25. Chloe #2
“I’m here, I’m not going anywhere.” I hear distantly.
I feel the strands of my hair brushing out of my face and soft touches caressing my head.
My eyes blink open, and coming into view isn’t my cozy room in the cottage, but the curvature of the gym walls that bend and snake above me with their multicolored rocks.
I look up and see Tyler above me, so close that I realize my head is on his lap.
If I turned my head to the right, I’d nuzzle into his bare stomach. I’m tempted to do just that.
“Hey there, welcome back to earth,” Tyler says, caressing on my forehead in gentle circles.
“How long have I been out?” I ask.
“Maybe ten seconds, if that. You landed on your side, so I’m waiting for the staff to bring over a brace for your neck.”
“My neck feels fine.”
“Well, better safe than sorry. How are you doing otherwise? Any headache?”
I close my eyes and scan my body. My entire body feels heavy, but I think it’s mostly because of the workout we just did. I can feel a slight migraine coming on.
“A little,” I say, looking up at Tyler. He looks so beautiful from this angle.
He does from most angles, but from here, he’s breathtaking.
His auburn hair is always so perfectly styled, but it’s a bit tousled right now, flopped over to the front.
His glasses are down the tip of his nose.
I can see from this close up that he has a sprinkle of freckles on his nose that I never noticed before.
His eyes are so kind. No man has ever looked at me the way Tyler is looking at me.
It’s not sympathy because I’m hurt, but genuine concern and care.
And maybe something else? He is still stroking my hair gently.
I try to sit up, but he presses my shoulders to stay down.
“Chloe, stay down until they bring a brace, please. I know you feel okay, but I just want to make sure.”
“But, you’re so cute that I want to get closer to your face,” I reveal, and his mouth falls open before he starts laughing and looking around the gym .
He glances back at me. “What happened to just friends?” he asks.
“We’re far from friends, Ty.”
“I don’t know if this is you or the concussion talking.”
“Maybe both,” I say, and he chuckles and leans down to gently kiss my lips.
The doctors cleared me for any injuries but said I should refrain from falling asleep for twelve hours because of the slight concussion I sustained. Tyler let out the biggest sigh of relief at the news.
The entire ride back, Tyler’s hand has been on my leg.
He has been moving his index finger in small circles on the inside of my thigh.
Before we arrive at the ranch, I call Annika to tell her the news, but she and Reid are already inside Tyler’s house waiting for us.
Seeing Annika and Reid here disappoints me a bit because I was ready to climb Tyler like a bouldering wall as soon as we passed the threshold.
(Minus the concussion). My skin feels like it’s a million degrees, and the only relief would be to shed my clothes and roll around in a bed with Tyler.
“Oh my god, next time she nearly dies in your care, you call me immediately,” Annika says, running to us, pointing her finger at Tyler.
“How did you guys get inside?” I ask into Annika’s squeezing hug. She always hugs a bit too hard or too soft, but I appreciate the gesture nonetheless. She does her signature hair-petting thing too.
“I have a spare key,” Reid says, gently hugging me. I’ll need him to train Annika on hug etiquette. Reid gives perfect hugs.
“Tyler took perfect care of me. I’m totally fine because of it,” I say, smiling up at him. He pats my lower back, and the four of us head inside.
Tyler heads to the kitchen, I assume, to make some dinner for us all.
He always does it without even asking anyone.
He goes directly into caretaker mode. I find a seat at the corner of the couch in the living room so I have a direct view of him.
He put his shirt back on from climbing. Pity.
It’s covered in chalk and clinging to him in spots around his pecs.
His forearms grip the utensil and he is mixing something aggressively, I can see the muscles in his arms and chest contract.
I want to run over there and smother my face in-between his taut chest muscles.
I wonder if Annika and Reid would be upset if I kicked them out right now.
Reid interrupts my viewing pleasure by draping a blanket over me on the couch. I look at him and smile.
“I’m glad you are okay, Chloe. Do you need anything?” he asks, and my heart could explode. Lately, Reid seems more like Annika’s boyfriend than my friend, too. I forgot that we’ve known each other just as long.
“Can you get Dandy?” I ask.
“Beat you to it,” Annika calls from behind the couch, and my fluffy white cat pounces down and curls up against me.
After dinner, we gather out on the back porch, and Reid starts a bonfire.
Tyler brings out ingredients to make s’mores.
Long past the sun falling behind the hills and the fire fizzling out, we stay curled up in blankets, talking for hours about everything and nothing.
I look around at my friends, my family. I lean over and lay my head on Tyler, who is sitting next to me on the loveseat, butterflies scurrying in my stomach as I become eager to begin this new chapter.