick.”
“Well…,” he murmured as he rolled me to my back, pulling the sheet from my chest. He scowled as he looked down then his face smoothed as he met my eyes. “I think I need to kiss these better.” His hand roamed to my chest, gently caressing.
I glanced down, noticing the few bite marks then looked back to his face. He didn’t look as upset as the last time he left a mark on me, and I was thankful.
Rolling to my side, I gave him the most sultry look I could while my hand roamed down his abdomen. “Sounds like a perfect start to the day.”
***
We didn’t move from the cabin until well after lunch. After a morning session on the cozy bed, followed by breakfast and a long steamy shower, we needed another nap. And of course, another happy wake-up.
Tyler was finally coming around. He seemed happy here after airing some of the baggage he’d been carrying with him the past few months about his grandparents. The guilt was evident on his face when confessing everything about his mom and RJ. I was so happy he could confide in me with his gut-wrenching feelings. Tyler and Mary’s relationship was going to be on the mend, and I was so happy for him.
Hearing about RJ was devastating. The fear and sorrow in Tyler’s eyes was heartbreaking, and all I wanted was to take away his pain. I couldn’t imagine seeing anyone in my family die, especially from a blow to the head.
“Want to go for a hike?” Tyler asked as we finished cleaning the mess from our late lunch.
I turned and nodded while putting the last dish away.
His mischievous Conklin grin shown on his face as though he was up to something.
“Now I’m nervous. What are you plotting?” I asked.
Kissing my cheek, his grin grew wider. “Get your shoes on and come find out,” he flirted while smacking my butt harder than usual. He laughed as I yelped, walking backwards to the screen door that lead to the backyard.
After giving him a glare, I hung the drying towel and went to find my tennis shoes. The weather was a bit cooler, so I opted for jeans and t-shirt.
Tyler had on his typical gym shorts and a t-shirt. His hair was rugged and flipping in the back from our nap. He was skipping stones into the lake when I came out to meet him for our hike.
“Where are we hiking to?”
Tyler tapped my nose. “I told you, it’s a surprise.” I rolled my eyes and followed behind him, noticing two towels draped across his shoulders.
We walked along the water, crossing through the mixture of trees and small beaches. The bugs weren’t being friendly either. I kept swatting them away while Tyler would look back and smirk at me. He teased by calling me a city girl. I laughed when midsentence he swallowed a bug, swating the air in front of his face just as I was doing earlier.
“Okay, this is it!” he said excitedly. Pushing back a branch from my face, I searched our surroundings. The shoreline was right on the lake, and two ropes were attached to one of the bigger trees.
Tyler ran to the ropes, untying them from the branch after dropping the towels on the ground. “We used to come here as kids. The owner of the property is never here. At least we’ve never seen him.”
“So you just crash his rope swings?” I asked.
He nodded his head with his boyish grin. Once the rope was untied, he tugged on it a few times, his smile wider. “Want to give it a try?”
I gaped at him. “That water is freezing.”
Tyler rolled his eyes. Tugging off his shirt, he teased,“Don’t be such a girl.”
“It’s not even 70 degrees outside! And I’m sure the water isn’t even in the 50s this time of year!”
He dropped his shorts, stepping out of them and his shoes and came towards me. “Come on Becs, you know I’ll warm you up,” he flirted.
“You’ve been warming me up all morning and afternoon!” I laughed. “How about I just watch you?”
He shook his head no then pulled at my shirt. My eyes darted around, tugging back on my shirt. Tyler scowled. “No one’s around. Come on… it’ll be fun. It is my birthday.”
I gave him a dirty look but couldn’t resist his charm anymore. I hopped out of my clothing down to my underwear, feeling goose bumps creep along my skin.
“Those are cute,” Tyler smirked, running his hand along my lace panties. I slapped his hand then pushed him to the tree branch with the rope.
“Now’s not the time to flirt. You go first.”
“I love when you’re feisty,” he smiled, reaching for the rope.
“I’m going to get real feisty depending on how cold that water is,” I grumbled.
Tyler wiggled his eyebrows as if it were a dare then climbed higher in the tree. “Okay, so you make sure the rope is tight then swing and let go,” he said enthusiastically.
I shook my head, thinking he was crazy to jump into the 40 degree water.
He swayed a few times, getting geared up to fly through the air. The look on his face was serious at first, but once he finally pushed off the tree, he was radiating happiness. I watched him soar then let go of the rope, dropping into the water, his arms flailing as he splashed down.
The water rippled as he rose to the surface, spitting water out as his head found the cool air. “HAH! That was great! Come in, baby!” he shouted, his smile pure and innocent.
I took a deep breath, wandering over to the tree where the other rope was. “Is it cold?”
“No, it feels great,” he shouted back as he treaded water.
I pulled on the rope, making sure it was as taut as possible, trying to find courage to swing into the water with Tyler.
“Just do it!” Tyler coaxed.
I shot him a glare, took another deep breath, and swung into the crystal clear water.
You know why the water is crystal clear? Because it’s fucking cold. My lungs felt like they were going to crush as my back stiffened with the icy greeting the water brought upon me. My body shot up out of the water, spitting water from my mouth.
“You’re so full of shit! It’s fucking freezing!” I chattered, splashing water at Tyler.
Tyler howled whole heartedly, reaching for me and holding me close to his chattering skin.
“You’re right. I’m sorry I lied,” he murmured against my lips.
A shiver went down my spine, but I wasn’t sure if it was from the arctic water or Tyler’s raspy voice.
Before I could make a smart remark back, he was kissing me, full on open-mouthed make-out. At least my head was heating up, al
ong with other parts of my body.
I was breathless when Tyler pulled away, fighting my hands trying to pull his head back to my lips.
“Let’s get out of this freezing water,” he whispered. “Your lips are turning purple.”
Reluctantly, I nodded my head, shocked I had forgotten just how cold I was.
We both quickly found the shore, wrapping the towels around our bodies. Tyler made his way towards me, rubbing my back and shoulders, trying to warm me up with his heat.
Tyler found a seat on the ground and pulled me into his lap, cocooning me with his strong arms and legs. The sun broke through the trees, and even though the air temperature was only in the 60s, the heat of the sun felt like heaven.
“You did way better than Mitch just now,” Tyler laughed, rubbing my arms. “Nathan had to practically push him out of the tree.”
I laughed, picturing Mitch whining just as I had about jumping in the cold water.
“He eventually did all right though,” Tyler said, for the first time ever sounding soft for Mitch.
We were both silent for a moment, looking out over the water.
“Do you really think he’s helping Chino?” I asked, breaking my own ‘no talking about Chino the rest of the weekend’ rule.
Tyler sighed then said, “I’m not sure. He was always so fond of RJ. I doubt he would go against his wishes if RJ didn’t want him to. But… he’s not so fond of me…”
I turned my head to look back at him. “You can change that too, Tyler.”
He stared into my eyes for a moment, weighing my words. “I know,” he whispered. My heartfelt smile earned me the prize of one in return, Tyler rubbed his nose against mine. “You know what today is?” he asked against my ear.
“Um… your birthday?” I laughed.
He laughed with me then reached for his shorts. “Actually… it’s something else, too.”
His arms found their way around me then handed me a small box.
My heart stopped. Did I forget something?
“Open it,” he murmured in my ear. My now warmed hands found the small box, pulling out a twenty dollar bill. I looked at it in confusion, trying to figure out why a twenty dollar bill would be significant.
Underneath it was a small velvet bag.
Tyler gently took the bag from me, pulling out a ruby red stone shaped heart. “A year ago from this very day, I was a bitter, angry man, waiting in line at a coffee shop with my ignorant brother. A beautiful blonde caught my eye. She was in the line next to me then pushed her way up to the front.”
My eyes widened as I recognized what he was talking about.
“She was so kind, paying for a few items for another customer with a twenty dollar bill.”
Tears threatened my eyes as Tyler continued.
“That day, she started to melt my icy heart, and I wanted to pay her back for her good deed,” he whispered, placing the ruby heart in my hand along with the twenty.
Salty tears fell down my face as I turned to kiss him.
“Now that you’ve thawed it, take care of it for me, please,” he whispered against my lips.
“Always,” I murmured back, squeezing the stone.
***
We made foil packets of food to throw on the fire for dinner, eating and enjoying the sun setting for the second night in a row. The temperature dropped even more, causing both of us to throw on hoodies.
“Want a drink?” Tyler asked as he took the empty foil from my lap to throw it away. I nodded my head as I curled my legs into my chest. This cabin was so perfect, and I kept picturing Tyler and I bringing our family here in the future. Tyler bringing our kids to his favorite rope swings, tricking them into flying through the air into the cold water. Even though the water felt like ice cubes, they would love it.
“What are you thinking about?” Tyler probed as he handed me a glass of wine.
I blushed, not sure if I wanted to tell him about my fantasy. I still didn’t know where Tyler stood with kids. He told me he wanted to make babies with me, but that’s completely different than fathering them. He sat down next to me, wrapping an arm around the back of the swing, a beer in his other hand.
“Just how much I like it here,” I said truthfully.
“Is that all?” he asked with a raised brow.
I smiled and leaned into him, nestling my head into his shoulder.
“I was thinking about our future, you know… maybe we could have family trips here,” I said shyly.
“Yeah. Maybe,” Tyler replied as he took a swig of his beer.
The fire crackled with our silence. I didn’t need to bring up kids, not now. We’d cross that bridge more seriously when we got there.
“Oh my gosh!” I shouted, jumping from the swing.
Tyler jolted along with me, worry apparent on his face. “What’s wrong?”
“I can’t believe I haven’t given you your birthday present yet!” I shrieked as I ran to the cabin.
“Gosh Becs, give me a heart attack,” Tyler chided, making himself comfortable in the swing again.
Excitement filled my body as I rummaged through my bag. I couldn’t wait to give Tyler his present. I always had to be creative. What do you buy a man who has more money than he knows what to do with it? After our very short lived bachelor/bachelorette party, I knew just the gift.
I snickered as I found the shoe size box, grabbing another smaller box to go with it.
Tyler’s eyes were bright as I handed him both gifts.
“Baby, you didn’t have to get me anything,” he said sincerely, even though I knew he was thrilled.
“It’s not much,” I giggled.
“What one do I open first?”
I shrugged my shoulders. “Doesn’t matter.”
He looked at me curiously, a smile creeping across his lips. To my surprise, he opened the big box.
His deft fingers worked their way on the paper then tugged the top off, his eyes growing bigger as he pulled out the black negligee, complete with a matching thong and see through bra.
“Well, you can’t go wrong with this,” he said, his eyes heating as he held the garments in front of him. “Let’s go to bed,” he said quickly.
I laughed, taking the lingerie from him and handing him the smaller box.
Tyler groaned, unwrapping the box while pouting his lips at me. I could barely contain my excitement. This was going to throw him for a loop.
Finally looking down at what was inside the package, he furrowed his eyebrows. “Why would you give me a wad of cash?”
“They’re all ones,” I said seductively, standing from the swing.
He studied the cash in his hands then it clicked what I was hinting at.
“Better not tell your fiancé,” I winked.
A devilish grin spread across his face as I slowly walked backwards to the cabin. Tyler anxiously followed, his fast pace walk turned into a run, grabbing me and lifting me the rest of the way.
Chapter 24
Tyler
Never did I ever think Becca Stine would give me a strip tease, and tease being the key word. The shy, timid girl who wouldn’t let me see her naked turned into a full on vixen of a woman, and I was sure I’d be supporting a constant hard on the rest of my life whenever she’d be near me.
She shoved me on the beat up couch, making me wait way too long for her entrance. I’ll never forget her wild hair, big red lips, and smoky eyes. She really went all out. She even made me keep my hands to myself, only letting me slightly touch her whenever I’d slip a dollar in the scraps of fabric, per her request of course.
Once all the ones were on the floor, along with her clothing, she straddled me, and I couldn’t help but stare into her eyes, wondering if it were all real. She was too perfect, too special. I could never take her for granted or risk hurting her in any way.
That’s when I knew I had to go to Anderson. Becca was right. He would help us, and I had a good feeling we might not get into too much trouble if we cooperated.
Becca would have ripped off my clothing right there, riding me hard until my mind was blown. But I didn’t want that. I needed to be close to her, go slow like I used to. I cherished my Becs too much, and I needed to remind her just how special she was to me.
So I made love to her just as I did the first time I knew I loved her, in front of the fire on the floor amongst pillows and soft blankets. I constantly reminded her to keep her eyes open, kissing away her tears of emotion. Except this time, I told her what was in my heart instead of holding it inside. How much I loved her and every single inch of her mind, body, and soul.
***
“Want to come back for our honeymoon?” I asked as we both strapped on our seatbelts.
She almost snorted her protein shake all over the dashboard. “Don’t get me wrong, I love it here, but I’d prefer a hotel.”
I laughed as I pulled out of the cabin that held so many good childhood memories. Memories I decided I needed to hold tight, along with the good memories of my mom, RJ, and my brothers. I didn’t need to dwell on the bad anymore. All it did was make me angry, and I had nothing I needed to be angry about anymore.
“I have a wonderful spot for our honeymoon. Don’t you worry,” I assured Becca.
She huffed. “I think you should tell me. I don’t like being kept in the dark when it comes to vacation plans.”
“Oh, you love my surprises,” I smirked.
She shook her head, a full on smile breaking through her lips. “I guess so.”
“I almost forgot. Tomorrow I told Heather and Ray I’d go see ArtPrize with them and the kids. Louis’ pieces are pretty amazing,” Becca said. “Can you come with us?”
I turned to look at her, nodding my head. “Why don’t we take another day off?”
She looked taken aback, surprised by my suggestion. “Really? That would actually be great. I need to find a hairpiece for the wedding. I think I’m going to check out some of the smaller shops in Grand Rapids. Everything mom picks out is way too gaudy. The wedding is already big enough.”
