“I forgot to tell you that Tyler probably is going to be here.”
Megan felt the blood rush out of her head and blackness appeared at the corner of her eyes as her heart started beating faster. Then, as she regained control of herself, she felt ire rising from her gut. “That’s a game changer, Leese.”
Lisa smiled, looking nervous. “But you’re already here,” she whined and began pulling on her friend’s arm to drag her farther into the hotel. Megan was angry but numb and let Lisa continue dragging her through the hotel, following the signs that led them to their high school reunion.
Once they entered a large ballroom packed with people, Megan let her eyes adjust. There were clumps of men and women here and there and all seemed to be involved in intense conversation.
Lisa grabbed her friend’s arm. “Hey…there’s the bar over there. I think we should go there first.” As she started hauling a resistant Megan through the room again, a woman at a table to the left said, “Can I get your names?”
Lisa asked, “Penny? Is that you?”
The brown-haired woman at the table stood up, smiling. Aha…Lisa had kept talking about a woman named Penny Austin who was coordinating the reunion, but Megan hadn’t registered her as the woman formerly known as Penny Carpenter. She’d been the president of the Chess Club and she’d been in the National Honor Society and on the yearbook committee. She’d been a friendly young lady, but her face had been plastered with a mixture of freckles and pimples throughout high school, and she hadn’t enjoyed the pleasure of braces, so she’d had buck teeth that always arrived in class before she did. But Penny today looked fantastic. She was wearing makeup (something her youthful self had avoided), and her hair cascaded down her back in soft curls. Her smile showed that her teeth were now reined in, and her face was flawless. Megan knew that she herself hadn’t changed this drastically. In fact, she was pretty certain she still looked the same as she had back then, just a little older. But Penny? Wow. She knew this gal was going to receive hundreds of compliments before the night was over.
Suddenly, Megan felt inadequate, underdressed, and nervous. Well, the nervous feeling had been with her for quite some time, and now, knowing Tyler might show up after all…she would definitely have to have a drink or two.
Penny gave Lisa a nametag and a sheet of paper, then turned to Megan. “Megan Walker? It’s been so long! You look terrific, girl.”
Megan’s mouth curled up in a smile on one side. “I was just thinking the same about you.”
As Penny checked Megan’s name off her list, she found her nametag and handed it to Megan to stick to her blouse. “Lisa tells me you work at the library. I don’t make it down there very often, or I guess I would have seen you once in a while.”
“You still live around here?”
“Well, kind of. I live up the mountain a ways. My grandparents passed away and willed me their land, so I live up there and do some freelance writing.” Sounded like a dream to Megan. “That gives me plenty of time to organize events like this.”
Megan smiled. “So far, it looks like you’ve done a great job.”
“Thanks.” She turned her attention to the door where more people were arriving. “I hope I get to mingle more tomorrow. Enjoy yourselves, ladies!”
Megan thought there was zero chance of enjoyment here tonight, but she smiled just the same and took a deep breath. It was gonna be a long night.
Chapter Five
LISA GRABBED MEGAN’S arm once more and brought her lips close to her friend’s ear. “I was looking at the list, and Tyler’s name wasn’t checked off, so he’s not here. Happy now?”
Megan grimaced. “Should I be? His name’s on the list, and maybe he likes being fashionably late even more than you do.”
Lisa frowned. “Come on, Meg. I don’t know what the big deal is. Don’t you think it’s cool seeing how people have changed? You’ll feel the same way about Tyler. I promise.” They got to the bar and stood for a few seconds. Lisa looked to her side and spotted someone she recognized. “Oh, my God. Randy Butler—is that you?” The man drawing Lisa’s attention was stocky. He had dishwater blonde hair and green eyes. He was tall but, now that Megan was remembering what he’d looked like ten years ago, not as wiry as he’d been in high school. He’d filled out and was dangerously close to becoming doughy.
Great. Now Megan knew she was in it for the long haul, and she would be completely alone. Lisa had already found one of her unrequited crushes, and Megan noticed he wasn’t wearing a wedding band. So while Lisa ordered a beer and flirted with Randy (after Megan got in a cursory hi), Megan decided to drink something a little stronger.
Now she felt jumpy and alone, but maybe she could steal Lisa back from Randy after the girl had had an opportunity to flirt for a few minutes. Megan looked up, relieved to discover the bartender was a hotel employee, not someone she went to high school with. “What’ll it be?” he asked.
“Um…I think maybe I’ll have a Sex on the Beach.” She hadn’t had one of them in a long time and wondered if she’d still like it as much as she used to. She’d almost avoided ordering the drink because she hated the name. It didn’t help that she wasn’t a huge fan of drinking to begin with. But the flavor of this particular concoction was sweet and went down more easily than other alcoholic beverages. As she watched the bartender mix the drink, she decided that if she wasn’t enjoying herself by the time she finished it, she would call a cab…unless, of course, Lisa needed her. But, at the moment, she appeared to be doing just fine without Megan.
She sipped the drink. It was exactly what she needed. She paid the bartender and gave him a nice tip, then turned around. She stood next to Lisa and Randy, but it was obvious they weren’t much interested in her presence. In fact, she doubted they even knew she was still nearby. That hadn’t taken long. Megan remembered that Lisa had had a hardcore crush on Randy their junior year, and Lisa had dragged Megan to basketball games back then just to watch him play. She was happy that Lisa was having a good time but regretting that she’d agreed to come along. She felt like a third wheel in a place where everyone should have felt that way.
But as she surveyed the landscape, everyone else appeared to be having a great time. She did spy one guy across the room who looked familiar, a guy named Mike Hardy. He had been a nice enough guy and had been in FBLA with Megan (she now thought being in a business leader club was the furthest thing from what she’d ever wanted to do with her life, but it had been nice belonging to a group of people who liked playing with office machines as much as she had at the time). The problem was Mike had had a crush on her and hadn’t ever taken any of her subtle hints that she wasn’t interested. He’d never actually made any moves on her, so she couldn’t even turn him down; instead, he’d been like a puppy dog following her around. And his eyes zeroed in on her now.
She took a deep breath, reminding herself that people change. Maybe someone like Mike would now be confident and sure of himself, something that Megan would find appealing. If nothing else, he might be someone to spend the evening talking to. He waved and she smiled. It was nice to recognize someone. Actually, lots of faces looked familiar and if she’d seen their nametags, she would have remembered, but most people were already engaged in conversation. Now she knew why Lisa had scoured through yearbooks last week—she’d wanted to recognize people easily. Megan wondered if maybe she should have done that as well.
But no, she thought. She’d recognized Penny, Randy, and now Mike. She was doing fine. And maybe not recognizing someone would be a good conversation starter…Your name and face are so familiar, but can you tell me something I’d remember from back then? No, maybe not. That would make her sound like a selfish jerk. She took another deep breath, knowing she should just be herself and stop worrying so much. Still…she was pissed that Lisa had brought her here, only to abandon her in record time.
Mike finally wound up right in front of Megan. “Megan Walker…how the hell are ya?” He embraced her in a tight hug and she
had to hold her glass carefully so she wouldn’t spill any of her drink on his back.
“Pretty good, Mike. How’ve you been?”
“Couldn’t be better.” In just a few seconds, Megan had registered that Mike wasn’t married. He took over talking, so she didn’t have to worry about maintaining the conversation, but it got tiresome quickly. Mike was doing pretty well for himself. He’d moved to Dallas, Texas, and owned a software company. Megan almost laughed, because what she and Lisa had been joking about had come true. Here was a guy who’d been a semi-outcast and was now probably quite rich. She couldn’t tell if he was trying to brag about it or just share his experiences with her. She couldn’t get a good read on him. But he was boring the shit out of her, so she found herself tuning out. She’d gotten good at that over the years…too good. She could maintain eye contact and keep the standard communication cues going without much thought—the head nod and the occasional “Oh, really?” did a good job of masking how bored she was.
Honestly, though, she was happy for Mike. What she remembered of him was that he was a nice guy, just awkward around people. He deserved to have good things in life. But as he continued his incessant chatter, Megan found herself tuning out even more, and while she maintained steady eye contact with Mike, she also found plenty of opportunities to survey the crowd. She did note that he kept breaking into her comfort zone, causing her to back away a little, until at last her back was pressing against the wall. But she was still able to make slight adjustments to the side as needed.
She drained her drink quickly, hoping it would give her more patience to make it through an evening of Mikes. As her eyes continued to wander, she even spotted the cheerleading co-captains Summer and Monica. And they didn’t look bad at all, in spite of what Lisa had heard. There was no haggard appearance like her friend had described months ago. They looked a little older, but they still looked like athletic young ladies. Megan was glad Lisa wasn’t nearby, because she would’ve been crushed.
Mike kept talking, and as Megan kept looking around, she nearly dropped her empty glass. Her eyes landed on Tyler Green.
Megan couldn’t figure out how long he’d been there, but he was chatting it up with a group of former jazz band members when she spied him. She forced her eyes back to Mike and started thinking of a solid excuse to extricate herself from him. Now that Tyler was here, all bets were off. His absence was the only reason she’d agreed to attend this fool reunion.
Unfortunately, her plans to bail were derailed. There was no way she could leave now without looking like an ass, because Tyler had spotted her and was heading her way, a huge smile on his face.
Chapter Six
THE YEARS HAD hardly changed a thing. Sure, Megan had seen plenty of pictures of him over the last several years, but none of the photos had done Tyler Green any justice. She couldn’t keep her eyes on Mike anymore, had instead switched her focus to the man whose presence was taking up all her frame of vision as he got closer.
He was a sight to behold. His dark hair was short, but not too short…just rock star short. It was longer than the standard businessman haircut, and the tips of his bangs touched his long eyelashes. As he got closer, Megan remembered one thing about Tyler that had always melted her, and that was his dark brown eyes. The irises were so dark that they seemed to blend with his pupils, especially at night. She could remember making out with him in the back of his car and the way his eyes looked. It was one of the reasons she’d finally given in to him. It was something she’d never regretted.
She felt a tentative smile creep up on her face as he closed the gap between them. “Megan.” Oh, that smile. Teeth that were beyond white flashed at her as he turned his attention toward Mike. “And…Mike Hardy, right?”
Mike smiled and stuck his hand out. “Yep. Tyler Green. Of course, you’d scope out the ex-girlfriend.”
They shook hands as a disconcerted look crossed Tyler’s face. “Actually, I consider Megan an old friend, and I’d like to reconnect.”
Well, that was a letdown. But that was good, Megan thought. Better to know right away that there were no other intentions. It was a relief once she let the thought sink in. Still…the years had been good to Tyler. He was beefier than he had been in high school. He was wearing a plain black t-shirt so his biceps peeked out at her. She was impressed by the tone of his arms, but she was more fascinated by the ink. She’d made a point of avoiding as many of his publicity photos as she could, but here in the flesh, it was hard to ignore. Even though she’d bought the three CDs his band had released over the last several years and had studied the pictures inside, it was nothing like the real deal.
Shit. She had studied those goddamned pictures, hadn’t she?
As Tyler took her into his embrace, she tried to will her heart to slow down. But pressed up close against him, she could smell him, and she remembered his smell…an earthy, masculine smell, but he was also wearing a spicy cologne. As though they hugged in slow motion, she could feel everything. Her cheek felt the hardness of his chest, her hands, the taut muscles in his back. Tyler hadn’t been this ripped in high school.
Stop it, Megan urged herself. They were just friends now; Tyler had said it himself. She had to keep herself in check. The drink hadn’t relaxed her enough yet, and she considered excusing herself to get another one. She stopped considering, though, and decided it was a great idea. As she removed herself from Tyler’s embrace, she said, “Great to see you both. I need to get a refill.” She wiggled her empty glass at them.
Whew. She slapped on as sweet a smile as she could muster and then began walking back to the bar. She couldn’t help but notice the confused look on Tyler’s face as she moved away. But she couldn’t do it, couldn’t be beside him anymore. Bad enough that she’d noticed all the piercings in his ears too. Just feeling him pressed against her body had reminded her of one of the non-CD photos of him she’d seen on accident.
When Tyler and his buddies had headed out to L.A., they’d belonged to a band they’d called Tormentor. After losing touch with Tyler, though, she didn’t know what had happened, except that ultimately the band had gone nowhere. Then one day she heard a band on the radio, and the voice of Tyler Green—a husky baritone with a distinctive growl—was unmistakable. She was pissed when the DJ failed to say who the band was or the name of the song, but when she heard it a few days later, the DJ said the single belonged to a new band called Madversary.
She’d gone to Google to look them up, and she found the band’s website. There wasn’t much, but there was a picture of the band in concert. It was Tyler’s voice she’d heard, and a picture of him in concert with his band said it all—he looked like a metal star. He was onstage with his shirt off, a guitar slung over his shoulders, hanging down to his hips, his left hand wrapped around its neck, the other poised in front of the strings, his face up against the mike, screaming a song. But it was then that she’d noticed the proliferation of tattoos on his body, the piercings on his ears, and the look of experience on his face. And she’d realized then that she missed him.
She knew then that she’d buy any CD he released, but she decided she wouldn’t—couldn’t—follow him in the media. Her heart couldn’t take it. She still cared about him and hoped his career flourished. But she couldn’t follow his career, and she didn’t want to know anything about his personal life.
Bad enough that she had scoured all the thank yous inside the printed material for the CD. She wanted to see if Tyler thanked any woman or named anyone as a wife or love of his life. There had never been any inkling of a woman. Megan also knew Tyler wrote most of the lyrics for Madversary, and so she analyzed the words to ascertain any hidden meanings. Was he with someone? While she felt certain he wasn’t, she could never be one-hundred percent positive. But she wasn’t about to go back to their website or even to Wikipedia to find out.
So…as she walked back to the bar, it hit her. She had obsessed and pined over Tyler Green through the last ten years a lot more than she’d allo
wed herself to acknowledge. Even her extreme avoidance smacked of obsession. So it was better to walk away now. She needed to grow up and move on. She realized that maybe she’d never found many guys who made her happy because she was subconsciously comparing them to Tyler. Well, that would end right here and now. Walking away had been the smartest thing she could have done.
As she strolled to the bar, her eyes caught another person she recognized, Tamara…Dickens, had it been? She couldn’t quite remember. But that girl…if anyone could be called Megan’s enemy, Tamara would have been it. Times changed, though. Maybe Tamara had too. So Megan kept walking. She didn’t want to talk to the woman, and because Tamara seemed to be involved in conversation with someone else, Megan felt safe. There were too many bad memories she didn’t want to relive, so another drink was warranted.
She waited at the bar for the bartender to notice her. “Another Sex on the Beach?” he asked.
She nodded. “Please.” She refrained from asking him to put more alcohol in it this round.
She leaned against the bar, hoping he’d be fast. She was going to sit at the bar and finish it, then call for a cab. She didn’t want to just rush out the door, because that would be too obvious, but she couldn’t stay.
“Well, well, well, if it isn’t Megan Walker.”
She turned her head and spied Brad Prescott, starting quarterback for the Winchester Bulldogs their senior year. He’d been a good-looking guy back in the day, although he’d been quite full of himself. But he’d been graced with an athlete’s body and he’d taken the Bulldogs to the playoffs that year. They hadn’t won, but they’d come close. She knew he’d gotten a scholarship to play football somewhere, but she couldn’t remember what school he was going to attend. In fact, she hadn’t thought about Brad since graduation. “Brad. Good to see you. How’ve you been?”
MADversary Page 3
