Page 66 of Wild About You
I don’t feel the least bit bad for her thinking something is up with Ev. Not right now when she’s with him. She doesn’t belong with him.
She texts again as I’m driving, but I don’t look. I push the car downtown to the restaurant with the pink neon light in the window. I stop at the valet and toss my keys. It’s a nice place. Somewhere I wish I’d brought her.
I bypass the hostess stand and weave through the tables until I spot her. She’s in a corner booth. Her back is to me, but I swear even from behind one look at her knocks the air from me. Her long, brown hair hangs down her back. She laughs and gives me her profile, and I hate him for making her look so happy.
I let my gaze go to the guy across from her, sizing him up. Light brown hair, glasses, smaller than me but still built. He tosses a playful smile at her, then tips his head back and laughs at something she said.
For a flash I question if maybe she does belong with him, but I squash it as quick as it comes. She can’t because she belongs with me and I’m not interested in sharing.
My legs eat the space between us. I stop at the end of the table, ignoring the guy and facing Piper.
“Tyler,” she squeaks in surprise. “What are you doing here? Is Everly okay?”
“She’s fine,” I assure her. “I’m here for me.”
Her brows draw together. “For you?”
“I don’t know him”—I jab my thumb toward the direction of her boyfriend—“but I know you’re wasting your time on anyone that isn’t me.”
Her brows lift and her body tenses. “Is that right?”
“Yeah. And you can be pissed at me for saying it, but I think deep down you know it’s true.”
I’m not done, but I stop to give her a chance to speak. I’m putting it all out there. We’ve been dancing around it for weeks, and I’m done pretending she isn’t everything.
20
YOU KNOW WHERE TO FIND ME
PIPER
My pulse thrumsloudly in my ears as Tyler stares at me, waiting for a response. God, he’s beautiful.Heartbreakinglybeautiful when he looks at me like he’s doing now.
I feel Steve’s gaze bouncing between me and Tyler. Heather just went to the restroom, so I understand how this looks to Tyler. I should tell him, but my throat feels like I swallowed nails. I part my lips but can’t make the words come out.
But apparently Tyler isn’t finished anyway. His voice softens as he says, “Piper, I’ve never stopped wanting you. I screwed up. I know that. I let you go when I should have fought harder for us. I’m sorry. I’msosorry. I wanted you to have everything—all of the high school and college experiences you had dreamt of—and I couldn’t give them to you. I thought I was doing the right thing. I’m still not sure I didn’t because you had a life you wouldn’t have had if I’d stayed in it. But things are different now or maybe I’m just more selfish. I don’t know, but I do know that I want this more than I’ve ever wanted anything. And I’m not going to walk away so easily this time.”
I believe him, can read the sincerity on his face, but his words still toss a lit match on the lingering pain and frustration over our breakup.
He makes it sound like he broke up with me for my own good. Ha! Yeah, it felt really great to have my boyfriend dump me because of some preconceived notion he had about what he thought I wanted and who I needed him to be.
Was it hard? Yes. Did I want him to be able to attend dances and parties with me, meet my friends, have more time outside of hockey? Of course. But it wasn’t fair that he took the decision out of my hands. Shouldn’t I have had a say in what I was and wasn’t willing to give up to be with him?
I would have dated him if he lived on the moon. The distance meant nothing to me. It was hard, but he was worth it.
The server comes with our drinks. She stands awkwardly taking in the scene. Tyler steps to the side to give her room.
“You need to go, Tyler.” My throat feels raw, and my eyes burn with unshed tears. I can’t do this here. I need to think, and I can’t do that with him so close.
He nods. “I’ve said what I needed to. You know where to find me.”
I finally let out a breath as Tyler turns and leaves without another word. I’m frozen, body humming with his words, and emotions swirling inside of me.
“Who was that?” Heather slides into the booth next to Steve. The server sets our glasses down and I take mine and cradle it in both hands.
“I think that was the infamous Tyler,” Steve says.
“What? Really?” She sits taller and careens her neck. I don’t look back to see if he’s gone already. I think I’m in shock. He never stopped wanting me?
