Page 44 of Living Hell

I never dealt with anger like an adult. Slamming doors and throwing fits was a big stress reliever for me. That, and sex. Good, nasty, angry sex. Which I was mulling over in my head as Tyler banged on the door.

“You have to understand that it feels as if the past eleven years had been a lie. I thought you wanted nothing to do with me. You thought I had sex with you and was done, refusing to answer your calls. None of that was true.”

He had a point, but anger was still coursing through my veins, so I refused to move from the bed.

“But it wasn’t me who typed in the wrong number in your phone. Besides, it’s a little too convenient that you suddenly got my number wrong when you had it long before I left.”

That was the confusing part. I had thought about it yesterday when I was calling the caterer to set up the picnic. Why was the number suddenly wrong?

“I had to get a new phone, remember? I lost it the night we first had sex.” He lowered his voice, saying the last word as if anyone else was in the house and could hear him. “I thought it must have fallen out of my jean’s pocket when I took them off. Probably rolled into the stream. I went back to look for it, but I never found it. My dad was pissed but got a used one for me.”

“So, you fat fingered it.”

“No. That’s the funny part. My dad had added some numbers in the phone for me before he handed it over. My mom’s number, his, your number, and the school’s number for Jake.”

I was about to ask why he thought that was funny when I heard someone knock at the front door of the house.

“I’m going to answer the door but after, I’m coming back up so we can finish talking, okay?”

“Okay.”

The anger had settled and I stood. I wanted to open the door and pull Tyler in for makeup sex. The loud kind where the neighbors heard.

Putting my ear to the door, I heard Tyler and another deep voice. There was some yelling which caused concern, but it was followed by laughter before I could react.

Taking a deep breath, I turned the knob as slowly as possible and opened the door hoping it wouldn’t creak. Of course, it did.

“Iona!” Tyler yelled. “Jake’s here.”

All thought of being quiet and stealthy slipped from my thoughts. I raced through the hall and pounded down the stairs.

“Jakie-Jake!” I said with a grin so wide it hurt.

I don’t know what I had expected to find when I hit the bottom step, but I would have never imagined that tiny little Jakie would grow up to be the big, beefy guy standing in front of me. He was taller than Tyler by an inch or two, and thick. Big muscle thick.

“Wow, you’ve grown. Steroids?” I asked because he was unnaturally large. One can’t help but think of muscle-enhancing drugs when looking at him.

“No. Nice to see you, too, Iona.”

I opened my arms. “Come here, runt.”

He smiled and two gorgeous dimples appeared on his cheeks. As killer as that smile was, Jake had always been like a little brother to me. I was excited to see how he’d grown up and wondered how his life had turned out. I knew Tyler was a little hard on him and his parents were only a step above neglectful, so I hoped he was happy in his life.

Those hulking arms wrapped around me and they were surprisingly gentle. I expected a big bear hug while I gasped for breath but what I got was light. As if I was a fragile kitten being cradled in his arms.

“Okay, you two. Break it up,” Tyler said and laughed.

I glanced over and saw his smile wasn’t reaching his eyes.

We settled in. Tyler and Jake sat on the couch while I took the leather chair.

“Come to visit your brother’s new place?”

Jake’s head shot back, and his confused expression reminded me of Tyler. They both had the same light brown hair and round eyes, but his were hazel while Tyler’s were blue.

“You didn’t tell her?” Jake pointed at me but stared at Tyler.

“I meant to, but I was a bit busy last night.” Tyler’s gaze darkened as he stared at me.

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