Tyed

"Go with your boyfriend."

"No way, Izzy. I'm coming with. Come on, let's—"

"No." She practically pushes me in the car's direction. "I haven't been home in weeks. I want to take a bath, I want to have a glass of wine, I want to walk around naked and have my me-time. Shane's an old story. Go with your boyfriend. Have fun. I'll still be here when you get back."

I search her face to see if it's really okay. Izzy sees the doubt in my eyes and almost throws her suitcase at me.

"Oh my God, just go, sissy. Go!"

***

We drive silently. After we roll onto the highway to Concord , Ty turns down the volume of the music playing out of the speakers. It's my playlist, and I bet you anything it's also one helluva statement.

"I'm sorry," I blurt into the deafening silence. I wish he'd say something, anything. "I didn't mean to lie to you. I thought Shane was just trying his luck with me. But now I see that he was just trying to hook up with me to get back at Izzy for whatever it is between them."

Ty arches one eyebrow, looking thoroughly pissed off. "You think your best friend is trying to tap you to get back at your sister?" He scowls.

“Yeah. Not that I'm mad or anything. I mean, she's gorgeous and successful and..."

“And lonely and detached and no matter what, she’ll always be the less cool, less independent— and if you ask anyone with a dick—less sexy sister.”

“Come on, Ty.”

“Coming on, Blaire. You don’t need an army of PR people coming out of your ass and million-dollar contracts to be awesome. Izzy can spread her legs in every magazine under the sun and she still won’t be half the woman you are. The worst part is you have no clue. You really think you don't matter, that Izzy is better. But I see you.” He parks in front of his place.

I rest my head on his shoulder and close my eyes.

"I see you," he repeats, whispering. "I see what you don't see about yourself, and it pisses me off that Shane sees it too."

I can't believe he doesn't give me shit for not telling him about Shane. Unless... is he is planning on paying another visit to Shane's place? No. That was a one off, I tell myself. And besides, there's still a chance it wasn't Ty.

I listen to his heartbeat, slow and steady, and snuggle into his delicious, singular scent. No one else smells like him. I kind of like that.

"Whatever this thing between us is, I won't tolerate any lies." He growls.

"I swear to God," I answer, and I mean it.

But when the words come out, I realize that I don't actually believe that what we have is secrets-free. I may have nothing to hide, but Ty is full of mystery. He has a pretty bad reputation, judging from the Internet and The Grind, and he's never even mentioned his family around me. I have a nagging feeling his whole life is pretty much his work and teammates.

"This is the only tiny secret I had,” I say. “Hey, question—you think your mom will like me?” It may sound random, but I hate that he already knows so much about my family, and I still don't know anything about his.

The only thing I do know is that Ty’s dad isn’t in the picture and that he has no siblings. I stumbled upon an interview of his a few years back and found out he was raised solely by his mother.

“I don’t think my mom likes anyone, including me.” He laughs bitterly. “Na, you got lucky. I have no family that you need to suck up to. Just Dawson and his wife and kids. Maybe Jesse, but that’s it.”

My mouth curves downwards as I run my index finger over his lips. If I show him pity, he’ll hate me. Forever. “Thank you for not giving me shit about Shane. You're awesome.”

He presses his warm, moist lips into my finger, staring into my eyes. “You bet your hot ass I am.”

Heart’s throbs are piercing my ears, Brain swirls in a pool of sticky goo, and Hormones are dry-humping Ty’s leg. I take a deep breath and get out of the car, walking toward his house and stopping just as I reach his fence. One, new pair of underwear is tucked in the links. Oddly, I don't go ballistic this time. I placed my trust in his hands a few weeks ago, and he's yet to let me down.

Ty is by my side, and the next thing I know he’s slamming his body into mine and his hands are roaming my waist and thighs. It’s late at night, but people are still walking past us, cars passing by. Ty doesn’t care. He nudges my thighs apart, grabs my ass forcefully and raises me up. I knot my legs around his tight abdomen and we mold into each other.