Distracted By You: Book 1 in The Exeter Running Girls Series

by Eliza Bradley

  “Tye?” At my voice, he looked up to me from where I was still kneeling on the settee. “If you ever do want to talk about it, you can.” I smiled softly, feeling him mirror the action half-heartedly.

  “Thanks, princess. Let’s watch another film so I can forget about it.”

  “Damn it, enough with the princess thing.”

  “Enough? Why?” His lips curved into a genuine smile. “I like the nickname.”

  “It doesn’t suit me!”

  “Oh, it really does. Nah, I’m sticking with it.”

  In the end, Tye dropped me home at eleven that night with a promise that we would leave each other alone on Sunday so we could do some work. I wasn’t smiling at that idea.

  Why did the creepy guy always have to show up when you were thinking of the guy you actually want? I was busy daydreaming about Tye and clearing tables in the coffee shop when Kyle walked in. I hadn’t actually seen it was him. I was too busy wiping down the table when I became aware of a presence behind me. When I turned, surprisingly hoping with every fibre of my being it was Tye, Kyle greeted me instead, stood shockingly close.

  I jumped away, bumping into the table, and knocking over the tray of cups I had just tried to clear. As Kyle laughed, I hurried to set the cups straight and clear up the spill.

  “You’re all in a kerfuffle to see me. My, my, that is a good sign,” his leering voice was slow and whispered.

  “You surprised me. Get lost, Kyle.” Any attempt I was making to be polite before had left me. Partly because he was truly creeping me out now, and partly because he was not the face I had been wanting to see.

  It was still early morning and quiet, so the coffee shop did not have many people. Beyond the cashier and barista, there were only two customers, all of their focus on the counters of goodies.

  “I think I’ll stay, I haven’t ordered my coffee yet,” he smiled in what he no doubt thought was a charming way and put his hands in his pockets. He used to be really sweet with Rosie, who was this guy? I didn’t recognise him anymore.

  I leaned down to pick up a scattered sugar sachet when I felt him step nearer. I stood straight back up, leaving the sachet where it was to stop him coming closer, but it was no use. He lifted one if his hands from his pocket and set it on my waist. I was now holding the tray between our chests, trying to keep him away, though it appeared to be ineffective as a barrier.

  “Get your hand off me.” I spat with venom. “I’ve had enough of this.” Why couldn’t he just go back to being the sweet version of Kyle? Surely he would soon, once he took my ‘no’ seriously.

  “I’m not doing anything,” he shook his head like I was being silly.

  “You have your hand on my waist.”

  “I could put it somewhere else if you like?” As his hand trailed lower, I lifted my foot and brought my heel down sharply onto his foot.

  “Ow!” His cry of pain made the cashier look up, giving me my chance to escape back to the till. I didn’t need to say anything, the cashier could tell roughly what had happened from my face and gestured for me to go out back. I hid in the staff room, waiting until the CCTV cameras showed he was gone.

  Later that day, I was still feeling off kilter when the girls came in. I was serving them discounted frappuccinos when I noticed Tye join the back of the short queue. At that point, I kept my eyes trained on the coffee machines and my work. I hadn’t told any of the girls about my meet ups with Tye, and I certainly wasn’t going to yet, they would ask hundreds of questions I didn’t know the answers to.

  “So what’s the plan for tonight?” Cara asked, leaning her chin on the coffee counter. She was the only one of us short enough to do that comfortably and not get a crick in her neck.

  “Blind dates!” Leonora said with glee, clapping her hands together.

  “We’re tired of being the only two that date so we want to set you two up for the evening,” Ellie held her dazzling smile as she gestured at Cara and me.

  “Blind date?” My eyes shot briefly to Tye at the back of the line. He couldn’t possibly hear us, and neither were we dating, but last Saturday had made letting go of my daydream a little more difficult. Tye became aware I was looking at him and caught my eyes. I looked away as though burned, the same way I had done when catching his gaze at Mandy’s the first night he drove me home.

  “Yes please!” Cara jumped up and down at the thought, probably excited to think of someone else other than Benji.

  “No, thank you,” I delivered the first frappuccino to the girls, which Cara quickly snatched away before anyone else could claim it.

  “What? Are you serious?” Leonora asked in disbelief, more than a little disappointed.

  Tye had moved up the queue as my partner barista served up a set for the waiting line. He might have been able to hear them now… God forbid!

  “Perfectly. No date for me, thank you.” I served up the second frappuccino along with a tea for another customer.

  “I haven’t seen you on a date all year,” Ellie complained too loudly for my comfort. Yes, please do declare in front of the guy I fancied how inadequate I was.

  “I don’t want one.” I spoke stubbornly, aware it may have come across as being rude.

  Tye was now at the front and placing his order with the cashier.

  “Ivy, what’s with you? It’s just one tiny blind date. If you don’t like the guy then you don’t have to see him again. Give me one good reason why you don’t want to go?” Ellie was persistent.

  Tye moved to stand behind the girls as I served up the last frappuccino. Much to my disappointment, they didn’t leave with the coffee and now Tye was definitely listening to everything. He was enjoying himself far too much, his arms folded loosely across his chest and his eyebrows raised. He had that usual glint of humour to his eyes too. The cashier handed me his order.

  “I’m sorry,” I looked away from him to make the coffee. “I just don’t want to go on a blind date. Plain. And. Simple.”

  “Why not?” Leonora was really starting to get annoyed, practically stamping her foot like an irritated toddler. “You’re being a little bit ridiculous.”

  “Hey, that’s not fair,” I reprimanded with a hard glance. “I don’t need any more reason other than not wanting to go.”

  “Ivy, we’re not trying to force you into a relationship,” Ellie said with kindness, which at this point only seemed to grate more. Damn her for being so nice, could she just turn into a picture-perfect villain instead? Sadly, no luck. “We just thought it might be a bit of fun. You know, just a nice evening. If he’s weird, you can tell us afterwards and we’ll have a good laugh.”

  I sent her my death glare and caught sight of Tye trying not to laugh at my angry eyes.

  “Cappuccino!” I called, waiting for him to come forward as I held the coffee on the counter.

  “Tye!” Leonora suddenly realised who it was and grabbed his arm as he stepped forward. “You’ll be on our side.”

  “Leonora –” but my warning tone did nothing. Perceptive as ever, she sent me her own version of evil eyes and continued anyway.

  Please shut up!

  “We have set up a blind date for Ivy tonight,” she continued with Tye, “but she doesn’t want to go. We’re trying to persuade her to have a little fun.”

  “Is it surprising she doesn’t want to go?” Tye asked, astonishing them all with the strange question. He reached for the cappuccino, brushing his hand against mine. I quickly snatched my hand away, trying to ignore the excitement it caused.

  “I’m sorry? I don’t follow?” Leonora asked with a snap, feeling she had missed something important.

  “Look at her,” Tye gestured to me, and three pairs of eyes turned to my face. I jolted back from the counter as if I had experienced an electric shock. Tye now turned his own eyes to me with a smirk. “That beautiful, I’d wager she’s already seeing someone.”

  Oh my, I was seriously tempted to melt into a puddle. Not quite wicked witch of the west style, but ju
st weak at the knees.

  Ellie turned to me with scrutiny and observed my lack of objection that was actually stunned silence.

  “Oh my god, is he right? How could you not tell us?”

  “Ellie-”

  Yet I now couldn’t stop the flow of questions.

  Tye winked at me, the twinkle evident as he tried not to laugh and slipped away, leaving me to what felt like a pack of hyenas.

  Damn him. He was mischievous.

  It wasn’t until ten minutes later after the girls had left that I finally could text him with heartfelt gratitude. Not.

  THANKS FOR THAT. IT’S LIKE I’VE BECOME THE NEW FAVOURITE MEAT AT A BANQUET FOR CARNIVORES. I

  JUST RETURNING THE FAVOUR IN KIND FOR GETTING ELLIE OFF MY BACK. WOULD YOU RATHER GO ON A BLIND DATE? T

  NO… I

  SO YOU SHOULD THANK ME. AN ELABORATE THANK YOU WITH SUGAR ON TOP. T

  THANK YOU. DO ME A FAVOUR AND IMAGINE ME DOING MY ANGRY EYES. I

  I’M SHAKING WITH FEAR, PRINCESS. T

  Chapter 9

  I was more than a little surprised when Tye invited me over for brunch the following Saturday morning, yet I was never going to say no. After the morning run with the girls and having drawn a fresh smattering of ladybugs on my hand prompted by a phone conversation with my mother, I headed to the shop to pick up some food for us.

  I was hovering over some discounted bagels when my eyes caught sight of a face I didn’t want to see. It was Kyle, though he hadn’t seen me. I ducked down behind the bread counter, cartoon style to hide from him. The old lady next to me tilted her vision over her thin glasses, as though she were my head teacher, questioning the strange manoeuvre.

  “Ex,” I lied with a gesture of my head to the other side, this made her giggle. She raised her eyes and watched him head down another aisle.

  “You’re safe, lass. He’s heading for the chilled section.”

  “Thank you!” I jumped up and grabbed the bagels before hurrying to the counter. Seeing huge queues, I dived to the self-service.

  The first one in line, I found a machine easily, but kept looking over my shoulder, wary of where Kyle had gone.

  “Unexpected item in the bagging area,” my eyes shot back to the machine. I checked the bagging area. I hadn’t even put anything down yet! I tapped the screen a couple of times and wiped the surface of the bagging space, checking nothing was there, but… “Unexpected item in the bagging area.”

  I think this was a good example of sod’s law. Whoever sod was to have a law named after him, he must have been one unlucky fellow.

  “What is wrong with you,” I muttered as I lifted off my basket from the machine. The screen went white, completely confused and malfunctioning. “It’s like a robot having a teenage tantrum.”

  “They tend to do that.”

  Oh crap.

  Kyle slid into view beside me, the bearer of these words. I winced, realising just what he was wearing – the uniform of the supermarket. Seemed I had been unlucky enough to choose the one supermarket in town he worked at.

  “It’s broken,” I gestured to it with annoyance and plonked my basket back down loudly. “Shouldn’t you be fixing it?”

  “That’s what I’m here for, darling.” He stepped nearer, reaching behind me and blocking my exit from standing in front of the machine as he re-adjusted the basket so that it was completely on the shelf.

  “You’re standing too close.” I muttered angrily as he leaned over my other shoulder and keyed in a passcode to get admin access to the machine.

  “If you didn’t like it so much, you could get out from here, I’m not completely trapping you in.”

  I looked around, but I couldn’t do it without causing a scene, I mean a real scene – knocking the basket off or pushing over a tower of cereal boxes.

  “You know I can’t do that without causing a rather dramatic spectacle.”

  “Course darling. Give it any excuse you like,” he was stood so close I could feel his breath in my ear. He made my skin feel like it was crawling. “You know, Rosie and I had our thing six years ago now.”

  The mention of Rosie made my eyes shoot down to the ladybugs on my hand. One of the ladybugs was tickling the other one.

  I silently begged him to stop talking.

  “I get that the prospect of you and me might be a little uncomfortable for you.”

  “A little?” I snapped back, trying to lean away from him, but he just stepped nearer.

  “My point is, Ivy. It was six years ago. Rosie and I were just kids and we never went –”

  “I don’t need to hear the details,” I covered my face as he continued to tap something into the machine. I knew the details anyway. Rosie and I were sisters after all, and at the age where you tell each other everything exciting.

  “My point is time has passed. We’re different people.”

  “You certainly are. You’re a lot creepier than I remember.” Why couldn’t he just be sweet boy Kyle again? He had to still be there, underneath it all.

  “We need to work on your flirting skills,” he sniggered as he logged out of the machine. “I like you. You like me. Why not?”

  “First off,” I started scanning the bagels, trying my best to ignore him standing so close and not raise my voice. I was tempted though. I wanted to shout in the middle of the supermarket – creepy guy bothering me! Where’s the manager? “I don’t like you. You have thoroughly unnerved me.”

  “How about just sex then?”

  His words earned a sharp elbow to the stomach as I paid contactless with the card, at least it made him back off.

  “When hell freezes over, and the devil wears a crown made of icicles.” I snapped at him and marched away with my bag.

  Climbing the stairs to the flat I found I was breathing deeply, trying to expel the memory of my encounter with Kyle. I was officially frightened, not just creeped out. He had to still be the kind boy he was with Rosie. He just had to! Surely this was just a phase. It would pass. He would go back to who he was. This behaviour wasn’t anything serious.

  As I reached the top of the steps, I walked round in a small circle, debating whether I should tell Tye or not what had happened. In a way, I wanted to tell someone. No one knew, for some reason I didn’t understand why I hadn’t even told the girls. They would jump straight on their high horses and go say something to Kyle, but I guess I didn’t want that.

  I think deep down, I still felt sorry for the guy. He was dating Rosie after all when she died. That had to hurt.

  Yet this was just another thing entirely and he was taking it too far. It would pass. It had to pass.

  I reached for the door, determined to tell Tye, then dismissed it just as quickly, my hand hovering over the door handle. No – it was the kind of thing you tell a boyfriend and we were not dating. Even if I wished we were.

  As I stood there hovering, the door swung inwards and Sam appeared, not looking particularly happy.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked, startling him.

  “It’s –” he waved behind him into the flat, but he didn’t have chance to explain. He was interrupted by two loud voices coming from the living room. They were arguing and one of the voices clearly belonged to Tye. “I’m tapping out. It’s your turn to watch them,” Sam beckoned me inside as he stepped out. “I have to get out of here for a bit.”

  “You’re going?” I gestured to the two people arguing as though steam was coming out of their heads.

  “I’ve been watching for the last hour and a half. They’re showing no sign of slowing down. I need a break. Ring me if it gets out of hand.”

  “This isn’t out of hand?” I gestured again, waving madly.

  “I mean if one of them actually goes for the other one’s throat.”

  To me they had definitely crossed the bridge of being out of hand. As the door shut, I shifted my focus to the argument.

  Tye was rung out, the sleeves of his grey t-shirt were rolled up to his elbows, he was red with rag
e and his hair was messy, probably from running his hands across the back of his neck multiple times in stress. Even through his tanned cheeks, he looked red with anger, and his eyes were wide in disbelief of what the other man was saying.

  Said man must have been Tye’s dad. He was the same height, had a similar bone structure and even stronger Spanish colouring. Speaking of which they were arguing in Spanish, so I couldn’t understand a single word.

  Tye had told me his dad was from Barcelona and Tye himself had lived there until they moved to his mum’s hometown in Sussex when he was seven.

  Though I couldn’t grasp a word, the argument was very fast and they both gestured wildly with their arms. Tye hadn’t noticed I’d come in and I didn’t want to draw his attention. Well, he sort of looked preoccupied.

  I slipped behind the kitchen island and pulled out a stool to sit and watch. I placed the bag of bagels on the island and watched for a minute. It wasn’t my place to intervene. All I could do was wait.

  I wished I had taken Spanish at school instead of French, it would have helped to understand a little of their argument.

  After many minutes, my stomach started rumbling with hunger and I reached for a plate to start eating my bagel. I accidentally chinked the plate on the island – the sudden sound drew both of their attention.

  The argument stopped completely, sudden silence after a fast paced and eventful storm.

  “Ivy,” Tye’s voice was surprisingly calm, despite the evident shock on his face that I was in the room at all. “Dad, this is Ivy.” He ran his hand up the back of his neck and into his hair again, closing his eyes as if to pray that this moment was in his imagination and not really happening.

  Perhaps I shouldn’t have come. I felt my presence was as unwelcome as a spider the size of a lobster.

  “Erm, it’s nice to meet you,” Tye’s dad looked between his son and me before stepping towards the island. He appeared just as awkward and uncomfortable as this strange moment warranted.

  “You too,” I nodded, placing my plate down on the island. It was really quite horrible.