Page 46 of Reckless Encore

Nobody else moved or spoke, not until the crunch of fading footsteps turned into silence.

“Are you both okay?” Disappointment held in Gabi’s features, making the kind words all the harder to bear.

“We’re fine,” Sophie grated. “Just leave us alone. You’re only making it worse.”

Tyler couldn’t agree. Nobody else could make this worse. Images of that day already haunted him. Her face. Her pain. He hated himself for what happened. That would never change.

“Son?” his father murmured.

“Yeah, we’re fine.”

His dad raised his brows, only to let them fall seconds later. “Right… Well, I think we need to get back to the house and break the news to your mother.”

Tyler nodded. It wasn’t like he could stop the train wreck now. “Can you give us a minute?”

“Yes, of course. Take your time.” Gabi gave him a sad smile. “But at some point, we will have to discuss this further. Come on, Blake.” She grabbed her husband’s hand and stepped away.

Blake remained in place, their arms outstretched as he glared. Then glared some more. “You’ve got five minutes.”

“Blake,” Gabi warned. “Not now.”

There was no way Sophie’s father would ever let this go. Not today. Not tomorrow. Not ten years from now. The enthusiastic hatred would last a lifetime, and Tyler was prepared to take it all.

He deserved it.

And more.

Gabi tugged again, finally gaining her husband’s compliance to stride toward the dirt trail.

“Are you really okay?” His dad patted him on the back and glanced between him and Sophie.

“Yes.” Tyler shrugged away the touch. “We’ll be back at the house in a minute.”

“Yeah, it’s getting late.” His father gave a sad smile. “We can discuss this in the morning.”

The morning—the time when the light of day would make this situation ten times worse.

He stood in silence, swallowing over the lump in his throat as his dad walked away.

“I’m sorry,” Sophie whispered.

The apology killed him. Slayed him. “What are you sorry for? You did nothing wrong.”

“Neither did you.” She rushed forward, reaching for him.

“Don’t.” He stepped back.

Her touch would ignite a spark he couldn’t ignore. Not when he’d already spent a lifetime extinguishing spot fires.

“So, we’re enemies now? Is that it?”

“No.” He cringed. “Not enemies, just not…”

“What?” She wrapped her arms around her waist. “Not what, Tyler?”

“Anything.” He couldn’t be her friend. Couldn’t be her enemy. He couldn’tbeat all around her.

“Because we slept together?”

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