Chapter 24
Audrey
Iwatch in panic as Tyler and the guys stalk across the yard.
The four of them make quite a compelling and formidable sight.
All of them tall, muscular, and with furious tension bunching their muscles.
It’s hard to pull my eyes away from them, but I finally do when they’re almost to where Tim and Becky are standing.
“You better get your ass off my property,” Tim shouts again as he points toward the gate.
Becky steps in front of Tim and places her hand on his chest. Her lips move, but I can’t make out what she says to him before spinning around to face the man. “Rob, you can’t just trespass like this. Why are you here?”
Rob shoves his hands into his pockets, his stance belligerent. “No one was getting back to me, so I wanted to talk to you. I saw all the cars out front and figured there was a party going on.” He shifts his eyes to Tyler. “Tyler, I just wish you would hear me out.”
I take a step forward when Tyler’s body stiffens even more. The need to be next to him, supporting him, makes my head swim. Especially as it mixes with terror that I’m about to be exposed. I’m grateful when Jack reaches over and grips Tyler’s shoulder in silent support.
A deep voice says something quietly, but I can’t tell who said it or what was said. Whatever it is, Rob shakes his head almost immediately. “I’m not waiting anymore. I want to talk to my son, one-on-one.”
Tim reacts by sidestepping his wife and pushing Rob back a step. “The fuck he’s your son. He’s mine and has been for longer than you were ever around.”
Rob charges Tim, and before anyone has time to react, punches him right in the nose.
Shocked gasps fill the air around me from the wives as my hand covers my mouth in disbelief.
Blood gushes down Tim’s face, and I fight the urge to run over there and help him that comes standard with a medical degree.
Jack and Ian grab Rob and drag him into the house, leaving the rest of the guys and Becky to help Tim with his possibly broken nose. Not being able to stop myself any longer, I jog over and place my hand on Tyler’s back, his muscles like stone under my palm.
“Tyler, what can I do?”
I feel helpless. I wish I knew how to make this okay for him. He looks down at me, and his pained expression breaks my heart.
“Can you help my mom with Tim? I need to go figure out what the fuck is happening.”
I run my hand up and down his back, hoping to convey my concern. “Yes, of course. Go. Do what you need to do.”
My heart slams into my ribs when he gives me a kiss on the forehead before storming inside to find Jack and Ian.
I walk over and put my hand on Becky’s back. “Becky, can I help? I’ve had experience with nose injuries before, and I can take a look and help stop the bleeding. If that’s okay?”
The worry I have that I’ll be questioned about that experience leaves me when I realize just how frantic Becky is. “Yes, yes, please. Come on, let’s go inside.”
As we move inside to the guest bathroom, I tell Tim how to pinch his nose to try to stop the bleeding. He sits on the toilet, and Becky grabs some towels.
After the bleeding has slowed and we clean up as much of the blood as possible, I ask, “Can I take a look and see if that could be broken?”
Tim grunts his annoyance and mutters, “If that asshole broke my goddamn nose…”
The hand holding the cold compress drops to his lap, and it doesn’t take me long to make a determination. “You might want to get a doctor to confirm, or at least check to make sure there’s nothing blocking your airway, but I’m pretty sure that it is, in fact, broken.”
I actually know that it’s broken, but I need to play it off like I’m not absolutely sure, since I’m a librarian-turned-personal assistant, not a doctor in her last year of residency. Even if noses are not my specialty.
Tim looks at his wife. “Becky, I love you with all my heart. You’re literally the other half of my soul. But I swear to god, please do not ever throw me another birthday party.”
Becky has her fingers pressed to her lips, and I can’t tell if she’s going to laugh or cry, when a manic bout of laughter echoes through the bathroom. My gaze darts between the two of them, not sure what’s happening.
Tim just chuckles and stands up, shaking his head. I hold out my hand to make sure he isn’t woozy from the loss of blood, but he waves me off. “Oh, I’m fine. My wife has finally lost it, I do believe. But I’m okay.”
I huff a laugh as he ushers her out of the bathroom.
Once I’ve folded the bloody towels, I set them inside the bathtub and close the curtain, not wanting to leave them out in case anyone who doesn’t like the sight of blood needs to use this bathroom.
I would go find the laundry room, but I don’t feel comfortable just wandering through their house.
I’m not sure what to do, so I walk back in the direction we came and find the wives of all the guys sitting in the living room. They all turn to me when I enter the room.
Ella gestures to the couch. “Have a seat. We figured we’d just wait here until the guys are done. We sent the rest of the guests home. You want some wine?”
I drop down onto the cushion. “Please.”
She pours a glass and hands it to me. All of them are watching me as I take a sip, no one saying a word. I balance the glass on my thigh. “I get the feeling you all have some questions.”
Olive lets out a nervous laugh. “Sorry, we clearly suck at this. Ian and Maggie were the last two of us to get together, and she was already friends with Ella before, so she was already kind of part of the group.”
I chuckle and get more comfortable on the couch, ready to settle in for however long this grilling takes. “You can ask whatever you want. I might not be able to answer everything, but I’ll do my best.”
The three of them also get more comfortable, and Ella starts with the first question. “So, are you two together together?”
Maggie playfully smacks her friend’s arm. “Damn, Ella, you couldn’t have started with an easy question first?”
Rubbing her arm, Ella retorts, “I figured I wouldn’t waste any of our time and ask what we really want to know.”
Maggie shrugs her concession, and they all turn back to me expectantly.
I take another sip to buy time. Resting the glass back on my leg, I answer carefully. “We haven’t exactly defined it. We’re more than friends, but I don’t know if you can say we’re, like, boyfriend and girlfriend. Though that sounds weird to call ourselves that since I’m almost forty.”
Maggie waves away my concern. “Tyler’s still in his twenties, so he’s young enough to be able to use that label.”
I cringe at the reminder.
Everyone laughs at my reaction, and Maggie continues. “Does the age difference bother you?”
“I was a little worried about it at first. But Tyler had a good point that if the age difference was reversed, I wouldn’t think twice, which is true. I just wasn’t sure how his friends or parents would react to me being seven years older. Which I know isn’t a lot, but it’s enough.”
“What about your family? Would they care?” Olive asks.
I look in her direction. “It’s just my mom, and she won’t care.”
Olive frowns. “You haven’t told her?”
Not wanting them to think that I don’t want to tell her about Tyler, I explain, “They’ve met, but it was a few weeks ago, and we hadn’t been seeing each other long, so I didn’t tell my mom everything about our relationship.
But I know she won’t care.” A small smile grows thinking back to her asking about him. “And she really liked him.”
“He’s a great guy.” The love in Maggie’s voice warms my heart.
The way this group cares about each other tells me everything I need to know about what amazing people they are.
Ella chimes in, “He’s like a little brother to all of us. And we’re fiercely protective of him.”
I recognize a warning when I hear one, and I can’t blame her. I’d do the same.
With an understanding smile, I reply, “I’m glad he has all of you looking out for him.”
Maggie nods appreciatively. “I think you’ll fit in just fine, Audrey.”
My stomach drops. I hope they still think that when all of this is over.