Chapter 21 #2
Tyler stops mid-conversation the moment she walks back into the room.
Relief flashes visibly over his features.
He turns away from the four women surrounding him and marches directly over to her without so much as a parting word.
After taking her by the hand, he leads her through an open doorway.
The moment they’re alone, he hooks his arm around her waist and spins her until her back is against the wall.
His arms come to either side of her face, caging her in. A wild intensity lights his gaze.
“I thought you were gone.”
“Gone?” She shakes her head, not understanding.
“For a second, I—” He cuts off, voice escaping him. “When I didn’t see you, I thought maybe you left.”
The vulnerability in his voice makes her heart pinch. Understanding hits like a tidal wave. “No, Ty, I would never just leave.” She cups his face in her hand, running her thumb over his cheek, trying to soothe the fears away. “I would never disappear like that.”
“I know. I just—”
His throat catches, Adam’s apple bobbing, as if stuck on the weight of his own insecurities.
He closes his eyes and leans into her touch as he entwines their fingers, holding hers against his face for a prolonged moment.
When he finally reopens his eyes, his gaze is no longer fearful but fierce.
He steps closer, sandwiching her against the wall.
One of his thighs presses between her legs.
He lifts her hand from his cheek and holds it against the stucco instead, while his other thumb and forefinger grip her chin, tilting her head up.
Anticipation tightens Winnie’s chest. Voices trickle through the opening.
Five feet away, the other women are chatting, completely unaware of what’s happening on this side of the wall.
She knows she should respect them enough to step away, but she can’t bring herself to move.
Not when Tyler is staring at her as though he would let the world burn down around them if it meant never letting go.
“You won’t run?”
“I won’t.”
“You promise?”
“I promise.”
He slides his hand to cup her throat, possessive and demanding as he seals the promise with a kiss.
Winnie’s never felt so worshipped, so wanted in her life.
Her free hand twists in his shirt, clutching him to her as the rest of her melts in his arms. Polite chatter hums softly in the background, a reminder of how reckless this is, how easily they could be discovered.
She can practically see the split screen in her mind.
But she doesn’t care. For once in her life, she doesn’t give a damn what anyone else thinks.
Let production paint her the harlot. Let the world think what they will.
She can’t find it in her to care about anything beyond the fire scorching her from the inside out, a molten heat only Tyler’s hands, and Tyler’s lips, and Tyler’s words have ever made her feel.
Try as she might to be quiet, a moan slips through her lips.
Tyler pulls back, breathing heavily as he drops his forehead to her shoulder and grips her waist in his very strong, very capable, very large hands. “I’m so fucking done with these cameras, Win.”
“Two weeks.” She breathes the words like a prayer. “Two more weeks of filming.”
“I’m not going to make it,” he whines, nuzzling her neck, pressing soft kisses to her racing pulse. “I just want to be with you. You, and no one else.”
“I know.”
“Not hiding.”
“I know.”
“Not secret.”
“I know.”
Winnie swallows, her mind racing ahead with his words to the huge freaking elephant standing in the corner of the room. Tyler leans back as if sensing the change, a question in his gaze.
She licks her lips. “Hometowns are next.”
She’s not sure if it’s a statement or a confession or a question or some strange mix of all three. Like some unspoken pact, they haven’t mentioned it once, but that doesn’t mean it’s going away.
“I completely forgot.” His brow furrows. He nervously purses his lips. “Are you ready?”
“Are you?”
“I’m scared shitless.” He laughs, the exhale like a release before he swallows. A tentative smile plays across his mouth. “But I’m ready. If you are.”
She breathes deeply, understanding the implications of everything left unsaid.
After this, there will be no turning back.
Once her parents know, once her brother knows, neither of their lives will ever be the same.
Living in this fantasy world with him is everything she ever dreamed it would be, but she’s ready to step into something real.
She wants that kind of different. She craves it. “I’m ready.”
He kisses her one more time before they reluctantly return to the group. When his back is turned, Victoria whispers skank in her ear. Winnie bites her retort back down, straightening her shoulders and taking the high road instead.
Sticks and stones, motherfuckers.
Sticks and fucking stones.
The rest of the puzzle ceremony is uneventful.
Her friends stay close, her own personal bodyguards.
They try not to get too weepy, knowing it’s the last time the four of them will be together for a while.
Harper was offered a spot on the summer spinoff, so she’s going home tonight, but they already promised to get together for a girls’ weekend after filming wraps.
When they line up for elimination, it’s no surprise when Winnie is called first. Tyler slides a necklace from the tray and holds the puzzle charm in his clenched fist as she approaches.
“We both know what this means,” he murmurs, speaking not for the cameras, but for her.
“It represents a helluva lot more than this show or anyone on it could ever understand. But I need you to know that whatever happens, I’m with you.
I choose you. As long as you’re sure you want to choose me, too. ”
She wraps both her hands around his clasped fingers. “I’m sure, Ty.”
“Then, Win.” He opens his palm to show the golden puzzle piece gleaming within. “Will you accept this puzzle piece? Will you take me home?”
“Yes.”
He lifts her arm and gently turns her around so he can slide the chain around her neck. His fingers tremble against her skin as he carefully joins the clasp, a hint at how the enormity of this decision is hitting him.
Her father is her father. Her brother is her brother. Her mother, her mother. Even if they don’t support this relationship with Ty, which she knows in her heart they will, she’s not at risk of losing them.
But he is.
Crossing this line changes his entire relationship with her family. And for a man who’s never had stability a day in his life, she can’t even imagine how difficult it must be to uproot the only solid ground he’s ever known.
But he’s doing it.
For her.
And that means everything.
Winnie spins in his arms and grabs his lapels, urging him to look down and see the gratitude, the love, understanding in her eyes.
His expression softens. He brushes a stray strand of hair from her face and tucks it back behind her ear, his fingers lingering on her skin.
Then he tilts her chin up and brings his lips to her cheek.
“A heaven on Earth I have won by wooing thee,” he whispers, the words sending a shiver down her spine.
He’s wrong.
She’s the one in heaven, and it’s high time everyone she loves knows it, too.
Dallas, she thinks, swallowing. Here we come.