Chapter 29
TWENTY-NINE
Tyler Kane kissed me, and life, as I knew, was ruined.
I know it sounded super dramatic to say, but I had fantasized about this since I was fourteen years old. Something I didn’t admit to myself I wanted until I was sixteen. And now that it had happened, it had taken over my life.
I could feel his breath on my skin whenever I closed my eyes. The phantom feel of his lips on mine stayed with me all night. To say I was confused was an understatement.
“I’m so fucking sorry I fucked up, and I hurt your feelings, Astrid, but you up and left, then ripped me out of your life. You didn’t even give me a chance to make up for it.”
Did he have a point?
Why was I going crazy over this now? I had made peace with it, but maybe, just maybe, I had acted too brashly.
I half expected him to come to my parents’ house on Sunday for dinner. I might have put more effort into my Sunday chill look. I waited in the living room and even asked my parents if they needed help with anything.
What gave it away was asking my mom if Tyler would stop by. My mom looked at me, and I swear I saw her gloat, but she didn’t comment further on it.
I opened my laptop and pulled up a new Word doc instead of touching the email with all the anonymous gossip. Sunny Pines’s growth inspired me, and seeing the coffee-shop-now-diner brimming with clients, I wanted some of that magic for Lupe.
Orianna wanted to break a big story. She wanted her name attached to stories that changed people’s minds, but that wasn’t my style, and that was okay.
Words held power, and I wanted my words to move people. If I could write a compelling piece to accompany my stories, highlighting local shops, and bring in a few new customers or attract people who want to try things that are new to them, then that would fulfill me.
My anonymous collum did that in a way. Sure, I spread “gossip,” but I only did it when someone else was in the wrong. When someone did something shitty and I thought it deserved to come to light. I guess after what happened to me, it was my own way of bringing some sort of poetic justice.
The more I started to brainstorm what I wanted to write and things I could use to entice others from the surrounding counties to come, the more it lit a fire in me.
This feeling was something I had been missing in my life for a long time.
It was a sense of belonging—something I always felt I had when I was around Tyler.
It was a feeling I chased while I was away at college. I wanted to succeed because that was the only thing I had going for me then.
When I returned, I had none of that, and I had been drifting for a while now. As confused as I felt, a deeper part felt I was going in the right direction.
Rachel’s car wasn’t in the driveway on Monday morning, which sucked because I wanted coffee, but I understood her father-in-law had needs. I got in my car and cursed when the stupid oil change light kept popping on.
What was I supposed to do?
“I should have done this all along.”
Had he really wanted to do that all along? If he had, why hadn’t he said anything sooner? Or was this just because I had left and his feelings for me were confusing him?
Augh , boys were stupid.
I was driving myself mad with all of these rampant thoughts.
When I got to The Herald , I went straight to my cubicle, and when I didn’t see any flowers there, I let out a relieved sigh. With everything going on, I almost forgot about last week’s gift. A one-time delivery didn’t make a pattern, so I shouldn’t jump to any crazy conclusions.
“How was your weekend, Astrid?” Orianna asked me as I plopped down on my chair.
“It was okay. I think I have the concept for a new column.”
“Oh, what is it?”
I was a bit hesitant at first to share because I knew how she felt about my other column, but once I started telling her about it, her eyes brightened, and she asked me many animated questions that seemed genuine.
“That’s such a good idea. With the township forming and the neighboring towns becoming a bit more integrated, it’s a great way for them to know what each place has to offer.”
“I hope people like it.”
Orianna reached out and touched my hand.
“People will love it.”
Throughout the day, we kept up the witty banter, which made the day go by considerably faster.
It made me realize that maybe I was the one that had been closed off since moving back, not really giving people a chance to get too close to me.
This thought fully cemented once Orianna said she was leaving early.
I realized I wanted more of her company.
Man, was I this really friendship-deprived?
As I sat there, I started to think about my past friendships and even the friends I made in college.
I could say I loved them, but I didn’t really keep up with them.
Making friends wasn’t the problem, but keeping them was.
It wasn’t because I was a shit friend either—I think after what came with Tyler, I never allowed myself to get too close to anyone.
I had no new best friend because that way, no one would have the power to hurt me like Tyler had. Disappointment never happened if there wasn’t anyone to disappoint you.
When my workday ended, I walked over to where I had parked my car, only to be dumbfounded when I saw nothing there.
What. The. Fuck?
I looked around our very small parking lot and, yeah, no sign of my car.
My dumb ass even walked back inside and then out as if that would make my car appear.
My car was mine, therefore, I owned it. I pulled my phone out, ready to call the cops, because who else was I supposed to report this to?
That was when I noticed the little black business card on the floor where my car had been parked that morning.
Motherfucker.
I stopped dialing the cops when I saw the Kanes’ auto shop business card. There was no need to look at the number it had. I already knew the shop’s number by memory.
It rang once.
It rang twice.
“Kanes’ Auto, how may I help you?”
A thrill went down my spine upon hearing Tyler’s voice. Instead of saying anything, I hung up. That’s what he wanted from me, wasn’t it? To call him and demand that he come get me because he took my car.
Just as I was about to call my parents or Rachel to see if they could pick me up, Ronnie walked up to me.
“Is everything okay, Astrid?”
“Yeah, totally,” I lied with a smile on my face.
He nodded then looked at me and around the few spots.
“Where’s your car?”
Leave it to him to notice that my car wasn’t here.
“It’s getting some maintenance done.”
No way was I telling him it got stolen by Ty-asshole.
“Do you need a ride? I can take you home,” he offered right away, pointing over to his car.
“Oh no, it’s okay. My mom will get me. It’s on her way home from work.”
He gave me an easy smile and I thought he would drop it.
“You mentioned your mom works at the factory, right?” He looked down at the watch on his wrist. “They won’t get out for another thirty minutes. I don’t mind taking you home. Really.”
I mustered a smile.
“It’s okay, I don’t mind waiting.”
He shrugged. “Then I shall wait with you. I can’t in good conscience leave you here all alone.”
Fuck .
“Are you sure you don’t mind giving me a ride?” I asked.
Maybe he was trying to be nice. If I waited here, I had to pray my mom saw my message before she left work. That would be thirty minutes plus another ten to fifteen while she picked me up. Or I could suck it up and take a fifteen-minute ride to the auto shop with Ronnie.
“Of course not. I’m here for you when you need me,” he told me. “Well, for all my employees,” he amended right away, and all I could do was nod. I hoped I wasn’t grimacing.
I take back what I said about my ride with Tyler being tense and awkward. I had not lived through getting a ride from Ronnie. This was tense and awkward.
“Let me know if you need a ride in the morning. I’ll be happy to swing by and get you.”
“Oh no, that’s totally okay,” I told him. “Can you drop me off at the auto shop in town? I’m sure my car is already ready.”
“If it’s not, my offer is on the table,” he persisted.
All I did was smile at him because I knew that was not going to happen. What was it about Ronnie that made me feel weird? He had not done anything wrong. I just couldn’t explain, and at this point I didn’t want to for fear of being called names.
When I saw the auto shop sign, I felt relieved.
I sat straighter and pointed toward the side of the auto shop. “You can go around the back. One of the bay doors should be open.”
Ronnie did as I instructed and I had to fight the urge to run as soon as I saw that the bay door was indeed open. Ronnie parked his car a few feet away from the bay door. Sure enough, my car was right there, and so was Tyler.
Butterflies—I felt butterflies upon seeing him.
He was in jeans that rode low on his hips. I could see the top of his boxer briefs and a white muscle shirt that was stained with grease.
Damn, he looked good.
“Thank you, Ronnie,” I told him as I went to open the door.
Ronnie put his hand on my arm to stop me. I turned to him with wide eyes.
“Nonsense, Astrid. I’ll go with you. You need a man for these kinds of things so they don’t take advantage of you.”
What the heck?
What kind of sexist shit was that?
I looked at where his hand held on to my arm and then back at him.
“I know the Kanes. They’re family,” I stated as I removed his hand and got out of the car. To try and diffuse the tension, I turned back before I closed the door and gave him the brightest smile I could muster. “You were a lifesaver today, Ronnie.”
“Prince Charming, don’t you forget that,” he joked.
I just waved and began to walk toward the auto shop. Tyler was staring at me—nope, he was staring at Ronnie. Even as I walked closer to him, his eyes didn’t move from the car behind me.
Once I was near hearing distance, he nodded toward where I assumed Ronnie was still parked.
“Who’s the tosser?” he asked with a bite to his tone.
“How dare you,” I hissed.
What I said went over his head. Instead, he pulled out a rag from his back pocket and cleaned his hands.
“Who’s that guy, beautiful? And why does he keep looking at you?”
Ignoring him, I kept walking until I was inside the garage with him. Without bothering to turn back toward Ronnie, I moved to the side where the button to close the bay window was, and I pushed it.
Ty raised a brow at me when we made eye contact, but he didn’t say anything about my actions.
Once the door was down enough that it covered half my body, I moved my hand up and pointed my finger in his face.
“How dare you steal my car? I should have called the cops on you. That shit is illegal.”
“Jesus,” he murmured as he took a step toward me.
“What the hell is wrong with you, Tyler?” I shouted his name as I tried to hit his chest.
I don’t think it was so much that he took my car but the fact that I had to get a ride with Ronnie because of him. Add the fear that went through me upon not seeing my car—that shit wasn’t nice.
Tyler wrapped both his hands around my wrist and pulled me flush against his body, and then he kissed me.
The first kiss he ever gave me was slow—a promise of what was to come. This kiss was fire. It incinerated me, and all I could do was hold on for the ride. Tyler fought my mouth for dominance. The kiss was almost angry with a twinge of bitterness.
All the time we wasted when all along we could have been doing this.