Chapter 26
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
SOPHIE
“Tyler,” I breathe out, my heart squeezing as I take in the backyard.
The firepit is on, smoke curling up into the star-studded sky.
Our striped blanket is spread out over our sacred stretch of grass, pillows strewn over top.
The fountain sodas we stopped for on the way over sit in a drink container off to the side, and the blanket is strewn with snacks.
Jelly beans and Tyler’s favorite gummy worms and the potato chips and pretzels I like to eat together whenever I’m in a snacky mood are all lined up, waiting for us to tear into them.
I know without him having to say a word that he did this to try and replace the memory of the night I saw him here with someone else, and I look up at him, sure that no one has ever been this in love before. “You didn’t have to do this.”
Coming to stand in front of me, Tyler slides his hands around either side of my neck, bending to kiss one of my cheeks.
The other. “I did. This is our place. I hate that our story started when you saw me here with someone else. I can’t make you unsee what you saw, but I wanted to give this place back to you. To us.”
Oh, my heart.
Undone, I lift up, pressing my mouth to his.
“Our story didn’t start that night. I don’t think it ever actually started at all.
It just was. Is. Always has been. That night opened my eyes, the same way the morning you walked in on me opened yours.
One way or another, we were always going to end up here. ”
Tyler smiles, leaning down and laying his forehead on mine again, his hands on my cheeks.
“I love you, Sophie,” he says, and at his words, my heart simply takes flight.
“I’ve always loved you, but it’s different now.
It’s more. It’s everything. You are my most important person.
My best friend in the world. My future and my forever. ”
He repeats the words I spoke out loud in the car when I didn’t know he was listening, and my heart beats with the deepest love.
My eyes blur with tears I blink back so I can see him clearly.
I don’t want to miss a thing. Tyler’s deep blue eyes are steady on mine, a hand still cupping my cheek and an arm around my waist, drawing me closer to him.
The perfect spring air wraps itself around us, swirling with just a hint of the summer to come.
The world is silent. Still. It’s just Tyler and me and the darkness of night, and I know I’ll remember this moment for the rest of my days.
Reaching up, I brush some hair off his forehead, my fingers trailing down, tracing his stubbled jaw before cupping his cheek in my hand.
When he leans into my touch, my heart squeezes with love, every part of me full of tenderness for this sweet, gentle, most amazing man who unbelievably, astonishingly, somehow, belongs to me.
“I love you, too. So much, Tyler.” I use my thumb to brush away the tear that falls from the corner of his eye, and the love that fills my chest is overwhelming in its enormity.
“I didn’t know it could feel like this either,” I say, repeating his words from earlier tonight.
“So…” I trail off, unable to form a complete thought, and I wonder if maybe some feelings are so huge they are simply indescribable.
“Perfect,” Tyler says, leaning down and pressing his lips to mine.
“Amazing.” Another kiss.
“Incredible.” Kiss.
“Breathtaking.” Kiss.
“Extraordinary.”
Tyler kisses me one more time, long and lingering, his tongue slipping past my lips to sweep against mine, and I press up on my toes, trying to get closer to him, wrapping both my arms around his neck and plastering my body to his.
“You are extraordinary, Sophie. My love,” he whispers, kissing the corner of my mouth, my cheek, my jaw. “My girl. My everything.”
My heart simply gives out at those last words, and I cling onto him like a koala, letting out a half laugh. “I don’t think I’m going to survive you.”
I can feel Tyler’s grin against my hair.
He reaches up and unwinds one of my arms from his neck, taking a small step back and pressing my hand against his chest. His heart thrashes around under my palm.
“Do you feel that?” he asks, his lips tipping up in a smile.
“That’s what loving you does to me, Soph. And hearing you love me too.”
“I do,” I say quietly. “So much.” And then I grin, laughing and throwing myself at him. He catches me on the fly, hands under my ass as I wrap my legs around his waist. “This is my favorite night. We’re going to be insufferable, aren’t we?”
Tyler grins, leaning in to kiss my nose. “I seriously hope so. I fucking love you.”
Still holding onto me, he takes a couple steps back and sits down on the blanket, settling me onto his lap and reaching over to grab the bag of jelly beans.
“You already mixed the flavors?” I ask with a grin.
Tyler kisses my cheek and then digs into the bag and grabs four.
“Open,” he says, holding up his hand. I do, and he pops the candy into my mouth, his eyes flashing when I close my lips over his fingers for a second before I let them go, and what even is this night?
I wonder if he’ll think it’s weird if I pinch myself to make sure I’m still wide awake and not stuck in the best dream I’ve ever had.
“You picked two of each flavor,” I say with a happy hum as I swallow.
Tyler grabs our sodas and hands me mine. “Of course I did. I’ve been watching you eat these gross jelly beans for almost twenty years. I know you.”
My grin cannot be contained because he sure does. And there is nothing better than being known by him. “Is it weird that it doesn’t feel all that different?” I wonder.
“What doesn’t?” he asks, taking a sip of his ginger ale and then setting both sodas aside.
I shrug. “Sitting here like this. Being together. You know what I look like naked now. You’ve literally been inside me, and I’m almost positive your fingerprints are still on my ass. But even with all that more, it still feels just like us. I wondered if it would.”
“I did, too,” he admits. “I’m glad it does.
I hoped it would because being your friend is my favorite thing in the world.
” He winks at me, and my belly swoops and swirls.
“But I’m also glad my fingerprints are on your ass, and that you clawed my shoulders so hard I’m going to have your marks there for days.
I want to do what we did tonight a million more times, and don’t even consider sleeping in your room tonight.
For as long as you live in my house, you sleep with me, in my bed.
But I also don’t ever want us to stop being best friends even though I get to see you naked now, which is also the best thing ever. ”
My brain rebels at Tyler’s for as long as you live in my house, because the truth is, I don’t want to live anywhere but his house, even once the repairs on my own are complete. But also because it’s a reminder of the secret I’m keeping. The one I really have to tell him.
“What’s going on in that beautiful brain of yours?
” Tyler asks, tapping the side of my head.
When I hesitate, he wraps an arm around my waist, tugging me higher up his thighs, closer to him, and tucks a stray curl behind my ear.
“Talk to me, Sal. I know you have things to say, and I really love the sound of your voice.”
I take a deep breath and let it out slowly, combing my fingers through his hair. “I want to tell you about the interview I had. The day you…walked in on me.”
He beams at me. “I was hoping you would. It was killing me not to ask you more about it, but that morning in your room, it kind of felt like you told me by accident. Like you told dating app me intentionally because it was easier to tell a stranger, but you weren’t ready to tell anyone for real.”
Smiling, I run a finger down his jaw. “Sometimes I forget you’re, like, wildly intuitive.”
“Nah,” he says with a smile, drawing slow circles over my hips with his thumbs. “I just know you. I’ve always known you.”
I know him, too, which is why I’ve been so damn nervous to tell him everything, but we’re in this now, so it’s time for him to have the truth.
“The interview was for a job at tech firm that focuses on educational technology. I know the firm well—I’ve used a lot of their resources in my work at the foundation.
They’re extremely well-funded and are the biggest innovators in the STEM education space.
I didn’t even know they were hiring until they reached out to me about the open position a couple of weeks before I had the interview. ”
“What’s the position?” Tyler asks.
I take a beat before responding because the answer is still a little unbelievable, even though I’ve been living with it for weeks now. “CEO.”
Tyler’s face explodes into a giant grin. “Holy shit, CEO? That’s incredible, Soph. You would be amazing.”
I laugh a little. “You don’t even know the details.”
Tyler shakes his head, mouth set in a stubborn line that makes me smile.
“I don’t need to know the details. I know you.
You’re brilliant and creative and passionate about what you do.
People look up to you. They hang onto your every word when you speak.
They want to work for you because you make everyone feel important.
Heard.” He flicks my bracelets and then links his finger with mine.
“You were born to lead, and you shine brighter than anyone else in any room you’re in.
That’s serious CEO energy, Soph. Also, you’re super good at all that computer stuff. ”
I snort out a laugh, picking up a gummy worm and throwing it at him. He grins and pops it in his mouth, chewing thoughtfully. “So how did the interview actually go?”