Page 26 of Driving Force

Looks like that wasn’t a dream. I said the words, and now she calling to tell me she needs a break. “Hello,” I answer.

“Umm, Ryan, did you mean what you said?” she asks.

“Hi, Tinley.” I clear my throat, then do the one thing that I have always been told to do. I tell the truth. No reason to hide from your emotions, my mom always said. When you find the girl that makes you want to bare your soul, it will come easy. So then let’s see if you are correct, Mom. I cough. “Yeah Tinley, I did. I know it’s sudden and may seem fast, but I do, and I wanted you to know that. I completely understand if you’re not in that place yet and if I scared the living hell out of you with my statement.”

“Ryan, you didn’t scare me at all. I love you, too. I wasn’t sure if we were on that page yet. I know some men are like deer. Go slow, ya know,” she said with a small laugh.

“Well, I can assure you I’m not one of those. You make me happier than I’ve ever been, Tin, and when I say those words, I mean them. I can tell you right now, I’ve never fallen head over heels in love so fast with such an amazing woman, and I wanted to spend every waking moment staring at those beautiful blue eyes.”

“That’s good to hear, Ryan, because, like I’ve said before, trust is big, but giving my heart to someone is bigger. I keep my circle small for a reason. I don’t want to get hurt just because. So I’m trusting you with my heart and not to break it.”

“Tinley, you have my word. I will keep your heart safe. You have mine, hell I think you had mine the first time I saw you because you took my breath away, and you have every day since then, so let me love you.”

“I think I started falling the minute I ran into you and you kissed me that first time,” she says.

“I’m glad you called me back. I was worried I might have scared you away by blurting that out and then just hanging up the phone.”

Laughing, she says, “Well, at least I didn’t say ‘okay’ and hand up after you said I love you. Now, that would have been a funny one to tell people,” she says.

I chuckle. I can’t help the smile that comes to my face.

“I’d better get to bed since it’s already past midnight, and I have an early class, Ryan. I love you,” she says as she gets ready to hang the phone up.

“I love you too, Tinley. Sweet dreams.”

And with that, she hangs up the phone.

* * *

The rest of the week goes faster than I could imagine. Heading toward the hanger to get on the plane, I can’t help but wish that Tinley could go with me this weekend, she settles me when she is around, but part of me also wants her by my side so that Serena can see I have no interest in her and that she can march on back to New York where she belongs.

Walking onto the plane, I see Matt already sitting in his seat on his phone. Clearing my throat, he looks up and, with a shit-eating grin, asks, “So, are you single again?”

Flopping down beside him, I can't help but laugh. “You really know how to make a guy feel good this early in the morning, don’t you?

“What, just asking a question? From the conversation last night, I was just waiting for you to call me back later, drowning your sorrow and saying something like, ‘Matt, where did I go wrong? Why am I such a girl?’”

Punching him in the arm, I can’t help but grin. “I’ll have you know, smart ass, she called me back, and we talked about my, shall we call it, declaration. She said it back to me. So, there you go.”

“There you go,” he said.

“I have a question for you now that I have you in a metal box and you can’t run from me for once. I have asked you what’s going on with you twice now, and you have darted from me. So what’s with the grumpy attitude this week? Each time I’ve seen you, you’re either looking down at your phone or have a permanent scowl on your face.”

Rolling his eyes, he turns to face me. “You’re really not going to let this go, are you, man?”

“Nope,” is all I say.

“Ugh, short version. I may have slept with a woman that I hate, and I do mean hate. She is bossy, smart-mouthed, and it was definitely the hottest sex of my life. Who knew that hate sex could be that good? I thought the whole point was to get it out of your system, but now I can’t get her out of my thoughts. She is literally living rent-free in my head, and it’s messing with my driving. It’s pissing me off to the hundredth degree, okay?” he says with a huff. “Honestly, I thought that if we had sex, got it out of our system, I would be back to my normal state of mind, but no such luck. Not only have we sent some very we’ll go with “fun” text, but I can’t shake that this could be something, yet she makes me so crazy. If there is one thing I am not doing, it’s turning me into a guy who pines after some woman who, on a good day, has a permanent scowl on her face when I’m around, amazing sex or not. So that’s it. Can we stop with the therapy session now?” He finishes his rant.

“You got it, bud,” I say with a grin on my face. Putting my earbuds in to listen to my playlist as the pilot tells us we are getting ready to take off.

“You got it, bud? That’s all you have for me? After the information I just said?” Matt states.

I can’t help but laugh at him just a little. “What? You just told me not to ask any more questions. Granted, I only asked one, and you unloaded all the information.”

I can feel Matt stewing beside me, like he wants me to dig deeper, but I’m not. If he wants to tell more, he will. If not, that’s okay because I know eventually, it will come out.

Me: