He nods and takes a deep breath, his cheeks poofing out as he exhales. “I’ll explain everything you want to know,” he says, reaching for my hand again. “Let’s get out of here first.”
Ten minutes later, Tyler hands me a paper wand of pink cotton candy. “Stop biding for time,” I tease, pulling off a piece of sugary fluff and popping it in my mouth.
“You’re the one who wanted cotton candy,” he says, bumping into me with his shoulder. He steals a piece of it and I watch it melt as it touches his tongue. I bet his lips taste even better now.
“You are the master of cocky smiles, you know. I’ve never seen someone look as arrogant as you do right now.” I don’t tell him that he looks super-hot with that cocky grin on his face. He doesn’t need to know that.
“Well I’m not usually so arrogant,” he says, leading me away from the crowds.
“You’re just making an exception for tonight?”
He nods. “The hottest girl in town just made out with me so I’d say I’m entitled to some arrogance. I mean, that same girl has been known to shoot me down and lie about not wanting to date anyone.”
I punch him in the arm. “Don’t call me a liar.”
He grabs my fast right after it connected with his arm and slides his hand around my fingers, interlacing his hand with mine. Now we’re walking on a cool October night in the middle of nowhere Texas, and we’re holding hands and I’m eating cotton candy and things just really can’t get any more perfect or cliché than this.
I hold out my cotton candy, offering him some more. He leans forward and takes a bite. I watch him a moment, before unleashing a bunch of word vomit. “So what the hell is going on with Elizabeth? I need answers, now, and don’t think you’ll make out with me again if you keep avoiding them.”
We approach a truck in the back of the parking lot. I think it’s his truck but all the beat up pickups in this town look the same. He lets down the tailgate and we sit on the makeshift bench. I have to slip my hand out of his in order to hoist myself up onto the tailgate and now I’m desperately wishing I could hold his hand again. But instead of grabbing for it, I cross my arms and stare at him. I need answers and I will not buckle into a little girl with a crush.
Tyler sits up straight on the tailgate, wincing a little. “Oh shit,” I say, reaching for him but not touching him. “Your stitches! Did I hurt them in the elevator?”
He shakes his head. “Nah, I’m okay. They’re not bad.” He slides his fingertips under this thighs but I’m not entirely convinced that I haven’t hurt him. “Elizabeth and I grew up together. We’ve always been friends. She’s made some really bad choices in life and pretty much every time she screwed up, I’ve had to pull her out of the hole she’d gotten herself into.”
“Did you date her?”
“No.”
My whole body seems to exhale when I hear his answer. Just about all of my jealousy can be quelled if I know they didn’t date. As long as she’s Elizabeth, the friend, and not Elizabeth, the ex, then I’ll be okay. He stays rigid though, and I notice he’s biting his lip. “What is it?” I ask.
He sighs. “For the sake of honesty, I have to tell you that we made out once.”
My stomach twists into a knot. “When?”
“Years ago. Right after high school.” He takes off his cowboy hat and runs a hand through his hair. “So, when you say that she likes me, well, you’re right. I think she’s always liked me. But I don’t like her and I never have.”
“But you made out with her. That requires some degree of liking a person,” I point out.
He shrugs. “I was a kid. I wanted to make out and I didn’t much care for who it was with. When she told me she had feelings for me, I tried feeling the same way but I just couldn’t. I love her as a friend, but that’s all it’ll ever be.”
My eyebrows narrow. My mind is whirling with all of this new information and as much as I want to go psycho girl crazy on him and get up and leave, claiming that he can’t be trusted because I’ve known other guys who can’t be trusted—I don’t. I draw in a deep breath and remain calm, and cool, and all of those qualities that make someone desirable. I force a smile. “Do you want to be with me?”
I almost regret the words the second I say them, but instead of back peddling the conversation, I gnaw on the inside of my lip and wait for his response. He brushes a strand of hair out of my face, tucking it behind my ear even though that’s not how my hair is styled. “I do,” he says. His smile turns sinister. “Well, I do until I get to know you better and find out if you’re some kind of weirdo or not.”
“Maybe I should be worried that you’re a weirdo,” I say, nudging him in the shoulder. He laughs. “There’s only one way to find out if I’m a weirdo.”
“And what’s that?” I try to sound coy, but I know I do a terrible job.
“Go on a date with me,” he says, his face getting serious. “And not one of those fake dates either. A real one.”
I take a bite of cotton candy. “I guess I can do that.”
Tyler’s hand slides around my back, his fingers wrapping around my side. He leans closer to me, his cheek touching mine as his lips lower to my neck. “Does that mean you want to be with me?” His breath tickles my skin, sending chills down my entire body.
I exhale, barely able to make a sound. “Mhm.”
Chapter 8