“What are you doing in that thing?”
“I thought you loved this look, Jade.”
“In the privacy of my own home, yes.”
When he came back around to the driver’s side, he flashed a wicked grin. God, he was handsome. I never realized how his smile accentuated his dimples before. It amazed me that he could even look sexy in a freaking wearable blanket.
“Well, you succeeded in making me laugh, Tyler.”
“Is that why your mascara’s running?”
“I have raccoon eyes because I was crying before you got here. But now I’m not. So, thank you.”
He turned on the car. “Where are we going?”
I wiped the corners of my eyes again. “I don’t know.”
His car smelled faintly like a mix of cigar and cologne. I loved it.
“You want me to take you back to Chelsea’s?”
“Yeah, I guess so.”
“You don’t sound too enthused to go back there,” he said as we drove away.
“I feel like I just don’t belong anywhere at the moment, to be honest. My parents’ house is depressing and sad, and Chelsea’s place is like a zoo, between the dogs and Little D. I love them, but I’m just used to my privacy.”
“You want privacy?”
“I don’t think that’s possible unless I check into a hotel.”
He pursed his gorgeous lips and seemed to be pondering something. “I’ll take you some place you can be at peace for a while.”
“Where?”
“It’s a little place I like to call…you’ll find out.”
Feeling too weak to fight him, I simply asked, “How did you get a Snuggie so fast, anyway? They’re not that easy to find anymore.”
“You should know, right?” He smiled. “I bought it a while ago, actually. I was going to send a picture of myself in it to you as a joke. But I never had the chance because you stopped talking to me.”
“You know why I did it.”
“I do. I don’t blame you, even though I miss talking to you.” He glanced over at me. “But you were justified. Just because something makes us feel good, doesn’t mean it’s right.”
“So what is this…what we’re doing right now?”
“I think you need a friend right now. Right or wrong…just let me be that for you tonight. We can go back to not talking tomorrow.”
We kept driving down the 101 until he pulled off onto one of the exits.
“I’m just getting something for us to drink,” he said. “You look like you can use one. Am I right?” He winked. “I’ll be back.”
I watched as he ran into the liquor store, still covered in the zebra blanket.
When he returned, he shut the driver-side door and turned to me, “Can you believe some people were staring at me like I was crazy?” he joked as he placed the paper bag of alcohol in the back seat.
“Well, they weren’t expecting to see a zebra walk in.”
“And one that’s driving around a raccoon, at that!” he joked. “Quick! Someone call animal control.”
Tyler managed to make me laugh again. I didn’t question where he was taking me or what his intentions were as we continued to just drive.
Before I knew it, we had pulled up to a gray, stucco house in San Jose.
“Where are we?”
Tyler smiled. “This is my mama’s house.”
“Isn’t she going to question why I’m here?”
“Nah. We’re not going inside the main house anyway.”
“Where are we going, then?”
“My treehouse. I’m gonna set you up in there. Then, I’ll leave you alone.”
“Is this treehouse stable?”
He chuckled. “What do you mean, stable?”
“Like…structurally sound.”
“Spoken like a city girl. Yes, it’s fine. This is a treehouse like no other. You’ll be safe.” He’d placed his hand briefly on my thigh when he said it, and the muscles between my legs instinctively contracted. I was so incredibly attracted to him, and perhaps hadn’t realized just how much until this moment.
I cleared my throat. “I have a little fear of heights. That’s why I asked.”
“You’re not going to be plummeting down. Don’t worry.”
“Good. Because that would make an already shitty day worse.”
Tyler wasn’t kidding. Once we’d climbed up, it was evident that this was no ordinary treehouse. It was state of the art with electricity, a full-sized bed, and even a television. He explained that his dad had started building it before he passed away. Eventually, Damien and Ty completed it.
He turned on the lamp and noticed me shivering. “You cold?”
“A little.”
He lifted the long zebra blanket over his head. “Here, get in this.”
Tyler approached and placed the fleece fabric over my head. The blanket was warm from his body and coated in his intoxicating smell. It was easy to imagine that it was him wrapped around me. My breasts began to tingle.
I wanted him.
His hair was tousled from having pulled the blanket over it. Now that I could see his body, I couldn’t help but stare at Tyler’s toned physique. His muscles were busting through his black, fitted shirt. His beautiful, blue eyes were glistening as he looked at me. They were definitely reflecting a reciprocal attraction. I could feel it, could practically taste it, and it was as uncomfortable as it was arousing. Definitely more arousing.