I try again, this time moving the box a few inches toward me. But all the effort it takes makes my eyeballs feel like they’re going to burst out of my skull. “Guess I’m no help,” I say with a pathetic smile and a shrug. Tyler smiles back. “I don’t need help. The company is nice, though.”
“Oh yeah?” I say, following him back up the driveway and into the house. This duplex needs a lot of work. It still has shag carpeting. Green kitchen counter tiles and dark wooden wall paneling. Yuck.
He sets the box of tiles on the kitchen flooring and I don’t even stop myself from checking out his ass. “Yeah,” he says, standing back up.
“Well,” I say, stretching out the small talk because I have no idea what else to talk about. “I’m good at giving company. I could probably sit here and talk your ear off for the rest of the day.”
“Really?” Tyler folds his arms across his chest. His eyes are accusatory in a playful way.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
He frowns. “You haven’t seemed like you wanted to give me company lately. That’s all.”
“How would you know what I seem like? You haven’t even come over to say hi.” There. I said it. I got it off my chest. And I only marginally sounded like a whining teenager.
Tyler stares at me. Okay, maybe I sounded a lot like a whining teenager? “Why are you looking at me like that? Can’t you just…I don’t know,” I say, putting my hands on my hips. “…look like a normal person?”
“You’re making this awkward,” he says. With that, he heads back out to get more tiles. I don’t follow him this time. I stand at the doorway and shout. “How exactly am I being awkward?”
“Talking about it actually makes it more awkward,” he says as he sets down another box. He stands, wiping his hands on his jeans. I do a very good job of pretending I don’t care about his bare chest that’s just a few feet away from me. “I tried hanging out with you,” he says. His finger extends out and pokes me in the stomach. I jump back. “How exactly did you try that?” I say, feeling some more confidence come up from out of nowhere. “I’ve been home pretty much all day every day. You never come over.”
“I tried to come over!” Tyler pokes me in the stomach again.
“How? Did you communicate with me telepathically or something?”
He lifts an eyebrow. “Are you serious? Are you seriously serious right now?”
I roll my eyes. “Duh.”
With a sigh, he grabs his cell phone from his jeans pocket. His thumb swipes across the screen. The thing looks so tiny in his hand, even though it’s a newer model with a massive screen. He holds the phone out to me. My number is at the top of the screen. It’s his call log. I take the phone and scroll down the screen.
“I don’t understand,” I say. A warm sensation floods through my body, making my toes tingle with realization of what he’s showing me. “You called me every day for the last week?”
He nods, looking smug as hell. “Look at my texts. I’ve practically made myself look like a pathetic loser in these last few days.”
I bite my lip and press the messages icon on his phone. The top most text is to Elizabeth. My heart falls to my stomach in one painful lump. I can only see one message without clicking on their chat log: Okay, cool. That doesn’t tell me anything about Tyler and Elizabeth’s relationship, or lack of one. And I can’t possibly click it in front of him. I click on the chat lot with my name instead.
He sent me a text six days ago. Hey there. They’re showing a movie on an inflatable screen at the library tonight. Want to watch it with me?
One day later: Miranda said you need a truck to buy some furniture. Let me know if you’d like to use mine. I’ll drive though. You’re a sucky driver.
Yesterday: Dinner? At the diner? Don’t make me eat alone! Followed by: Come on now, your signal can’t possibly be that bad. I think someone’s ignoring me.
Today: I’ll be working on the other duplexes today. Let me know if there’s anything else you need me to fix while I’m there.
“Wow.” I let out the breath I’d been holding and, with a shaking hand, give him back his phone. “I didn’t get any of those. I thought you’ve been ignoring me.”
Tyler pockets the phone. His voice is softer than usual. “I didn’t get any texts from you either.”
My cheeks flush. “I didn’t send any…” I look away. He pokes me in the stomach again. “Why the hell not? I thought we had a fun time. I wanted to see you some more. Even if it has to be as friends only.” He makes air quotes with the last two words. Everything inside of me turns to mush. Even my bones. Mush. All of it.
I draw in a breath and try to force the big, goofy grin off my face. Marcus comes barreling in the back door, slamming it closed behind him. “Holy shit there’s a crazy wasp out there. I barely got away.” His hand grabs his chest and he leans against the back door. “I’m allergic to that shit and there is no money for hospital bills right now.” We’re all silent for a second and then Marcus holds up his finger, squinting his eyes. “Wait a minute…you guys were in a moment, huh?” He laughs and holds up his hands in surrender. “I’m out of here. Is Miranda home?” I nod and he rushes toward the open front door. “See you lovebirds later!” he says right before breaking into a run, which is probably a smart idea because I kind of want to kill him for saying that.
Tyler pokes me again in the stomach. “We need to get you a new cell phone. Something with better service in the area.”
I roll my eyes, but he’s right. “I’m about to go shopping so I might actually do that. Plus I want to get Miranda a phone since her mom shut off her service.”
“Where else are you going?” he asks. When his finger moves to poke me again, I’m expecting it. I grab his finger and stop it just inches from touching me. Tyler’s smile turns cocky. He pokes me with his other finger and I grab for it, but miss. He’s too quick. He spins his hand around and twists out of my grip. Then he attacks me. Finger pokes come at me from both sides, each one landing right on my stomach, my side, my ribcage. I try to knock his hand away but I’m laughing so much I’m pretty much useless in the self-defense department.