Page 30 of I Knew He Was Trouble
“No. He wanted my advice on how to get them to stop.”
When I don’t say anything else, even Alyssa presses in closer. “Well, what did you say?”
“I didn’t say anything.” I pop my lips, dreading saying what I actually did out of fear my roommates will think they’re winning our bet. They’re nowhere close to winning. I simply was helping out the uncle of the sweet little girl I adore.
My sentence comes out rushed, sounding like one long gibberish word. “I stopped there on the way to Sunrise Springs and kind of pretended to be Tyler’s girlfriend for a minute to get the other women to stay away from him.”
All of their mouths fall open simultaneously as if they choreographed the action.
“Please tell me you made out with him.” Alyssa covers her mouth with her hands like she’s trying to contain her excitement.
I grimace. “Ew, no.”
She sighs. “Oh, come on. You can’t tell me you haven’t dreamed about what it would feel like to have his muscular, hot doctor arms wrapped around you.”
I don’t have to dream about it, because I know how it feels now…the rippling muscles of his arms from all those morning workouts definitely did him favors. My face heats, and Alyssa points at me.
“Ha, I knew it. You’ve totally dreamed about him.”
“I haven’tdreamedabout him. We just may have been wrapped up in each other’s arms while pretending.” I add the last sentence in a whisper. Maybe if I’m quiet enough, they’ll just ignore that part.
“Shut. Up!” Shayna screams, grabbing my arm and squeezing as tight as a blood pressure cuff.
Ugh, there I go, thinking about more doctor-y things.
“So, what you’re saying is you don’t have to dream about his muscles because you alreadyknowwhat the planes of his abs and arms feel like.” Alyssa grins as if she’s about to win the bet.
“It didn’t make me feel any type of way about him, if that’s what you’re implying.” I’m lying through my teeth. It’s hard not being fully transparent with my best friends, but I can’t even understand whatever it was I felt yesterday, let alone vocalize it.
The doorbell rings, and I pop up, grateful for the excuse to get away for a minute and also because I know what’s waiting at the door for us.
“Is itTyler?” Shayna asks in a sing-song voice.
“No, it’s the sourdough pizzas I got us in return for helping him yesterday.”
“Even better. I need more than cookies to sustain me.” Mallory leans back in her seat.
I head to the door, shaking my head. I may not be able to vocalize my thoughts from yesterday to my friends—or myself. All I know is that Tyler is trouble.
And as for the idea of letting myself ever fall in love…I think I’ll stick to Taylor’s love songs, pizza, and chai cookies.
It’sfinallySaturday,whichmeans I made it through the workweek. Although it was a little touch and go there for a minute, I also survived my first week with Kelsey as Evie’s nanny. I think that’s honestly more miraculous than the fact that I escaped this week unscathed from any children throwing up during their appointments. Trust me, that’s a major feat in flu season.
“Are you ready for our day of fun?”
Evie bounces excitedly in front of me. “Yes! Will youpleasetell me what we’re doing?”
I told her all week that I was planning a surprise day for her on Saturday so she had something to look forward to. Since Tess typically works from home, Evie is used to being around her family whenever she’s not at school or dance. I feel awful that I only see her for dinner, a quick game or show, and bath time before she goes to bed. So, I’ve been talking up our first full day together all week.
Although she hasn’t said as much to me, I’ve heard her crying softly a few nights. Nothing will ever be the same as her momtucking her in. Three months is a long time to be apart from her, and even though we’re only a week in, I can tell Evie’s missing her mom.
Heck, I even miss my sister. We usually talk a few times a week and see each other every Sunday for family dinners. Since she dropped Evie off, I’ve only gotten a handful of texts checking in to make sure Evie’s all right and voice messages for her daughter saying goodnight and that she loves her.
It’s six hours later where Tess is, so it’s hard to catch her since she’s already asleep by the time I get home from work. But we have a video call date set with her this morning to start off our day of fun.
“I think you’ll be very excited about the first surprise of the day.” I pull out my laptop and set it on the kitchen table, gesturing for Evie to take the seat next to me. I hit the video call button next to my sister’s name on the app and, after a few moments, Tess’s smiling face pops up on the screen. She’s tanner than usual, but aside from that, she still looks like my sister.
“Mama!” Evie’s smile is wide but quickly turns into a chin-quivering frown. “I miss you.”
