Page 78 of The Path To Us

“No shit?”

I nod, taking the frame from his hands and looking down at it. Chris’s smiling face is staring right at me. My heart clenches and I feel the too familiar sting of tears hit the back of my eyes. “It’s crazy how short life is. I guess we never know what our future holds, huh?”

I set down the frame and turn around, almost bumping into Tyson.

“I’m sorry, Addy.”

I shrug. “It’s okay. I mean, it isn’t, and I hate it for Zoey, but we can’t change what happened. All we can do is move forward.”

“That’s not all I’m sorry about.”

“What do you mean?” I ask, looking up at him.

He places his hands on my shoulders and I feel a twinge of discomfort but I beat it back because it’s Tyson.

“I got caught up in being eighteen and knowing I was heading off to a school that scouted me and one day I just knew I was going into the majors. I was a jackass most of the time.”

“What? No, Tyson. You were never a jackass. At least not to me. Aside from sleeping with Lizzy, that is,” I add with a laugh, stepping back. His hands fall from my shoulders and I try not to visibly breathe a sigh of relief.

“Nice.” He laughs, too, but it dies quickly. He takes a step back in my direction but this time lifts a hand to my cheek, running a finger down it before letting his hand drop to his side once again. “She was never the one I wanted.”

I know she wasn’t. He never hid the fact that he wanted me then.

Shaking my head, I cross my arms, hoping he understands that I’m not okay with all the touching. He and I might have been very close friends once upon a time, and even shared a few kisses. But twelve years change a person and he no longer has the right to touch me the way I can see in his chocolate brown eyes he wants to touch me. “Why’d you ruin your friendship with Beau over her, then? You know, saying it was because you were eighteen isn’t really a good excuse. There are plenty of people who manage to get clear into their golden years without sleeping with someone else’s girlfriend.”

Tyson huffs, either irritated at me for bringing it up or at himself. Hopefully himself because it’s not my fault he made a dumb choice. “You’re right. It isn’t an excuse. Stupid way of thinking, I suppose. I knew he had you.”

I hear Mary happily greet someone after the door chimes and wish I had the excuse that I needed to go out and help whoever just came into the shop.

“But he didn’t. Not in the way you’re thinking, anyway.” He raises a dark eyebrow and I roll my eyes. “Okay, fine. Yes, I had a wee bit of a crush on him then but that doesn’t mean that you can have sex with his girlfriend.”

“I always wanted you.”

“Tyson…” I start but he doesn’t let me say anything else. He bends down and brushes his lips against mine. It’s a quick touch and over before it started but it still happened.

As quickly as the kiss happened, I just as quickly step away, lifting a hand to my lips. “Tyson.”

“Addy. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that. But ever since I got back to town, I’ve been dying to see you and then…”

“Then, what?” I hear Beau’s booming voice in the doorway to the office.

“Beau,” I whisper, hoping he saw my side of it. That I wasn’t asking for that kiss and I stepped away.

Tyson looks a little worried but still greets his once best friend. “Hey, man.”

“You sure didn’t waste any time, huh?” Beau asks, stance wide and arms crossed across his broad chest.

“It wasn’t like that.”

“Oh, really? Then what was it like?”

“Just came to see Addy.”

Beau looks at me then back to Tyson, jaw so hard I’m afraid he’s going to crack a tooth.

The air between us is heavy with tension.

This isn’t how today was supposed to go. We had a great start to our day then we were going to the pool and tonight Beau and I had plans.

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