Chapter 14
Tyler
“Tyler, you’re late,” Joe barks from the living room when Matt opens the front door for me.
Not even Joe can get me down this morning, even though I know it’ll be short-lived. My smile is wide as I step inside his house. “It’s five minutes, and last night’s security is still here, Mr. Bassham.”
Joe’s ringing cell cuts off any additional reprimands. Matt rolls his eyes where Joe can’t see him, and I laugh in agreement and follow him into the kitchen.
“You’re in a perky mood. You have a good night?” he asks over his shoulder as he walks toward the fridge, grabbing a bottle of water—the one thing we ask of all personal security clients, allowing us to store plenty for staff throughout the job.
Every glorious moment of last night flies to the forefront of my mind.
Who could’ve guessed that a night I thought was ruined by the untimely appearance of my deadbeat father would end with the sexiest woman I’ve ever met coming on my lap?
While I would’ve preferred the first time I came with Audrey to be inside of her, there isn’t one thing I would change about our night together.
It was perfection. A memory I’ll forever replay and will never not be turned on by.
I clear my throat to bring myself back to the present, which is, unfortunately, Joe’s kitchen. “Uh, yeah, it was a good night.” I hold up the bag I brought in. “And I got donuts from my favorite place. How’d it go here? Anything exciting?”
Matt glances over my shoulder toward the living room. He lowers his voice when he responds, “He had some weird-ass business meeting at, like, ten at night with three guys who looked like all of their business meetings happen at night, if you know what I mean.”
I cross my arms over my chest and lower my voice to match his. “I know exactly what you mean. I have some…concerns about this job and about him.”
Matt nods. “I believe I may share those. There’s just something off about him. Like, I wouldn’t trust him if my life depended on it. And then there’s those charges that were brought against him a few years ago.”
Playing devil’s advocate, I reason, “Yeah, but they were dropped. So maybe there really isn’t anything and this guy is just an asshole.”
With a shrug, Matt agrees. “That’s a good point. Not every person charged is guilty, I’ll give you that. But still…”
I sigh. “I know.”
We’re silent for a few moments before he claps me on the shoulder. “Alright, well, I’m heading out. I’ll be back tonight, so I’ll see you later. Text me if you need anything.”
“Will do, man. Get some sleep.”
My only response is one final nod as he stalks out of the kitchen.
The front door closes a few seconds later, and I scrub a hand down my face.
Even though I wanted to, I didn’t stay the night with Audrey.
Which meant I should’ve gone right to sleep after I got home, but I still had too much adrenaline running through my veins.
When I was lying in bed, replaying my night with her, it didn’t take long before I was hard all over again, the sounds she made echoing in my ears.
Once I took care of that situation, I was able to fall asleep, but it was a restless one. Thank goodness, I’m still riding the high from last night, or I’d feel much worse. Maybe I can find a few minutes to stop by the coffee shop later, and then I can say hi to Maggie while I’m at it.
I pull out my phone and send a quick text before going to find Joe to discuss any meetings he has for the day.
Me: I hope you have a great day, mama. I can’t wait to see you again.
I don’t know exactly when you start calling people by terms of endearment in relationships, but after last night, I think we’re there.
I pocket my phone and go to find Joe, preparing for the euphoria to slowly drift away.
“Hey, Maggie, can I get the fastest Americano ever?”
Maggie scowls at me as I trudge across the coffee shop to the counter. “Lucky for you, Americanos are incredibly easy, so yes. Why do you look like shit?”
I return her scowl and hand her my credit card. “Thanks for pointing that out. I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night.”
“Sheesh, so grouchy today,” she murmurs as she hands me back my card.
I sigh. “Sorry, Maggie. I’m just tired, and this client of ours is driving me crazy.”
Maggie shrugs and smiles. “I forgive you. Ian told me about this job. I know how hard you’re working. But don’t make a habit of being a dickhead, okay? At least not me.”
I chuckle. “I promise, I won’t.”
With a wide grin, she says, “Well, in that case, I won’t spit in your coffee.”
“Glad to hear it.” I shake my head in amusement as she calls the next customer up to place their order, and I move down to the end of the counter.
Maggie and I’s relationship has developed into one of a brother and sister, and I love it, having been an only child. And she makes one of my best friends insanely happy, which is an added bonus.
“Tyler.” One of the other baristas slides my cup across the counter as she calls my name.
“Thank you.” I start toward the door and call out over my shoulder, “See ya, Maggie.”
“Bye, Tyler!”
I push through the door and slip on my sunglasses to block out the afternoon sun.
By the time I make it back to the restaurant, my phone’s going off.
Audrey: Sorry, I didn’t text you earlier. I was out of the door early this morning…but I’ve been thinking about you. Hope you have a good day.
Knowing she’s been thinking about me, my heart rate picks up. I’m about to text her back when another text comes in.
Jack: I heard from your dad this morning. Give me a call when you can.
My jaw muscle tenses as I grit my teeth. I was wondering if my dad would contact Jack after last night. He certainly didn’t waste any time.
“Tyler, here he comes,” Eli, who’s working alongside me today, mutters as he steps up to my side.
I glance up to catch Joe and the man he was meeting with walking toward us, still deep in conversation.
While this is a different man than the other day, like the other, there’s something familiar about this one.
Like I’ve seen him before. Though that isn’t entirely out of the realm of possibilities, considering the events and people our company works with.
But I still can’t place either of their faces.
When Joe’s even with us, he reaches out his hand to shake and pats the man on the shoulder with the other. “Senator, it was good talking to you. I’ll be in touch.”
Senator? That’s interesting. Guess that’s why he looks familiar. I’ve probably seen him on the news.
The unknown senator nods and tells Joe he looks forward to his call. Then the man nods at Eli and me before walking out the door.
“I need to go to the bank, and then I have one more meeting across town,” Joe announces.
I nod and gesture to the door. “No problem at all. We’re ready whenever you are.”
As we all pile back into the SUV, I roll my shoulders to relieve some of the tension creeping in. Maybe Audrey will let me come over tonight.
That thought has a small smile splitting my cheeks, hoping to turn this day back around to how I felt this morning.
I walk into the gym, looking around for the guys. When I see Ian off to the side, doing some chest presses, I head toward the locker room to drop off my bag. By the time I get back to where Ian is, Nate and Jack have joined him.
They all turn and greet me as I approach.
“Tyler, how’s the job? We miss having you around the office,” Nate chirps.
I throw him a deadpan stare as I start to warm up. “What you mean to say is that you miss having me around because you can’t give me all the work you hate doing.”
Nate laughs and shrugs. “That might be part of it.”
I work my ass off, and I know they used to give me a lot of the smaller tasks because they trusted I would get them done and get them done well.
It never bothered me. Quite the opposite, actually.
It made me feel good that they knew they could trust me.
And over time, the tasks they gave me became more important.
“At least I know if you ever fire me, you’ll be miserable without me,” I reason.
Jack steps over to us after finishing his set, his face overly serious as he reprimands, “No one’s firing anyone.”
I chuckle. “Yeah, yeah, I know.”
I continue warming up as the guys just stare at me, every few seconds glancing at each other with little grins. “What the fuck is wrong with you three? You’re all starting to freak me out.”
Ian looks at Jack, then at Nate. Nate shakes his head and looks at Jack.
Jack growls in annoyance. “Fine, you chickenshits. We—”
“Which includes our wives,” Ian interrupts with his contribution.
Nodding his agreement, Jack goes on. “Yes, thank you. We, including our wives, want to know what happened with the coffee shop woman? Have you seen her again?”
“Really, it’s a need at this point, because Mags is driving me crazy with questions. I told her to just text you and ask, but she felt like you didn’t want her to know since you didn’t tell her, so she didn’t want to bug you about it.”
My wide smile is instantaneous.
“Oh, well, I guess there’s our answer,” Nate comments while gesturing to my face.
I laugh. “Yeah, I actually did run into her again. We went out last night.” My smile falters when I think about our dinner and Jack’s text. I lock eyes with him. “My dad interrupted our dinner. But besides that, we had a great time, and I’ll definitely be seeing her again.”
“What a piece of shit,” Ian mutters.
Nate nods, but adds with a grin, “Sounds like you didn’t let it ruin your night.”
Thinking back to how our evening ended, I rub my hand over my lips. “We certainly did not.”
After a few more minutes of ribbing from the guys, Nate and Ian wander off, leaving me and Jack alone.
I start putting weights on the barbell, then glance over at Jack. “Sorry, I didn’t call you earlier about your text.”
He sighs and runs his fingers through his hair. “Don’t worry about it. I hated to even bring it up, but I guess it makes sense why he reached out to me, considering he talked to you.”
Shaking my head in frustration, I lean my forearms on the barbell, clasping my hands together.
I start to ask a question, then stop. I don’t want to ask because it sounds pathetic, but the wounded, desolate kid inside me needs it.
“This is probably stupid, but do you think there’s any chance he really has had a change of heart and just wants to get to know me? ”
If there’s anyone who’d understand my hope for this, it’d be Jack. His mom dropped him off at my grandma’s house and never looked back. I’m sure if his mom had shown up, he would’ve hoped for the same thing, no matter how unlikely it is.
Jack stares off into the gym, his jaw working back and forth. When he finally looks at me, I already know his answer. “I don’t want to bullshit you, Tyler. You deserve better than that. It’s always a possibility.” His expression is grim when he finishes, “But I doubt it.”
I drop my head and stare at my sneakers.
I knew that would be the answer, because I doubt it, too.