Chapter 36
THIRTY-SIX
My everything shower was not scheduled until self-care Sunday, but here I was making sure I had shaved and was squeaky clean because a boy was going to climb through my bedroom window.
How did I get to this point? I wondered as I brushed my teeth.
After leaving the auto shop, I felt more at ease with myself despite being mortified. I mean, if I was going to be in Tyler’s life then I should be getting used to having his family members watching us embrace.
Did that make us friends with benefits now? My boyfriend? Did I want him to be my boyfriend?
In all honesty, it felt anticlimactic to the hype I had built around that one word. In my head it all seemed a bit more magical than what was happening now.
After I was done showering, and I smelled good everywhere , I took my laptop and walked to the living room so I could chill a bit with my parents. This usually was the time I took to listen to their day while I scrolled Facebook neighborhood groups and got updated on the cam apps.
Honestly, being with them had been like a security blanket. It didn’t matter how old you were, or what problems you had, but if you had a good relationship with your parents, being with them just made everything better.
Today, however, I began to finish up my article on Delicia’s . The more I wrote, the better I felt about my writing and being a part of The Herald . This is what I wanted to do with my life. I wanted to make people feel good and bring a sense of belonging into our communities.
“Can you guys read this and tell me if you like it?” I asked my parents as I slid my laptop toward them.
While they began to read, I took out my phone and pulled up my work app so I could let Ronnie know I wouldn’t be there tomorrow either.
I was almost out of sick days, but since I didn’t get sick often, and I hoped this winter did me good, I wasn’t too worried about wasting them.
Our work app was awesome, and it avoided me having to text anyone directly.
Unless it was Orianna, I didn’t mind texting her.
I pulled up Ronnie’s contact info and left him a message.
Me: Hey Ronnie, sorry to bother you at this hour. I am still not feeling great. I will stay home tomorrow. I already contacted Grace, and I’ll be sending her my article.
He answered right away, which made me cringe after I read his reply, acting like I missed work every other week.
Ronnie: Oh, another sick day?
Me: I want this bug to go away. On the plus side I don’t get sick often. Lol
Ronnie: At least you won’t be sick for our night away. Let me know if you need anything. I’m more than happy to stop by.
Me: Sounds good.
I put my phone away, and the only reason I didn’t overanalyze that interaction was because my parents started to congratulate me.
“Oh, June bug,” my father began. “This is a lovely piece.”
“Lupe is going to love it,” my mom added.
My cheeks flushed as I felt myself beam with pride at their words. Pretty soon everyone around will read my article too, and I just hoped they loved it as much as my parents had.
When another text message came through, I froze thinking it might be Ronnie again. I brought the phone up, and then sighed in relief when I saw who texted me. Irony was staring back at me.
Tilemaker: Can’t wait to get out of work.
Me: Error 478: The number you are trying to contact is no longer in service.
I bit my lip to stop myself from grinning like a maniac.
Tilemaker: You better be joking, beautiful.
Tilemaker: I’ll go knock on your front door and tell your parents I can’t stop thinking about you.
Tilemaker: That you hit it and quit it, and I know they raised you better than that.
Me: Don’t you dare!
Tilemaker: Oh, look, no error after all. I’ll see you soon, beautiful.
My heart raced, and I wondered what he meant by soon. Like five minutes soon, or one hour?
“What has you smiling so big, June bug?” my dad asked, and it was enough for me to notice that at some point I started grinning like a loon while looking at my phone.
“Just a meme,” I lied.
I was sure that if I said it was something funny Ty said they would be thrilled, but for now I wanted to keep this close to my chest. Everything was still so raw and fresh—it kind of felt like a dream. I guess I was scared that if I voiced it aloud, it would become a nightmare.
Instead of focusing on all of that, I finished the rest of my work. I did one last read-through of my article on Delicia’s and then I sent it over. I was used to submitting pieces for The Herald , but this was different.
“I’m going to bed,” I told my parents.
They too were under the impression I had been too ill to work. I was pretty sure they knew it was bullshit, but they had yet to call me out on it. The perks of being a good kid.
“Night, baby, we are so proud of you,” my mama said as she kissed my cheek.
Two hours later, and I was a ball of nerves. Every little creak I heard made me sit up thinking it was Tyler. I knew he would come—it was just a matter of when.
God, how was this my life now?
It was just Tyler. He had been sneaking in through my window since he was eleven years old. Okay, yes, it was very innocent back then, and today would also be very innocent, so I don’t know why I was freaking out.
The love of your life is coming to see you.
Okay, that was exactly why I was freaking out, but Tyler couldn’t be the love of my life. I mean, I had strong feelings for him, but love already?
Just then my window began to slide open and even though I had been expecting this, I still jumped up at the sound.
Tyler jumped in with ease. Clearly it was practice from all those years.
“You waited for me, beautiful?” He grinned.
I rolled my eyes.
“You have the grace of a panda. I think my neighbors heard you come in.”
“Maybe I should wait to take my clothes off in case your mom and dad were to bust our little party?”
“Tyler Kane, you will not be defiling the sanctuary of my room!”
The asshole silently laughed.
He took off his shoes and crawled up the bed with me. I felt butterflies in my stomach as he did that. There was nothing innocent about the way he was staring at me.
“You have to stay above the covers,” I said as I pointed a finger at him.
“Scared you won’t be able to resist me, beautiful?”
I wanted to slap him.
“Ty,” I warned.
He kneeled and raised his hands up in surrender. When he saw I was satisfied, he kept on moving while he took the left side of the bed—just like before.
What wasn’t like before was the awkwardness that followed us.
“Come here.” He broke the silence, put an arm around me, and brought me toward his chest.
“You in my arms, Astrid…It feels like I can finally breathe again.”