Page 54 of Missing Pieces (Men of Manhattan 3)

How could he say that? In a few days we'd be going in different directions. We'd never see each other again. I swallowed hard. But I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel the same. I linked my hands behind his neck. "You're all that I want too."

He stepped back under the water, pulling me with him. I thought he was going to kiss me again, but instead he pressed his forehead against mine. We stood that way for a long time, with the water cascading down on us. It was like we both knew that this felt like something more, but at the same time realized that it could never be. But if we just stood here, everything was alright.

***

"They had to make Nick and Jess break up," I said and gestured to the TV screen. We were watching a rerun of New Girl. Somehow it had turned into an analysis of the characters. "The show wasn't as good when they finally got together."

"Of course it was," Tyler said. "That's what everyone was waiting for."

"Then they shouldn't have done such a crappy job at making them a couple. It was very anticlimactic when they finally got together. Didn't the show almost get canceled that season?"

"I don't think so."

"All I'm saying is that the tension between Nick and Jess is what made the show. They made them hook up way too fast."

"I wouldn't say a few years was too fast," Tyler said.

"In show terms it was."

He sighed. "You're ridiculous. You do know that, right?"

"Well, if I'm ridiculous, then you're stubborn and illogical."

Tyler laughed. "I just think it kind of sucks that they aren't together now. That's all."

I rolled over so that I could look up at him instead of facing the TV. I'm not sure how I ended up with my head on his lap, but it was so comfortable. I could easily get used to watching TV like this. "Don't project your own issues onto the characters." I lightly tapped his chest. He still wasn't wearing a shirt from earlier and I liked the way my fingers felt against his skin.

"I'm not. Actually, I'm perfectly content exactly where I am." He smiled down at me.

Something constricted in my throat. Why did he keep saying stuff like that? Was it because he wanted this to be more? He had to. I knew it in my heart that he had to be feeling the same way. So why were we fighting it? We should be making a plan about what was next. I so badly wanted to ask him, but I didn't want to break whatever spell we were currently under. I just wanted to stay in this hotel room forever, analyzing TV characters and having shower sex.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

Spell broken. I sat up

and hugged my knees to my chest as I turned toward him. "I really like you, Tyler."

He smiled. "I really like you too, Hails."

I took a deep breath. We were on the same page. I just needed to ask him. "Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course."

"You said you quit your job in New York. Are you planning on going back right away?"

He leaned back on the bed on his elbows and stared back at me. "No, I'm not."

"Where are you going then?"

"California." He smiled at me. "I'm pretty sure I already told you that."

I laughed. "I know. But are you really planning on staying there? I know that Josh offered you a job and..."

"I already have something lined up in California."

"Oh." I looked down at my knees. "How committed are you to that, though? I mean, if you worked for Josh, you could work from anywhere in the world."

"I know." He sat up and scratched the back of his neck with his hand. "And I might take him up on it later down the road, but not anytime soon."

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