Page 13 of Living Hell

FOUR

Tyler

“LOOKS LIKE YOU NEEDa lot of help here,” Austen said with his eyes stuck on Iona.

She laughed. It was deep and sensual, and it did things to me. Confusing things like wanting to pull her into my arms and kiss her until she ran out of breath. But that laugh twisted my heart.

My best friend gazed at Iona as if her laughter belonged to him. Little did he know she would make him pay for that thought.

She hadn’t been in my life for more than an hour and it hurt just to watch her. My father was right, which was unusual because he was always wrong. If he placed a bet on something—which was almost every day—he lost every time. He should have bet on himself losing, at least then he would have won once.

But when it came to Iona, he explained no good would ever come from a girl like that—someone with stars in her eyes. She desired fame, so honest love from the heart of an eighteen-year-old boy would never sway her.

“You could say that again,” Iona said as her hand gently tapped his shoulder. She led him inside and he moved as if there was no ground beneath his feet.

Austen was a smart man. He may be a bit conservative on his views of how to live his life and how others should live theirs, but Iona was more intelligent than anyone in Fire Lake, even me.

I stepped closer and pushed the door from Iona’s hands, closing it. “Perhaps you can help, Austen.” Austen was so lost in her presence that he hadn’t realized I was standing next to her. Even as a child when she smiled or held someone’s hand, they became eager to keep her happy. I wondered sometimes if she was the devil in disguise.

I stepped between Iona and Austen and that broke whatever evil spell she had on my friend.

“Do you mind, Tyler? I was speaking with I.D.”

Shaking my head at his foolishness, I clamped a firm grip on his shoulder. “Actually, I do mind. This woman is illegally trespassing on my property.”

He pursed his lips and gave me the same expression he usually reserved for the outrageous pickup lines I used on women. “I highly doubt that Ms. I.D. was tres—”

“She claims that she owns the home despite the proof of my deed.”

That stopped Austen right in his tracks. Whatever power Iona could yield would be no match for property law when it came to my friend. That was something he was quite particular about. Considering he was in the room when I signed the stack of papers to buy this house, he knew she had no claim.

He leaned to the side, staring at her. “Is this true, Ms. I.D.?”

“Who’s hungry?” she asked, and I knew I had won.

Iona understood there was no way for her to fight this. She thought she could lure my friend to her side as if that made her chances of staying in this home any better. But she didn’t understand Austen like I did.

I turned and stood beside him, throwing my arm around his shoulder. “Here’s the thing, Iona. Austen is my friend.” I slid my eyes to him to confirm I was right in that assessment. Because it wasn’t unheard of for me to alienate people. I’ve lost good friends over what came out of my mouth.

He nodded, so I continued, “What you don’t know about him is his job. He’s the bank manager. If anyone had ever been born for a job, it’s Austen. He doesn’t just like rules . . . he loves them.”

“It’s true that I believe it’s important to follow the rules, especially in regards to the law, but I wouldn’t necessarily say I love—”

“Now don’t be modest, Austen.” I squeezed his shoulder. “If there was one thing you clung to like a dog to a chew toy, it’s rules.”

I let go of Austen and moved back toward the mantle. Something brewed in my brain that I knew was dangerous to speak out loud. To get Austen on my side, he wouldn’t like to hear this thought, but it did prove my point and I suspected it might be true.

This was the stuff that lost friends, but it had to be said.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if he jacked off in his office thinking about rules. All that pent-up sexual energy and three-ring binders filling the bookcases, stuffed with laws and rules and company suggestions. Your dick must hurt all day long.”

“What is wrong with you?” Austen said in a voice I had never heard before. He sounded like someone was strangling him—and he looked like it, too. The shade of red on his face was unnatural, and I feared I went too far but that didn’t stop me. Nothing ever did.

“Oh, come on. We all were thinking it.” I waved my hand toward Iona.

The smirk on her face as she crossed her arms over her chest brought me back to reality. I got too cocky with having the law on my side. By outing my friend, I had alienated him. He’ll go to her camp now, and I’ll be forced to fight them both.

“You may have won the battle, Iona, but the war still rages on.”

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