Jaded and Tyed

Damien’s smile grew bigger. “Wow. It’s like that, then.”

“Yeah…it’s like that.” Looking over at Chelsea, I said, “I need to get on a plane.”JADECalifornia was one big blur.

As I sat in my cold apartment wrapped in my leopard-print Snuggie, I felt emptier here in New York than I ever had. Watching the raindrops pelting my window, I took a sip of wine and closed my eyes.

I missed home already.

But I had to escape the pain; the pain of seeing my dad so sad, the pain of longing I was feeling for Tyler.

My director was thrilled that I would be returning to the show. And I needed nothing more than to throw myself into work this week.

Seeing Nicole at the service was a reminder of just how easily I could have ended up devastated by Tyler. He never told me definitively that he would have been willing to move to New York. We never had a serious conversation about what being together would actually mean. I doubted he even really thought it through.

Still, I couldn’t shake the need inside of me. The memory of what it felt like to be in his arms was all too clear. The protective way he held me and assured me that everything would be okay. I could have really used some of that right now.

A teardrop fell down my cheek. Just as I caught it with my tongue, there was a loud knock at the door.

A feeling of dread came over me because I didn’t want to have to answer it dressed in my Snuggie.

When I opened the door, my heart nearly combusted at the sight of Tyler standing there. His black hair was drenched from the rain. Droplets of water covered his black jacket. His chest was heaving—as if he’d been running.

I gasped. “Oh, my God.”

Before I could say anything else, his hands cupped my cheeks. His warm lips enveloped mine as he let out the longest sigh into my mouth as if he’d been racing thousands of miles, and I was the finish line. I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him into the apartment as our lips remained locked.

I’d had myself convinced that I was somehow better off away from this man, but breathing him in at the moment felt necessary for survival. The sound of a suitcase rolling in with him vaguely registered, although I refused to break from his delicious mouth long enough to look down. He hadn’t said a word, but somehow I knew my life would never be the same again.

When he finally pulled away, he was out of breath. “I’ve wanted to do that for so damn long.”

Once again, he’d turned my sad tears to joyous ones.

“What are you doing here?”

He kissed me firmly one more time before he finally spoke, “Right after your mother’s wake, I broke up with Nicole—that same night. I couldn’t do it anymore, knowing how I felt about you. It took a few days to get everything out of the apartment and stuff. I thought you were going to stay in town much longer. I went over to Chelsea’s on Thursday night to tell you everything, to be with you, and they told me you were gone.”

I gripped his jacket and pulled him in closer. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. I’m not even going to ask you why you left without telling me, because I know you assumed that nothing would change. You underestimate my feelings for you, Jade. And honestly, I can’t even explain it because you literally make me speechless. It’s like nothing I have ever felt. When I was holding you the other night in the treehouse, I was silently telling you everything. You were in so much pain, and it physically hurt me. I never realized what it felt like to love someone so much that you wished you could take their pain for them. It only made me realize even clearer how much I love you.”

A fresh wave of tears formed in my eyes. “I have been in love with you for a really long time, Tyler. I just couldn’t let myself believe that you would leave her until it happened.”

“I get it. But did you ever really think I could let you go?”

“I was afraid. Honestly, now that my mother is gone, the only thing I’m afraid of anymore is losing you.”TYLERIt felt like a dream to hear those words coming out of her beautiful mouth. Jade was the embodiment of perfection, and she was afraid of losing me. As if anyone else could ever satisfy me again.

I needed to show her just how much I was hers. I couldn’t wait another minute to touch her, taste her, show her how much I loved her.

Without seeking permission, I lifted the Snuggie off of her body and nearly went into shock when I realized she wasn’t wearing anything underneath but her bra and panties.