Page 38 of Wild About You
His gaze narrows.
“Or don’t. Sorry. It isn’t my business.” I hold up both hands.
“No, I want to know. You’re smart and you know more teenagers than I do. What would you do?”
“She’s been through a lot it seems. I don’t think yelling at her is going to do anything. Talk to her. Hear her out. Set boundaries and rules, but don’t lose sight of the fact that she’s here and she’s safe. That’s what matters.”
His jaw works back and forth, but he nods. “I’m sorry you got pulled into this.”
I find myself reaching out and taking his hand. It jolts me every freaking time, but this time I can feel how it affects him too. I keep contact for a few more seconds as I say, “I’m glad I could help. I keep telling you I like Everly and I mean it.”
“And me?” he asks, gliding his thumb along my palm. “Still hate me?”
I hold his gaze. My heart races and I struggle to put my feelings for him into words. Do I hate him? Of course not. I’m not sure I ever did. But I’m not a masochist either. I almost didn’t survive him the first time, and this grown-up Tyler with the weight of the world on his much broader shoulders could wreck me.
“No,” I finally say. “I don’t hate you.”
“Well, that’s something.” He tips back the bottle again. “I think you’re right. She needs routine and rules, stability that she hasn’t really gotten from me and the half-assed job I’m doing trying to look out for her.”
“I think you’re doing a really great job, all things considered.”
He makes a face that shows his disappointment in himself.
“I should get home.”
“Yeah, of course.” He sets the bottle down. “Let me drive you home.”
“It’s okay. You should stay in case she needs you. I have an Uber on the way.”
“All right then. I guess, thanks, again.”
“Bye, Tyler,” I say as I stare into his dark green eyes. My pulse skips.
“Bye, Pipes.”
I make it all the way to the front door before my resolve crumbles. I walk back into the kitchen. Tyler is tossing the beer into the trash. He looks up when I enter, and a hopeful look crosses his face.
“I’ll do it,” I say. “I will look after Everly, be her nanny, or whatever.”
“You will?”
“Yes.”
He rushes me and hugs me, squeezing the air from my lungs. “Thank you.”
Any final hesitation I had leaves when he pulls back, and I see the relief on his face. He just aged backward by about four years.
“She obviously needs a female influence amidst all your teammates,” I say the last part jokingly but I’m serious. Holy overprotective hockey players.
“Thank you. I will pay you whatever you want and there’s a spare bedroom upstairs that Ash said you could have.”
I quirk a brow.
“I ran it by him earlier in case you said yes,” he admits.
Those nerves are back as I imagine waking up in the morning to a sleepy-eyed, shirtless Tyler. That sounds…amazing, and also like torture. “I don’t know. Us sleeping under the same roof feels like…a lot.”
“Okay, whatever you want. I’ll text you my schedule and leave the details up to you, but the offer to stay is open, and name your price.”
