The Love Series Complete Box Set (93 page)

After about two hours of pointless shopping, we walk past a Starbucks and Maddy pulls me inside. “I need to sit. My ankles are swelling like crazy.” I glance down at her feet, and even though they look fine to me, I choose not to argue with the pregnant lady.

After we each get a chocolate chip cookie and an iced tea, we sit in a small table off to the side, away from anyone else. That’s when Maddy’s plan comes into focus. She doesn’t say anything; she knows better than that. I’ll just answer what she asks. Instead, she gives me the death-ray stare, indicating that she wants to know
everything.

I pop a piece of cookie into my mouth and stare back at her. She doesn’t relent, so I roll my eyes and sigh. “Fine! I’ll talk.” Maddy leans forward across the table, well, as far as her protruding belly will allow her. “He broke up with me,” I admit shamefully. Even though she reaches for my hand comfortingly, the look that passes across her face conveys that she’d figured as much.

“I’m sorry, sweetie.” Her eyes crinkle in the corners as she squeezes my hand. “Why haven’t you called? You know I’m here for you, right?”

I take a sip of my drink and chew nervously on the straw. “I don’t know, Maddy. I was embarrassed and ashamed. Honestly, I was too sad to do much of anything.” I take a deep breath before admitting the next part. “He told me that he loved me first, before I told him about the cheating. Before he broke up with me, I mean.”

Maddy’s face clearly conveys her shock and concern. When she doesn’t say anything, I nod and add, “I know. I told him that I loved him too, but after I told him about the text and the cheating, well, I guess love wasn’t enough.” Shrugging my shoulders, I take another sip of my drink as I try to swallow my tears too.

After a few minutes of tense silence, Maddy asks, “Do you think you guys will get back together? I mean, have you seen him or anything like that?”

“I doubt it. I really screwed up. I’m pretty sure he’s done with me.” I want to hold on to the small hope that maybe we can work things out. But, my grip on that idea is slipping.

With a knowing look in her eyes, Maddy breaks off a chunk of cookie and pops it into her mouth. “People screw up all the time,” she says around her food. “Just because you make a mistake, it doesn’t mean that it can’t be fixed.” She takes the last piece of cookie and a sip of her drink. I know she’s talking about her and Reid. But how often do things work out like that in real life? That stuff is better left to romance novels and chick flicks. I doubt I’ll ever be that lucky.

As we’re clearing our garbage from the table, Maddy notices a guy in the line. “Mel,” she whispers to me. “That guy is totally checking you out.”

I peek over at him, trying to make it look like I’m reading the board hanging above the barista. He doesn’t look familiar, but when he makes eye contact with me he smiles at me like he’s just won the lottery.

Maddy sees it too. “Ohh, he’s adorable. Go talk to him.” She’s nearly pushing me across the small café.

I actually have to pry her hands off my shoulders. “Shhh, I will not.” My attempt at
not
drawing attention to us fails miserably and the cute guy actually starts laughing at us.

And, yes he is cute. Light blond hair, soft green eyes, and an athletic build—yeah, he’s pretty easy on the eyes. But still, I’m not ready to strike up a conversation with some random guy. The only time I’ve ever done that was when I first met Bryan, and well, though this guy may be cute, he’s not Bryan.

“Melanie, just go talk to him. Look, he’s staring at you!” Maddy’s voice is getting louder as we get closer to the door. He catches my name and as he steps away from the line, he walks toward us. “Melanie? I thought that was you.” He jams his hands in his front pockets nervously and Maddy looks at me inquisitively.

I still have no freaking clue who the heck he is. I’m sure my face conveys those thoughts, because he laughs as he says, “You don’t remember me, do you?” He tilts his head to the side and I really can’t place him.

“No, I’m sorry.” I try to walk past him, but he gently places his hand on my arm; there’s no force in the move, but he clearly wants me to remember. “We met at Lindsey’s party, back in December. I’m Tyler. Tyler Cole. You really don’t remember me? We, umm . . .” As his words trail off, my stomach drops to the floor.

It’s him.

Maddy sees the look of fear and sickness -that passes across my face. “Are you okay, Melanie? Do you want to get out of here?” She loops her arm through mine so that we’re locked at the elbow.

I can’t really get any words out of my mouth, but I know that I need to get away from here. I want to run. I need to move my feet, but they’re super-glued to the floor. As my stomach returns to where it belongs and my brain starts to function again, my desire to run fades. Swiftly, I realize that I do want to talk with him. I have to know exactly what happened that night. I feel like it’s the only way I’ll ever be able to move past it.

Pulling my arm from hers, I finally get my mouth to work. “I’m good; I promise. I’ll be out in a few minutes.” She just nods and waddles out to a bench that is set up in between two kiosks.

“Can I get you anything?” Tyler asks as he walks me over to the table that Maddy and I just vacated.

I shake my head and opt for bluntness. “That night fucked-up my life pretty good, you know.” Tyler recoils from my words and his brows knit together. My anger, though outwardly directed at him, is inwardly focused on my own stupidity and shame.

A puzzled and hurt look washes across his face before he says anything. “Okay,” he draws out the word, clearly shocked by my anger. “I don’t really know how, though.” He folds his arms across his broad chest and leans back in his chair.

The nothingness of the last six weeks flashes before me and anger boils like lava in my veins. With a strangely even and calm voice, I manage to speak rather than yell. “You don’t know how sleeping with you when I had a boyfriend screwed things up for me?”

“Whoa! Wait a second,” he blurts out loudly enough to catch the attention of a few people standing on line. Realizing his little outburst, he leans across the table and adjusts his volume. “We did
not
sleep together.”

No one could mistake the look in Tyler’s eyes for anything but honesty and sincerity.

“What did you just say?” I demand, instantly needing him to clarify his statement.

His eyes scan my face, searching for any sign of me playing around with him. When all he finds is uncertainty, he takes a deep breath and rakes his hand through his platinum hair. “I said, ‘we did not sleep together.’ We met at the party and started talking. We were actually having a great time, until you got some text or call. Then you got plastered.” Pieces of that night start to fall in place. He’s right. We were legitimately just talking until Courtney texted me. I still can’t place the rest of the night, so I silently prompt him to continue.

“Well, when you could no longer stand on your own, I helped you over to a couch and that’s when you started talking about your ex-boyfriend,” he admits sheepishly.

“I’m sorry, but did you just say,
ex?
” I’m sure that my face is twisted in confusion.

“Yeah, at least that’s what you told me. Look, I wouldn’t have kissed you if you said you had a boyfriend. I’m not a douche like that.” Tyler holds his hands up in front of his chest in a sign of mock-surrender. His eyes convey his honesty yet again and I can’t
not
believe him.

Holy shit! I can’t believe this. Could this whole fuck-up with Bryan really have been avoided?

“So, you’re telling me the truth? We never . . .” I motion my hand between the two of us as if that somehow clarifies what I mean to say.

Tyler laughs sympathetically and shakes his head. “No, we didn’t. Believe me, I wanted to. We started fooling around and you were talking about finding another room, but you couldn’t even stand up. You clearly weren’t with it and like I said, I’m not a dick like that, so I wasn’t going to take advantage of you.”

I gasp and my hand flies to cover my mouth as I realize that he’s right, we didn’t sleep together.

“Do you believe me now?” he questions apprehensively.

Speaking through the fingers that are still covering my mouth, I nod and say, “Yes. Oh my God! I can’t believe that I thought . . .”

Recalling visions of that night, the line of events becomes crystal clear. I was drunk. He was kind. We made out. Maybe we fooled around a little. I passed out. And then he drove me home. That’s it. No sex. No cheating. Just me stumbling through my front door in the middle of the night and Reid helping me to bed before I woke anyone else up.

Holy mother of freaking shit!

Remembering one piece of information, I whisper, “But then how did I end up in a guy’s shirt and bra-less?” Honestly, when I woke up the next morning in someone else’s shirt and my bra was missing I just figured
everything
not
nothing
had happened.

“As I was driving you home, you pulled it off and threw it out the window.” He laughs, and adds, “You were actually trying to take off your shirt too, but I managed to stop you before you got to that point. All of the moving around must have made you sick because you threw up. I had my gym bag in the back and I helped you change out of your shirt.” Tyler smiles sympathetically at me and then quickly sobers when he realizes the sad look on my face. “Are you okay? You don’t look so hot.” Tyler’s friendly tone brings me back to the here-and-now.

Quickly recovering, I stammer, “Yeah, I’m fine.” Numbly standing from my chair, I vaguely catch a glimpse of Maddy through the window. “I just have to go now.”

Tyler stands and walks me to the door. As Maddy walks over to us, he seems like he wants to say something more, but honestly, at this point, I just need him to go. So I dismiss him before he can say anything else. “I guess I’ll see you around, Tyler.”

Awkwardly shoving his hands in his pockets again, he says, “Um, yeah sure. See ya.” And then he turns and walks away.

Maddy wastes no time in her interrogating. “What the hell was that about? What happened?”

Because no amount of explaining will clear the air, and because one small word can answer both of her questions, I simply say, “Nothing.”

The rest of spring break goes by too quickly. And before I know it, I’m heading back to Ithaca for the final month of school. I was quick to take Mom and Evan up on their offer to drive me back. Evan came over a few nights during the week and it was a little weird having a man in the house, but seeing how happy Mom is when he’s around, it was pretty easy to get used to.

One night when Evan wasn’t over, Mom confessed that she talked to him about their ‘relationship.’ She used air quotes that time. Much to her surprise, but not to mine, he felt the same way. She figured that since he had never been married, that he wouldn’t be interested in a serious relationship. He stunned her into silence when his only answer was that he hadn’t met the right woman yet.

About ten minutes into the drive, Evan turns down the radio and makes eye contact with me through the rear-view mirror. “So, Melanie, what’s your major? Your mom never mentioned it.”

I lean forward and rest my chin on Mom’s shoulder. Poking her in the arm, I take the opportunity to joke around with her. “Why’s that, Mom? Don’t want to talk to your boyfriend about your boring daughter?” I draw out the word boyfriend to emphasize their newly and officially defined relationship.

She calmly places her hand over mine which rests atop her shoulder and pats it gently. “No, my dear.” She quips with more than a little bit of sarcasm. “I didn’t tell him because you never told me.” She sticks her tongue out at me and smirks.

Her words sober me. I really have been out of touch. Having only recently decided on my major, it’s something of which I’m very proud.

Beaming from ear to ear, I share my plan. “I actually just declared my major at the beginning of the semester. I’m going to study early childhood education with a focus on children with special needs. I start doing some field work next semester.”

Mom twists in her seat and her face is beautifully lit up with pride. “That is a wonderful choice, Melanie.”

“That’s great,” Evan chimes in. “What made you decide that?”

Neither one of them knows about Emmie, but she is the reason I made the decision. “I just figured helping kids who might not have all of the advantages as everyone else is a pretty good way to spend the next thirty years of my life.”

“Oh, that’s perfect for you, sweetie. You’re so great with kids.” Mom folds her hands across her lap, seemingly unable to contain her joy.

Evan places his hand atop Mom’s and he laces their fingers together. It’s a sweet gesture that makes my heart spill over with happiness. Meeting my eyes in the rearview mirror once again, Evan’s face is decorated with a proud look not unlike Mom’s.

“A buddy of mine from the fire department has a kid with Autism. She goes to a summer camp right near Ithaca every year. If you’d like, I can call him and get some information for you. Maybe they need a counselor or something like that.” Anyone else might mistake his offer as one meant to try and win me over, but I can see the honestly in his eyes reflected to me in the mirror. He’s being genuinely kind.