Page 55 of Missing Pieces (Men of Manhattan 3)

I didn't want to talk about someday. I wanted to talk about right now. And right now, it seemed like we were supposed to be together. I didn't feel so alone when I was with him. I didn't feel like doom was knocking at my door. This was a feeling I wanted to hold on to as long as possible. "I can't change your mind?" I straddled him on the bed and his hands gravitated to my hips. I stared down into his eyes. He looked like he was in pain. He looked...lost. I felt the same way, but not when I was with him. When I was with him, everything seemed okay. I didn't feel lost anymore.

"If anyone could change my mind, it would be you." He smiled at me, his hands still locked on my hips.

"What, do you want me to beg you?" I ran my fingers down his six pack.

His Adam's apple rose and fell.

I dipped my fingers slightly before his boxers. For the first time I noticed a small scar on his hip. I thought about the accident he had been in. I thought about the loss he must have experienced. "How did you get this?"

He grabbed my hand and didn't look down at his hip. "I got it a long time ago. It's nothing."

I could tell it wasn't nothing. But I also didn't want to talk about our issues. I wanted to convince him that it could be more than whatever it was right now. If I could convince him of that, then I'd have more time to learn about him. "Fine, I'll beg," I said, going back to our original conversation. "I want you to come back to Indiana with me."

"Hails..."

"I know it's not the big city, but you grew up in Delaware. You're used to small towns."

"It's not that. I..."

"Look, I've gotten used to falling asleep next to you. I don't want to stop doing that." I smiled at him as seductively as I could and unbuttoned his shorts.

"Hails, I can't..."

"I promise my town isn't as small and boring as you might guess." I kissed the side of his neck. "Plus, I'm pretty sure you enjoy my company."

His fingers dug into my hips.

"Come back with me," I whispered in his ear. "We can figure it out one step at a time."

He had stopped protesting. Instead, he tilted his head so that his lips met mine.

Silence was never consent. But I took his silence as a yes. I knew it was fast and crazy, but Tyler and I just seemed to fit. We were two pieces of a puzzle that used to be broken. Now it was whole again.

Chapter 28

Tyler

Wednesday

"Hailey," I whispered against the back of her neck. My stomach was twisted in knots. I tried to tell her I couldn't come back with her last night. The problem was that I wanted to. I wanted to go back to Indiana and figure it out one step at a time like she said. It wasn't an option though. Three years. I would never ask her to wait three years.

I breathed in the smell of her. Today she smelled more like roses than cinnamon. It was the sweetest smell in the world. I wanted to stop time. Somehow, I was always a little too late. With Penny I was too late. If I had met her a few days before her husband, maybe she would have ended up with me. With Hailey I was too late too. If I had met Hailey four days sooner, maybe I wouldn't have been motivated to suddenly change my whole life. I could have gone back with her. I wish it didn't feel like I was throwing my life away, but it did now, now that I didn't feel so alone.

I should have just told her about basic training. I didn't mean to lead her on, but I knew that I had. She thought I was thinking about coming back with her. When in reality, it wasn't even an option. I slipped my hand off her skin and rolled away from her in the bed.

I had royally fucked up. She had asked me if I had ever intentionally broken anyone's heart. Now I was worried that I was doing it to her. And that was the last thing I wanted to do. She deserved so much more than I could offer. She deserved better than me. It felt like I needed her though. Before we had run into each other, I had given up. She made me feel better. It was greedy of me to need her. It wasn't right. So why the hell did it feel so right?

Even though the sun hadn't risen yet, I climbed out of bed and pulled on a pair of athletic shorts.

Hailey moaned in her sleep. It was the softest, cutest noise in the world. Everything this girl did seemed to get to me. All I wanted to do was climb back in bed and hold her in my arms. But I couldn't get used to that. A future between us was never going to happen. I pulled on a pair of socks.

"What are you doing?"

I turned around. Hails was sitting up in bed, the sheets clutched in her hand, barely covering her naked breasts. She looked so beautiful. The moonlight streaming through the blinds made her eyes sparkle in the darkness. She was breathtaking.

I realized I had been staring at her and cleared my throat. "Going for a run. Go back to sleep."

She glanced out the window. "It's the middle of the night, Tyler."

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