Saved

by Lee Heaven

  They both laughed at me again as my eyes connected with Tyler’s as he ran out to take his place on the field. Who the hell was I kidding, I wanted him and he wanted me. I knew it. I was just hoping I could ignore him because there was no way in hell I was going to hook up with a guy who looked at me like I disgusted him. Fuck that.

  As the innings went on and Tyler’s staring didn’t cease, I wanted to run. I wanted to leave and head home. I wanted to be anywhere but there with his eyes boring into me. Anywhere but where my stepfather had a comment every time he noticed us looking at each other.

  I chugged another beer as I tried to tune out the sound of my stepfathers voice as he lectured me on drinking. I was fucking thirty-four if I wanted to drink I was going to drink. I looked down and saw Tyler standing on the top step of the dugout looking at me. My hand clenched the bottle tighter as I brought it to my lips never taking my eyes off of him. My other hand gripped the railing as I leaned out over the edge, making a few less inches between me and him. The fucker pissed me off but there was a magnetic pull. I wanted to be near him.

  His eyes shifted slightly and I knew he was looking at the beer bottle in my hand. He shifted his eyes back to mine and I could see the question they were shooting at me. He wanted to know how many I had drunk. I held up my bottle towards him and then raised three fingers on my other hand. He nodded his head slightly and then held up four fingers.

  The fucking shithead just gave me a limit. Well fuck that. I gave him a nasty look and chugged the rest of the beer. I walked to the back of the suite and grabbed a bottle of vodka from the fully stocked bar. I walked back to the railing and sat down.

  As the inning ended and the team prepared to go out on the field Tyler spun and looked up at me. I stood and leaned over the railing extending the bottle of vodka out to him and held up my four fingers. As I held my fingers out to him I brought the bottle to my lips and chugged. Anger flared in his eyes as the vodka burned going down my throat. He hesitated on the field as if he wanted to charge up and take the bottle from me. I brought the bottle to my lips again and took another chug. I laughed as I watched as he stomped out to his spot over by third base.

  I wasn’t going to drink the whole bottle, hell just these two chugs were making my stomach turn. How the hell did Sarah lose herself in a whole bottle of this stuff when she was younger? I just didn’t want him to think he could control me. That he had any power over me. I wasn’t his to order around. I was nothing to him. I was the girl he could barely look at without a scowl on his face.

  He gave me one more look and I chugged at the bottle again. I held back the urge to spit it out and throw up over the railing. I turned to go put the bottle back on the bar and caught Sarah staring at me with her mouth wide open. She knew I didn’t like the hard stuff so I wondered what was going through her head.

  “He told me I was only allowed to have four. I was on my third when he decided this, so I decided to make the fourth one count.”

  She laughed as she took the bottle from my hand and chugged from it before putting it on the bar. She let out a satisfied ahhh before she looked at me laughing. “So that’s what that pissing match between you two was? You two are insane, just fuck already and get it out of you.” She held up her hand as I went to interrupt her, “I know, I know, he hates you, always looks at you nasty. Blah, blah, blah still doesn’t mean there’s not a sexual tension between the two of you. Hell he’s down there playing and we can all feel it.”

  Fuck! I grabbed the bottle off the bar and chugged it again.

  ~~~

  I felt myself being lifted. “Come on darlin’ in you go.” I heard Tyler whisper in my ear. “How much did you two drink?” I heard him ask angrily. Did he expect me to answer him, hell I wasn’t even sure if we were leaving the stadium or already at the apartment.

  “We shared a bottle of vodka. Although I think most of it is in my stomach or on the ground from being spilt from our laughing over shots,” I heard Sarah say. Bitch could hold her alcohol. I always forgot she had a stomach made of iron when it came to vodka. Not me, right now I think I was about to hurl. I heard Decker laughing and Tyler let out a growl at her answer.

  I felt myself seated and then a click of a seatbelt. Ok I was in a car, we were just leaving the stadium. I was so fucking drunk I couldn’t even open my eyes. I lifted my arms in what felt like slow motion. I grabbed onto what I hoped was Tyler’s shirt and pulled him close to me. “Tyler,” I slurred. “I don’t feel good.”

  “I know darlin’, just rest. I’ll get you home and in bed soon,” he said as he pressed a kiss to my forehead.

  “Tell her to come into work late tomorrow,” I heard Decker say. “What time do you have to be there tomorrow?”

  The door closed before I could hear Tyler’s answer. Where did he have to be tomorrow? Was he in trouble? Could I help him? Not in this condition. I heard a door open and then close lightly. His cologne filled my nose and the scent made me lean to the left. I rested my head on his shoulder and inhaled deeply. He smelled of lemon, rose and other scents I was too drunk to tell what they were. “You smell good. What kind of cologne do you wear?”

  He chuckled as I felt his arm shift the car into gear underneath my cheek. I wondered how he could drive with me leaning on him like this. “Clive Christian C ,” he answered as he shifted gears again. I went to sit up and his hand left the steering wheel as he pushed my head back on his shoulder. “Stay there darlin’.”

  “Is it expensive?”

  “Three seventy-five a bottle,” he said as if that wasn’t a lot of money.

  I scrunched my nose, “I can’t afford that. What am I supposed to give you for Christmas if I can’t afford that?” I could feel sleep pulling at me. Actually it wasn’t sleep it was drunken blackout.

  “I’ll give you a credit card and you can buy me whatever you would like,” I wasn’t sure if he actually said that or if I was dreaming. All I know is that darkness pulled me under as I lay comfortable on his shoulder.

  Chapter 7

  My head was spinning as I lay in a huge bed looking at an unfamiliar ceiling. There was a dull light to my left side, as if someone had left a light on and just closed the door leaving it cracked partway. I was hoping it was a bathroom as I could feel my stomach turning over and over again.

  I was suddenly on my feet and running for that light. I was glad when I pushed the door open to find a huge bathroom. I only made it as far as the gigantic bathtub next to the door before bending over the side of it and losing the contents of my stomach. In a fucking bathtub! Hands pulled my hair back and out of my face. One held it back as another rubbed up and down my back. Tears poured down my cheeks as my body continued to wretch and empty everything into the tub. I don’t think I ever threw up as much as I did now. My stomach finally emptied and I dry heaved for a few minutes. I finally collapsed half hanging over the tub, the side of it the only thing keeping me from landing face first in the pile of puke slowly making its way to the drain.

  I was pulled back and rested against the sink cabinet. I opened my eyes to find Tyler standing there in a pair of grey boxer briefs. If I wasn’t so spent from just throwing up five gallons of whatever came up, I would have been panting and throwing myself at him. He turned around, showing off his very tight and sexy ass, turning the water on in the tub, grabbing the spray nozzle he rinsed out the bottom of the tub. Not once did he make a face, not once did he gag or even complain. He turned back towards me, the water in the sink came on, then he was squatting in front of me wiping my face and neck with a warm wash cloth. He stood back up, grabbed something off the sink and squatted back down in front of me again. He held a toothbrush in his hand, I went to grab it and stand but he held me down. His other hand came up, pulling on my lower jaw to open my mouth. My eyes never left his as he brushed my teeth for me. When he was done he held an empty glass to my mouth allowing me to spit. A glass of water and two Tylenol’s followed.

  We sat there looking into each other’s eyes f
or a few minutes. I haven’t had someone take care of me like this since the day I left my parent’s house. Jeremy never took care of me like this, Kristopher never had the chance. Tyler broke the eye contact as he lifted me in his arms. I wrapped my hands around his neck and buried my fingers in the hair at the back of his neck. His hair was soft like silk. It made me want to run my fingers through it for the rest of my life. He didn’t even let go of me as he slid into bed and wrapped himself around me. He kissed my forehead and before I knew it I was asleep again.

  I awoke hours later and opened my gritty eyes. My head was pounding but not as bad as I thought it was going to be. I looked around and didn’t recognize the room I was in. I reached my arm out, the smooth cotton sheets were cool and I was in bed alone. I could have sworn Tyler was with me. Could I have been dreaming? Where the hell am I? Did I go home with a complete stranger last night? No, Sarah never would have let that happen? Hell my stepfather was there and he wouldn’t have let that happen. I’m surprised he let me drink so much without having anything to say. Maybe he did have something to say, I don’t remember much.

  I debated on moving. I really should get up, gather myself and figure out where I am, where the hell my stuff was. But I was comfortable and didn’t want to. I wanted to stay wrapped in this bed as long I could. The click of the door opening had me looking towards it. I watched as Tyler walked in the room, dressed only in a pair of black dress pants that hung very low on his hips. I smiled as I wondered how they were staying up, actually, I was wondering how much of a tug I would need to apply to have them puddle around his ankles. He continued to walk towards me and smiled when he noticed I was smiling at him. He placed a plate on the nightstand and then sat on the bed next to me placing another kiss on my forehead. I raised my hand and cupped his cheek. It was smooth, like he just shaved and he smelled so good, his cologne was so refreshing, not at all powerful. I have a slight memory of him saying it was expensive.

  He pulled his lips away from my forehead after leaving them there for longer than was necessary. “How are you feeling?” I made a face that said not the best. “Sarah made you a plate for breakfast. Decker said come in at noon, he already let Rebecca know.” So Decker had talked to my boss, of course he did, he’s her boss. “I do wish I could stay with you all morning, but I have somewhere really important to be and I cannot miss it. Thursday is a day off, can I take you to dinner after you get off of work?”

  I sat up and kissed his cheek while I got used to the spinning room. “Thank you for taking care of me last night. I can’t believe I drank that much. Vodka is not my friend, never has been. I don’t know how Sarah always gets me to drink so much. Her breakfast should do the trick, it always did,” I knew I just blushed. I just admitted that I couldn’t hold my liquor.

  His face stayed level but I could see the anger seep into his eyes. His voice was calm as he spoke, “The next time I tell you four, maybe you should listen to me.”

  Now I was angry. My voiced seethed as I answered back. “I’ve just spent the past decade of my life getting the shit beat out of me and someone telling me how to act and what to do. I just walked away from one hell and if you think I’m going to let you do the same thing you an even bigger asshole than I thought.”

  I threw the blanket off of me and staggered out of bed. I got halfway to the bathroom before the room span out of control and I could feel my legs begin to wobble out from under me. Tyler had his arms wrapped around me before I even hit the floor. He picked me up and carried me back over to the bed placing me down gingerly.

  “Thank you,” I said as I hid my face looking down towards the bed.

  Tyler stuck his fingers under my chin and lifted my face till my eyes met his. His electric blue eyes sparkled, entranced me. “No matter how rough I talk to you. No matter how much of an ass I come off to you. Please know that I would never actually hurt you. I would never be that guy.”

  A part of me knew that. A part of me knew that it was just his mouth shooting off before his brain told him not to say something. Everyone has told me that is how he is. But it was still my will to never be in the same situation that I just left again. He has to understand that otherwise there isn’t even a chance for us to have a friendship. And not having a friendship would be hard enough because we would be seeing each other a lot because of Sarah and Decker.

  Tyler leaned his face close to mine. His lips touched mine. It’s the first time he kissed me since my first day back in the city when he attacked me in Decker and Sarah’s kitchen. It was everything that I remembered it to be. It was electric. His tongue slid across mine, his hands tangled in my hair. If he had a shirt on I would be wrapping my hands in it to pull him closer to me, instead I wrapped them around his neck and buried them in his hair.

  I wanted to climb on top of him. I wanted to pull him on top of me. I wanted to bury myself in him or have him be buried in me. I wanted all his smooth skin to always be touching mine. I knew what Sarah said last night was true. I wanted him. He wanted me.

  A phone ringing pulled our lips away from each others. He muttered a couple of swear words before he pulled his phone out of his pocket and answered it. His electric eyes stayed locked on mine as he listened to whoever was on the other end of the line. “Fine, I’m on my way,” he said into the phone as he hung up. “I have to go darlin’. Thursday, dinner?” I nodded my head yes at him. He pulled a key out of his pocket and placed it on the nightstand next to the plate of now cold food. “My house is your house. Feel free to come and go as you please. Stay the night when you want. Bring the kids.” He pressed his lips to my forehead again before kissing my lips. He struggled to pull away and mumbled a few times about being late.

  I finally pushed him away with a smile telling him to go before he was really late. I watched as he stood and grabbed a deep purple shirt and put it on. I watched as his fingers did each button and then tucked it into his pants. I watched as he slid a belt through the loops and fastened it. I grabbed the tie he had lying on the bed and kneeled on the edge of the bed. I wrapped it around his neck and tied it. I never took my eyes off his. He grabbed his suit jacket that lay on the bed and slid into it. He mumbled some more about being late before he pressed his lips against mine again. With what seemed like great agony he pulled his lips from mine, spun and walked out the door. A minute later I heard the front door close behind him.

  I grabbed the plate off of the nightstand and walked out of the bedroom. It was then I noticed that I was not in my own clothes, but I was in a t-shirt that could only be Tyler’s. It was soft and fell to just below my ass. I had always heard of girls wearing a guy’s shirt and it being huge on them but not Tyler’s shirt. It was actually a shirt I could wear out in public. The set up to his apartment was almost the same as Decker and Sarah’s, two floors down, except the room that Decker used as an office was missing in Tyler’s apartment.

  I walked into the kitchen and looked around. There was a stainless steel Northland refrigerator, the door to the fridge part was glass. It just looked expensive. The cabinets were a slight grey color and the stove which was gigantic and labeled as a Grand Palais 180 was done in the same grey color. The hood fan even matched the stove. There was a huge white porcelain farmer’s sink. Fuck this was one expensive cooks kitchen! I wondered if Sarah knew this was up here because it was ten times better than what she has.

  The doorbell rang and I hesitated to open it. I didn’t know who would be coming here. What if it was some girl? Did he have a girlfriend? Did I just become the other woman? I silently walked over to the door and just as I was about to look through the peep hole I heard her voice, “Bitch open the door it’s me.”

  I laughed as I opened the door and hugged Sarah. “Please stop giving me vodka. You know it’s not my friend.”

  She laughed out loud, “No one forced you to go shot for shot with me. You think after all these years you would have learned by now.” I let her in the apartment and she followed me to the kitchen. “Holy fuck, look at this p
lace,” she just about yelled in my ear when she walked in. “This is a thousand fucking times better then the shit kitchen I cook in.” She pulled out her phone and pressed a button. “Jensen, I’m not happy right now,” she said into the phone. “I’m standing in Tyler’s kitchen. What the fuck? Why don’t I have any of this? Come on this is unfair. He doesn’t even cook here. I cook all his meals lately.” She was quiet for a few minutes as she listened to him talk. “You’re damn right we can remodel the kitchen!” She smiled at something he said. “Yeah we can wait till after the wedding. I love you too. Go back to work. I’ll talk to you later.” She hung up the phone and looked satisfied.

  I shook my head at her, “Just like that?”

  She nodded her head at me with a huge smile on her face. She pulled my phone out of her pocket and handed it to me. “You were going to drunk dial Jeremy last night. I had to take it. Rebecca text you, she wants you to go to some address before you go into work. Her text explains everything.”

  As I looked at the phone Sarah moved around the kitchen warming my plate of food. As I ate we sat there and talked. It was good just having this time with her. We were never alone anymore. There was always security or one of the boys around. Now it was just us. Just girl talk. Before long Jimmy knocked at the door handing me a garment bag and ushering Sarah out the door.

  Guess it was time to get ready and head out to work. I stood at Tyler’s shower for a few minutes trying to figure out how to turn the water on. There were no knobs and if it wasn’t for the stainless steel grid in the ceiling I don’t think I would have seen the shower head, it was flush to the ceiling. My phone beeped from the sink and I walked over to it. I looked down to see a text from an unfamiliar number.

  *Darlin’ Sarah gave me your number. To turn the shower on there is a panel just outside the door. Press the button with a circle on it. The knob adjust the water temp*