“Anytime,” she whispered, inches from my lips, and then we locked them again. When our kiss broke, we returned to our meal, an undeniable smile between us and our feet touching under the table.
20
Becca
A full day had passed since he’d told his brothers about his plans, and he was lucky enough to have the entire next day off. It meant some research during the day, running some errands including a grocery store trip, which I assisted him on and tried to sell him on the benefits of having separate shampoo and conditioners. After the dinner I cooked the night before, he said he felt like he should do something for me as well and offered to take me out to a nice restaurant, but after getting home from the grocery store and tumbling into a shower together that lasted far longer than strictly necessary, we were both more inclined to have a night at home.
The table was set with candles, and the lights were turned down low. Soft music played from a radio in a distant corner, and a couple of fresh bottles of wine from our foray into the wilds of mass grocers were on the table. He opened one and poured us both a large glass, and we clinked them together as he checked the app on his phone to let me know when the food would arrive.
It was a cop-out, he said, but I enjoyed it. It was so cute to see him go out of his way to show me a nice time, even though I didn’t want to go out and would have been perfectly fine with a pizza and pajamas.
A knock on the door got me standing, and he grinned as I kissed my forehead. The smile on my face immediately faded away when I saw who was standing there.
“What the hell is going on here?” Nick asked, looking over Tyler’s shoulder to see me at the table, the candles glowing in the darkness and the glass of wine in my hand. From the darkness, “That’s Amore” was playing, and I instantly regretted being cute and putting on the Italian Restaurant mix on my streaming music app.
“It’s nothing,” Tyler began, but Nick brushed by him into the living room. I flipped on the light as he turned on me.
“It sure looks like something,” he exclaimed, spinning and getting within a foot of Tyler’s face. His eyes were wide and wild, and his breathing was growing labored, like he was preparing for a fight.
“Seriously, Nick,” Tyler said.
“I don’t want to hear it from you,” Nick said, sticking a finger in Tyler’s face and waggling it. Then he spun to where I was now standing at the table, the wineglass still in my hand, though I was gripping it so hard I half expected the stem to shatter. “Becca? What the fuck?”
“It’s nothing Nick,” I stumbled out, my voice meek. “There’s nothing going on here. I just came over to talk.”
“Talk? Talk about what?” Nick bellowed.
“If you’d calm down, we would tell you,” Tyler said, sounding like he was trying to be nonchalant.
“You shut up,” he said and turned back to me. “Talk about what, Becca?”
“We’ve just been helping each other out with some stuff,” Tyler interjected again.
He turned slowly, his eyes bulging with anger as they fell on him.
“Helping,” he said, spitting the word out like a curse, “each other out with what stuff?”
He was beyond angry. I had only seen him this upset a few times in our lives, and it had never been at me. Even though he was smaller than Tyler was, I was still a bit apprehensive that he would do something stupid and try to swing on him or something, and Tyler might not see it coming. I wanted to calm him down, but I had no idea how. Everything we said only seemed to make him angrier.
“Nick, calm down,” I said, my voice suddenly a bit stronger, trying to maintain cool and calm in the face of my angry brother. I straightened up and walked around the table, getting closer to my brother.
“I think,” Nick said, turning back to me, barely containing the rage in his voice, “that you need to get your shit and come home with me. Right now.”
I blinked a few times at him, turning my head to one side. “Excuse me?”
“Seriously, Becca. Let’s go,” he said.
“You do realize,” I said, anger coursing through me now, “that I am almost thirty years old.” Nick sighed and hung his head exasperatedly. He lifted it again and opened his mouth to speak, but I cut him off. “When I moved in with you, the reason I did it was because I was tired of being parented, even though I was an adult. And here you go, trying to control my life, too. I left your house because you were acting just like them, and I don’t need you barging in here and doing it, either.”
“You certainly seem to need someone to tell you what the hell to do,” he yelled. “I don’t give a crap where you go or who you go with. Just not here.”
“Not here?” Tyler said, stepping closer to him. “Why? What’s so wrong with me?”
“Get out of my face, Tyler. I can’t believe you would have the balls to act offended right now,” Nick said.
“Why wouldn’t I be?” Tyler shouted. “You just barged into my house and started accusing me of things, and now insinuated that somehow I wasn’t worthy of spending time with your adult sister? Who can make her own damn decisions about who she wants to spend time with, by the way.”
“You fucking know better!” Nick shouted. “If you had a sister, I would never do something like this.”
“Like what? Have dinner? Talk like adults?” I shouted back at him. “You do not get to police my life, Nick.”
“Becca, I swear to God, get your shit and let’s go,” Nick spat. “This is Tyler. My supposed best friend. What are you thinking?”
“What is that supposed to mean?” I asked, offended.
“You know what I mean,” he said, quieter.
“No,” I demanded, the anger building up inside me along with the hurt at a level I hadn’t felt in a long time. “Explain it to me.”
Nick rolled his eyes and threw back his head dramatically before sighing heavily. “This,” he said, gesturing at the table. “If you want to get over your ex by getting under somebody else, fine, that’s your business, but you chose my best friend?”
“Get out,” Tyler said from behind him. He didn’t shout it. He didn’t bellow. But the words cut through the air and the noise and the music like a chef’s knife. Everyone froze, holding their positions for just a moment like we were a still-life painting, and then Nick turned on his heel and walked to the door. He snatched it open and looked back over his shoulder at both of us.
“You both should be ashamed of yourselves,” he said and slammed the door behind him.
As soon as he was gone, I collapsed into the chair I was nearest. Tears stung at the corners of my eyes, but I was too angry to cry. Instead, I blew the candles out and stewed. I shook with shock and anger when there was another knock at the door. Tyler swung it open, expecting to see Nick there, and instead a suddenly terrified delivery kid stood on the step. Tyler bowed his head and shook it, then held out his hand for the bag of food, took it, and tipped the driver before shutting the door.
“Dinner’s here,” he said, dropping the bag on the table and sitting in the chair across from me.
“I’m not hungry anymore,” I said. It was partially true. I was starving, but I wasn’t in the mood to eat.
“Me either,” Tyler said.
“I am so, so sorry,” I choked out, the tears finally starting to well up and cascade down my cheeks. “This is all my fault.”
“No, Becca, no. This isn’t your fault,” Tyler said, scooting closer, but I turned away from him, burying my eyes into my palms as my elbows rested on the table. “This is your brother’s fault. One hundred percent. You can’t beat yourself up over how he reacts. That’s his responsibility, not yours. You shouldn’t have to police yourself for his feelings.”
“But you two are best friends,” I argued. “You have been practically your whole lives. And I ruined it. Possibly for good. And I am so, so sorry.” Tyler looked like he was going to argue, but I stood up suddenly. “I think I should go.”
“Go where?” Tyler said,
standing with me.
“I am going to go stay at Melissa’s,” I said as calmly as I could. “I just need some time to think.”
I turned and headed for the bedroom, nearly breaking down when I saw the clothes on the floor that we scattered when we’d jumped into the shower. I scooped mine up and found my suitcase, tossing them in. Tyler came to the door as I began emptying the other drawer.
“When will I see you again?” he asked. His voice broke as he said it, and it tore my heart apart.
“I don’t know,” I said. “I just need some time to think.”
I finished packing and made my way back to the living room. Tyler stayed with me the whole time, occasionally trying to ask me to stop, but I was determined. I needed to get out of there and somewhere neutral. There was so much guilt roiling through me that I didn’t know how to handle it.
As I got into the living room, Tyler ran after me, grabbing the food that was still in the bag on the table.
“Here, at least take this,” he said. “I know you’re hungry. Or you will be.”
I took the bag, unable to think clearly about how sweet a gesture it was. I couldn’t let myself think about it, or else I wouldn’t go. I wouldn’t have the willpower.
“Thank you,” I muttered and walked out of the door. Briefly, I glanced at the stone where the emergency key sat, and then I walked past it, heading to my car. Struggling not to let the tears fall until I got to Melissa’s, I started the engine and pulled away without looking back at the house where I knew Tyler stood on the porch. Because of course he would.
I made it to Melissa’s on autopilot and seriously couldn’t even remember the drive when I put the car in park. Everything was a blur. As I knocked on the door, she answered wearing a pair of footie pajamas and holding a glass of wine. She didn’t say a word when she saw my face. She didn’t need to. She held the door open for me and shut it behind us.
21
Tyler
It had been a week.
A long, miserable, no-good, terrible week. Becca hadn’t called, emailed, messaged on social media, texted, anything. She hadn’t even been active online. She completely ghosted me, and I sat around doing a whole lot of nothing wondering what I could do about it.
On one hand, she said she needed her space, and I understood that. I respected that.
I got why she would avoid talking to me for a few days while she tried to process things. I got why it would take some time for her figure out exactly what it was she wanted to do going forward. But I at least thought by a week, I would hear something. Anything. Even if it was just her telling me she had to end it with me.
But I had nothing.
So, I tried to go on with everyday life. I went to work, I researched college courses, I went to the gym. All the hallmarks of normal life save one. Nick was also missing in action. Granted, I saw that one coming. After the fight we’d had, and the fact that he’d seemed to see right through us telling him nothing was going on, I figured that either our friendship was over, or it had at least hit a road bump that a simple week wouldn’t fix.
As I cleaned the bar after the lunch shift, waiting for a couple to clear out so we could close for midday, Mason came up and told me I could go on break if I wanted. I declined and waited until the couple were paid for and left before finally taking off my apron and heading to the back. I made myself a sandwich and grabbed a soda and sat down at one of the booths.
Ava walked up a few moments later and joined me, sitting across from me with her own sandwich. It wasn’t unusual for her to have her lunch with me, since we were usually on the same schedule, and if Mason was busy with something, she would hang out with me.
“Hey,” I said, as she sat down.
“Hey, Tyler,” she said. “Heavy lunch rush today.”
“Yeah, it was,” I said, picking at my fries. “I hope dinner’s not that bad.”
“I’m sure it won’t be,” she said, then looked at her phone. “We don’t have a whole lot of time before that service starts.”
I nodded.
“So, I heard about the fight with Nick.”
“Oh, you did?” I asked, surprised. I had only told Jordan about it, and only because he was the first person I saw the next day. Apparently, word got around, but they spent the week not saying anything about it.
“Sorry,” she said, shrugging.
“It’s fine,” I said.
“Have you talked to Becca since then?” she asked.
“No,” I said. “Not a single word.”
“Why?”
“I don’t think she wants to see me,” I said, stuffing one of the terrible fries in my mouth.
“Have you even tried, though?”
I turned my head to one side. “No, why would I? She made it pretty clear she needed space,” I said. “I’m trying to give her that.”
“I think you might ought to talk to her,” she said. “At least try.”
“Isn’t that just forcing myself on her, like her parents and brother keep doing? If she asked for her space, then maybe that just means she needs more space. Or maybe she realized Nick was right, and she was just using me to get over her ex.”
“Do you really believe that?” Ava asked, and something about her voice cut right through the bullshit.
“No,” I admitted. “I don’t. But why would she tell me that and then not contact me, either?”
“Sometimes,” Ava said, “you get inside your own head. I know. You get so upset or mad, and you just don’t know what to do. And then time passes, and you still haven’t made a decision. Then more time passes, and you still haven’t picked up the phone. Then so much time passes that you’re terrified to say anything because you don’t know how the other person is going to react.”
I nodded along with her as she spoke. She was making sense, even if I thought she might be wrong.
“Yeah, maybe,” I conceded.
“If you have any feelings for her, anything at all, you should go,” she said. “I’m not trying to tell you what to do, but as your sister now, I feel like it’s my duty to give you the advice of a woman in this situation.”
I smiled. It was the first time I had done so in a week without it being one of the fake bartender smiles.
“Okay,” I said. “Alright, I promise. I’ll go see her.”
“Good,” Ava said. “Now help me with these fries. I got way too many, and yours look terrible.”
I was up early the next day with a plan. Having showered and shaved, I got myself dressed like I was going on an interview. In a way, it was silly. But I knew it wasn’t. My oldest brother, Tom, was very big on appearances, and rarely was seen outside of his suit. While I had suits in my closet, I felt like going that far for a video call might be a little much. I wanted to look like I was serious but not trying too hard.
Tom was three years older than I was, and he always reminded me of it as a kid. Then, he got extremely successful doing essentially the same sorts of things I was interested in, but I got discouraged when another kid got the scholarship I would need to go to a big tech college and convinced myself working at bars was fine for right then. Right then turned into over a decade, and I slid right through my twenties and most of my thirties before Tom bought the bar.
If I was honest, I was jealous of him. He did all the things I wanted to do, but he was apparently better at them. His company was stupidly successful, and he was able to buy the bar and basically give it to the rest of us to run. I had felt grateful that I had something like that to do when we first got it, and using my bar skills, along with working with my brothers was like a dream. But I eventually got bored, and my mind turned to how I could be doing something similar to Tom, if I had only gone to school for it.
But back then, we were strapped for money. I could take out loans and go somewhere close, but it seemed dumb. I really only wanted to do tech work, and I figured I had time to take a break and save up money. I just never did.
I had texted Tom the night before,
asking if we could do the video call that morning. He was an early riser, and I was fairly sure that by nine A.M., he was several hours into his day, but when the call connected, he looked like he had just rolled out of bed. I suddenly felt weird about dressing up but resisted the urge to undo the tie.
“Hey, Tyler,” Tom said. “What’s happening?”
“Hey, Tom. Is this a bad time?”
“No, no, it’s fine,” he said, running his hand through his hair. “Amanda is making me take occasional days off work. Something about being a workaholic.” He laughed. “So, what did you need little brother?”
“Well, I wanted to pick your brain a little bit,” I said.
“Sure. Fire away.”
“I was thinking about going back to school,” I said quickly, hoping to blow right past it. “And I was wondering what it takes to get into the tech field. Or if you think I’m too old to be getting into the game now?”
There was a moment of silence where Tom’s eyes narrowed in confusion.
“You don’t want to work at the bar?” he asked. It wasn’t accusatory, just questioning.
“It’s not that I don’t enjoy being at the bar,” I said. “I’m just not in love with it. I have no passion for the restaurant business, and I am kind of tired of slinging drinks, you know?” Tom nodded on the other end. “You know I was interested in tech right out of high school? I just never stopped being interested.”
“I remember,” Tom said. “It was a shame about that scholarship. But then it just seemed like you didn’t care about it anymore.”
“I know, that’s on me,” I said. “But I’ve gotten over that now. I just worry it’s too late.”
“Well,” Tom said, “have you kept up with how things are changing?”
“Yeah, I’m on a few message boards, and I read all the news.” It was an understatement. If I wasn’t at the bar or with Nick, I was usually posting in one of those message boards or doing my own coding experiments at home.
His Best Friend's Sister: A Secret Baby Romance Page 11
