36. TYLER
Chapter 36
TYLER
T he bar is packed tonight, even more so than usual for a Saturday night. I’m cleaning the bar top with a white rag as one of my good friends, Gus, comes to sit across from me on one of the only empty stools. I know exactly what he wants to do—talk about Noah. And that’s the last thing I want to do. Not after the way things went last night. I can’t believe Noah would give Thomas a chance like that, knowing it would hurt me.
I haven’t felt that jealous since he brought Jeremiah here, and I can admit it wasn’t my proudest moment snapping at him like that. But I can’t regret it. It led to that kiss—the one I’ve been dreaming about ever since. Still, the rage I felt flowing through my veins reminded me that I’ll never be over Noah Milner. It also reinforced that I’ll do anything to make him mine again.
“Tequila, por favor?” my friend Gus says with a grin, and I narrow my eyes.
“Ah, got it. You want to talk. But if you look around, dear friend, it’s kinda busy. So, for now, I’ll pass.”
“Yeah, no.” He chuckles. “You’re not getting out of this one that easy.”
I get the shot of tequila for him and slide it toward him, along with some lime and salt. Instead of paying attention to that, he takes it straight and grimaces.
“How’s it going with your little love ?” he asks, and I snort.
“Is there a point to this conversation?” I ask him, annoyed. “Just spit it out.”
“How are you holding up, Ty?” he asks me, his face serious. “I’m worried about you.”
“Well, I could be better,” I admit. “Things are tense at home with Scarlett and Noah. You know how they feel about each other.”
“That can’t be easy.” He nods slowly, and I sigh.
I clear my throat. “He also hates me.” Hate is the understatement of the year, but it hurts to talk about so I keep it simple. “And with good reason.”
“And what’s the reason?”
“I made him a promise to leave Scarlett,” I sigh. “And I didn’t do it?—”
“Fuck, Ty.” Gus grimaces. “What the hell.”
“I know.” I nod, then tuck my chin to my chest. “I was going to leave her before he got home, but then he got hurt and came home way earlier than expected. I had already lined up a lawyer, but I had to get the rest of my affairs in order. I need to sell the bar. I had to get it ready for that. I don’t know, man. But he won’t hear me out. And now he’s?—”
“Speak of the devil and he shall appear,” Gus says, and I look toward the door just to see him coming in—not alone.
My heart squeezes in my chest and goosebumps break out over my skin as I watch Noah and Thomas make their way to the darts. Neither one of them has a drink in their hand, but my man is wearing someone else’s jacket. Again. It’s as if he wants to piss me off and make me jealous. He knows it’s my night at work, and he comes here on his date? What the fuck for?
“He’s on a date,” I tell him. “With one of my friends.”
“Ouch.” He flinches for me. “That’s gotta hurt.”
“Yeah,” I say slowly. “Can’t say it feels good.”
“So what are you gonna do about it?”
“Nothing.” I shrug. “Let him go on his stupid date. I’m over it,” I lie.
“You’ve got to be kidding me, Tyler,” he groans. “You’re giving up?”
“I’m not giving up,” I growl, leaning over the bar top again, getting closer to him so people don’t hear what we’re talking about. I look past him, and Noah’s eyes are flitting from Gus to me. “I’m just tying up loose ends.”
“Like what?”
My eyes connect with his once more, ignoring Noah. “I need to show him he’s the only one for me. And to do that, I need to keep all my promises.”
Just as Gus is about to reply, Noah makes his way over to us and leans into me. I get a whiff of his cologne, and my nostrils flare. He smiles at me sweetly, but I can tell he’s going to do something to irritate me. I can feel it in my bones.
“Can I get two shots of Jameson?” he asks me, and I shouldn’t be surprised, it’s his favorite. “Please?”
“Did you take your pain meds?” I ask through gritted teeth.
“No.” He shakes his head with narrowed eyes. “I’m taking Ibuprofen now.”
“Since when?” My nose wrinkles, and I try to think about why he hasn’t told me this.
“Can you just get me two shots, Dad?” he snaps.
I narrow my eyes at him, and he does the same, but because I just want to have a chill night, I do as he asks, getting him the two shots of Jameson. One for him, one for Thomas.
“How are you getting home?” I ask him as I hand them over.
“Who said I’ll be home tonight?” he says, a snarky tone laced with his words.
“Oh.” I nod. “So that’s how we’re playing this.”
“No one’s playing anything,” Noah snaps, and my nostrils flare. “I met someone who likes me and I’m gonna give him a chance.”
Gus coughs, hiding his face behind his hand, but I can tell he finds this amusing.
Grabbing Noah by the jacket, I pull him into me until my lips are against the shell of his ear. “So give him a chance, baby.” Noah stiffens, and I smile. “Fuck him good for me, yeah? Then tell me about it later.”
“What the fuck’s your problem now, Tyler?” he growls.
“You’re the one bringing him to my bar for your little date. Where you knew I would see you.” I roll my eyes because frankly, it’s childish. “If you want me to pay attention to you, all you had to do was say that.”
“I don’t need your attention?—”
“I beg to differ.” I shrug. “Now why don’t you take him out for dinner and get the fuck out of here?”
“Are you kicking me out?” He clenches his jaw, and I grin. “Because that’s low even for you.”
“I am kicking you out,” I affirm. “This round is on me, then you will get your date the fuck out of my bar, and you can fuck him at his house.”
“He’s your friend too.”
“He’ll stop being my friend the moment your cock goes inside of him.” I shrug, kissing his cheek sweetly. “So think about that.”
Noah pulls away, a frown on his face, and he looks at me. When the sky-blue of his eyes connects with mine, my stomach flutters. Fuck, I hate everything about this.
“Fine,” Noah growls. “I’ll be home later.”
“Thought so.” I nod.
“Watch it, Tyler.”
I grin and wink at him. “Don’t stay out too late, baby.”
“Fuck off.”
I laugh as he turns away from me and goes back to Thomas. Gus just watches me with amusement, that is, until I give him all of my attention once more.
“You’re so fucked,” he says, and I nod. “And so is he.”
“He doesn’t care.”
“Bullshit.” He laughs. “That wasn’t the face of someone who didn’t care. And he came here to rile you up. To rub it in your face.”
“I know.” I grin, because even I know Noah can’t stay away from me for long. It’s just a matter of time until he breaks and gives in. “I’m going to seduce him. Make it to where he has no choice but to want to be with me.”
“You do that, buddy.” Gus chuckles. “But he’s not going to make it easy for you.”
“I know,” I reply, watching as Noah and Thomas leave the bar. “But I have my ways. And it’s Noah. We’ve been in love for a goddamned decade. Thomas-nobody isn’t going to take him away from me with two conversations.”
Gus nods at that. “Let’s hope you’re right.”
Yeah, really. Let’s hope I am.
Or this is going to be really painful.
“Well, it’s time I get going,” I tell him, wanting to go home and wait for Noah. There’s no way in hell he’s going to bed without talking to me first. “I need to go home.”
Gus smirks, and I can tell he sees right through me. “Alright, man.”
“Have a good night,” I tell him, then walk away.
I speed all the way home, hoping Noah is there, hoping he didn’t go home with Thomas. But when I finally get here, his truck is missing. God fucking damn it.
I punch the steering wheel three times, then breathe in deeply. But just as I get out of my truck, he pulls up behind me. I sigh in relief, leaning against my vehicle to wait for him. If he thinks he’s getting out of this, he has another thing coming. All I know is that I need to know if they had sex. I need to know if he betrayed me.
Noah gets out of his truck, walks right toward me, then stops in his tracks when he sees me. He’s tense, a vein bulging angrily on his forehead, and he narrows his eyes on me. But I don’t care if he’s pissed off—I’m angrier than he is.
“What do you want, Tyler?” he snaps. “Why are you waiting for me?”
I breathe in deeply as he gets closer and closer until his shoes touch mine, and I wrap a hand around his throat and slam him against the side of my truck. He gasps, and I tighten my hand. “What the fuck was that, Noah?” I ask through gritted teeth. “And don’t say it was nothing—I know better. You wanted me to be jealous. So here I am. Fucking crazy over you. Just like you wanted me.”
I let go of his throat slightly, but he doesn’t even cough. Instead, he narrows his eyes but stays quiet.
“Deny it,” I growl. “Tell me I’m imagining it.”
“You’re imagining it.”
“Tell me what you did with him,” I demand, my body turning hot at the possibility of him having sex with someone else. Hot with anger. Hot with rage. Just hot. “Did you put your cock inside of him?”
“And if I did?”
I slam his head against the window, and he wraps his hand around my neck now too, turning my body toward the door and slamming me against it—hard. The wind is knocked out of my lungs, and now we’re just standing here, hands wrapped around each other’s throats. I let go, but he doesn’t.
My eyes are narrowed as his hand goes slack. “You’re a fucking traitor,” I say through gritted teeth.
“No more than you are.”
That hurts, but I can’t fault him for it. So I just nod. “Are we even?”
He contemplates it. “No.”
“Did you fuck him?”
“It’s none of your business, Tyler.” He smiles sweetly, and I snarl.
“Answer me.”
“No.” His eyes flash with lust and longing as he looks at me, and my cock thickens in my jeans. My body tightens, and I pray for friction. For anything he’ll give me. “I didn’t fuck him.”
“Did you kiss him?”
“I did.”
I grit my teeth, my molars grinding at his answer. “Fuck you.”
He smirks. “You’ve always wanted that from me, haven’t you, love?”
“Not anymore,” I lie, and he falters.
Noah’s eyes narrow on me, and he palms my dick over my jeans, rubbing his hand over it. “ Liar .”
My nostrils flare as I shove him off me. “Go kiss Thomas,” I tell him as I try to walk past him, and he grabs my arm and pulls until we’re chest to chest. “Stop it.”
“No,” he growls, grabbing the back of my neck and biting my bottom lip roughly, then kissing it better. “Not when I want to kiss you instead.”
I shiver, a chill running down my spine as I close the distance between us and moan. I suck on his bottom lip slowly, the kiss languid, and he slips his tongue between my lips. Our tongues tangle and stroke, and then I push him away. His chest heaves as he pants, and I shake my head. “I’m going to make it to where you never think of him again. I’m going to fucking ruin you, Noah.”
His eyes widen, and I step toward him once more.
“You’re going to fucking burn for me,” I whisper. “Your heart is going to bleed for me. And you’re going to go out of your fucking mind with want for me—just the same way I feel for you.”
Noah gulps but doesn’t say anything else, and with that look burned into my mind forever, I walk away.
Just as we’ve been walking away from each other for the past decade.
But this time it’s different.
This time he’s going to chase me.