I’m angry too—at everyone who hurt Tyler. At his asshole of a dad, his passive mom and his dangerously childish uncle who got him hooked on pills instead of taking him to a specialist.
God, I think for the thousandth time in recent weeks, how lucky I am to have my wonderful family.
“So, this is it,” Rafe says. “This is all Tyler told us. Hey, man, are you listening?”
Tyler’s breathing is even and slow, his eyes shut, his face relaxed. He’s asleep. My heart misses a beat. My hand rests on his hair; it tickles my fingers. He’s so gorgeous, his full lips slightly parted, the faint shadow of stubble on his square jaw, his dark brows so straight and intense over his closed eyes.
I didn’t realize what a miracle it is he made it back here.
Audrey reaches over to place a hand on my shoulder. It’s comforting, and I do my best to smile at her.
“He’s exhausted,” she says. “I’m sorry, Erin.”
“What for?” I whisper, because there are so many things I’m sorry for.
“For what he’s been through. You love him, don’t you?”
Not so long ago, I’d deny it. Now I simply nod. That brief moment when I thought he was dead… I was terrified. Still am. I barely got him back, and the thought of losing him scares me shitless.
Rafe sits up and stretches, then runs his hands through his blond mane. The light catches on the many silver hoops in his ears. “Well, I think it’s time to lock up the shop and go.” He glances at Tyler who is stretched out on the floor, his head still in my lap. “He’ll freeze if he sleeps here tonight. We should take him home.”
I don’t want to wake him up. He seems peaceful. He feels closer to me than he was those times we got each other off. Listening to him breathe, watching his face unguarded in sleep pierces me deeper.
All the way to my heart.
I stroke Tyler’s brow. “Hey. Wake up.”
He doesn’t stir. Audrey’s right. He’s exhausted. I look up helplessly at Rafe. There’s no way I can lift Tyler on my own. He’s trim but tall and muscled and must be twice my weight.
“Let’s get you home, buddy.” Rafe bends and slides his arm around Tyler—and on his other side appears Asher, throwing his brother’s arm around his own shoulders and lifting him to his feet.
Tyler blinks and gives us a dazed look. I get up and grab Tyler’s jacket from behind the desk, then follow the boys as they haul him out of the shop, his feet dragging on the sidewalk. They settle him in Rafe’s black Mustang, in the back seat.
Tessa waves at me, standing next to my car. “Toss me the keys. I’ll follow you.”
Relieved, I’m about to do so, when a thought strikes me. “We won’t fit in the car.”
“Yes, you will,” Asher says, coming toward me, his arm around Audrey’s waist. “We’ll go with Tessa. The way Tyler relaxed just by seeing you…” He shakes his head, his features tight. “Make sure he’s okay, will ya?”
I gape at him, but as the engine of the Mustang roars to life, I nod and throw Tessa my keys.
She catches them deftly from the air. “Go be with your boy, now. Shoo.”
With one last glance at the three of them, I turn and climb into the Mustang next to Tyler. He’s sprawled on the seat, and like in the shop, I settle his dark head in my lap. He barely stirs.
My heart settles into a gentler rhythm as I brush my fingers through the silky locks and down the strong column of his neck, feeling his pulse beating strong.
“All right back there?” Rafe asks, his hair a halo against the streetlights outside. “Ready to go?”
“Yeah, if you know where he lives.”
“It’s not far from here.”
I bend over Tyler, inhaling his scent of pines and male musk, so familiar and dark and tempting.
“Erin?” he whispers, rolling his head to look up at me. His heavy-lidded eyes are midnight velvet in the dimness of the car.
“I’m here.” I swallow past the knot in my throat. “You scared me.”