Page 20 of Return to Me Always

"Well..." I paused, unsure how much to say about my fight with Malcolm.

He left the backpack on the ground and stepped closer to me. "What exactly do you mean?"

Between his gigantic size and serious expression, not to mention those scorching blue eyes, I realized Tyler could be really intimidating when he wanted to be.

"Tell me," he ordered.

Geez. "Just my back hurts a bit from before, you know, with Malcolm."

His eyes burned into me, and my heart rate ticked up a notch.

"How so?" he asked, his voice barely audible.

"Well, I'm not sure what all you saw..."

"I didn't see anything. When he started shooting, I went flat on the ground."

"Ah, okay."

"What did he do to you?" His tone was strangely quiet, making my lungs speed up.

"Um, when he shot at you, I tackled him from behind. And he, uh, really tried hard to get me off his back."

"How so?" Now his question was almost a whisper.

"He slammed me against the wall."

Tyler was silent, his hands clenched in fists at his sides.

"But really, I'm okay," I said. "It doesn't—"

"Can I see?"

"I doubt there's anything to see."

"Can I see?" he repeated, this time slower.

Whoa, he was acting even more intense than usual. "Okay. Fine."

I took off my jacket with Tyler's help, and with careful hands, he lifted up the back of my shirt. The cold air swooshed in, taking away my breath. Or it was the gentle touch of Tyler's warm hands along my spine that caused my sudden breathlessness. I gasped when he touched one especially sensitive part.

"Sorry," he said as he lowered my shirt.

He went over to his bag, and after a few seconds of rummaging, he pulled out a tube of medicine.

"What's that?" I asked.

"It's arnica. For the bruising."

I held out my palm so I could try to apply it, but he ignored it. Returning to my back, he again raised my shirt, and then I felt the cool relief of the medicine. And the tender way he applied it created that fluttery feeling in my heart again.

What was that? The third time today? I needed to stop it because I seriously doubted Tyler was having any chest squeezies overme.

"Ideally, we'd ice it. But it's too cold for that right now," Tyler said as he lowered my shirt and helped me with my jacket.

"Thanks," I said.

But as usual, Tyler didn't respond. He was busy taking out supplies from my bag and putting them into his.

---