I got into my car full of fury, but by the time I was halfway back to Tyler’s, I was a sobbing mess. I made it into his house and collapsed onto the couch, eventually falling asleep in a pool of my own tears.
I woke up around midnight to the sound of a car pulling in the driveway. Disoriented due to the sudden darkness, I sat up. I felt extremely woozy, and I called out for the electronic assistant to turn on the lights. They came on just as the key went jangling into the doorknob and Tyler made his way in. He looked at me with concern etched on his face and hurried to my side.
“Babe, are you okay?” he asked.
“I’m fine,” I said. “I just fell asleep on the couch late this afternoon, and I guess I zonked out until just now.”
“That’s a long nap,” Tyler said.
“It is,” I said. “But I feel like I could sleep for hours still.”
“Then let’s get you to bed,” Tyler said, standing and holding out his hand for me to take.
“Wait,” I said. “I have to tell you what happened today.”
“You can tell me that when you are in pajamas,” he said. “Let’s get you comfy and in the bed. Are you hungry?”
“Starving,” I said.
“I’ll make you a sandwich. Go on,” he said, guiding me to the bedroom. I made it inside, still feeling woozy and realizing it was because I hadn’t had anything to eat or drink since lunch with Melissa. I got undressed, and Tyler handed me a pair of silk pajamas he had bought me on the little getaway. I put them on and slipped into the bed, sitting up. Tyler returned a few moments later with the sandwich and a large glass of water.
“Thank you,” I said.
“No problem,” he responded. “Now tell me what happened today.”
I told him everything that happened, and he laughed when he heard what Melissa said, noting that he agreed with her wholeheartedly. When I told him what Nick did in reaction to my speech, he grumbled and shook his head.
“I have known Nick a long time,” he said. “I know how he gets when he gets angry. He needs some time to process this, and then he will come around. They will all come around soon, you’ll see.”
“I’m not so sure about that,” I said. “He was pretty dismissive of me.”
“He’s dismissive of anyone who he disagrees with,” Tyler said. “I have been on the other end of that often, trust me. But eventually, he will figure himself out, and it will be okay.”
I didn’t know if I believed him fully, but I chose to try. I was going to hang on to those words and hope that one day things would get better.
37
Tyler
I had a day off and was planning on enjoying it by not doing a damn thing but hanging out with Becca. Vigorous shower sex left her a little worn-out, and I left her to finish the tub on her own while I made us lunch and created a bed on the couch where we could cuddle most of the day watching movies. I had just pulled the weighted blanket I bought her out into the living room and draped it on the couch when my phone rang. Becca was just coming into the room, stark naked and drying her hair, and I was tempted to ignore it and go for round two.
“Who is it?” she asked.
I sighed and looked down at my phone. “Nick,” I said. “I’m going to ignore it.”
“You should take it,” she said. “See what he wants.”
I nodded and swiped to answer the call. Pulling it up to my ear, I realized perhaps Becca shouldn’t hear it. I was about to walk away when she turned and shook her hips perhaps more than absolutely necessary as she made her way to the bedroom.
“Hello?” I answered. I didn’t want to give him too much of a greeting in case I got interrupted with a rant. Instead, he sighed on the other end, and when he spoke, his voice had a defeated quality to it.
“Hey, Tyler,” he said. “Before you hang up on me, I just needed to ask you if you would please hear me out.”
“Sure,” I said. “I’ll hear you out. What did you want to say?”
“Not here. Not on the phone. Can we meet up at the bar and have a few drinks?”
“You want me to go to the bar on my day off?” I asked.
“I didn’t know it was your day off,” he said. “A different bar? I just feel like I need alcohol to go along with this talk.”
“Fine,” I said. “We can go to a restaurant or something. Just not my bar.”
“I’m good with that,” Nick said.
“One condition, though,” I said. “You don’t try to punch me again.”