Page 96 of Taming Tyler Hayes

“And, uh, you’re not so bad yourself there.” The next part just came out. “Good enough to catch my boyfriend’s attention.”

“There it is,” TK said, slapping his thighs and throwing his hands in the air. “Was waiting for that.”

“I’m…sorry.”

“Ryan, listen to me. I’ve…I’ve wanted to talk to you for a long time about this but I didn’t know what to say…”

“We really don’t need to talk about this,” Ryan interrupted, his posture stiffening. “Really. Water under the bridge, man.”

“Can I talk? Please? Step nine, man. Making amends.”

Ryan nodded, settling back down onto the couch.

“I, uh,” TK began, picking at his fingers in his lap and staring at them. “OK, so. I am truly sorry for the rift I caused between you and Ty. I want you to understand something though. The night that we…”

“Yep. I get it. No need for details.”

“Right, but he didn’t intentionally cheat on you, Ryan.”

“Teek, I’m way more upset that you shot him up with heroin than the fact that you came all over his dick, dude. Both suck, but that could’ve killed him.”

“I know that. And believe me, I’ve apologized profusely to him for that. But back to the cheating. He would never. I don’t think I’ve ever met someone more idiotically in love with another human being than Ty is with you. You are the only thing he ever talks about. If he never played another game a day in his life, he’d die happy as long as he got you back. He thought he was with you in that bed.

“Heroin is fucked, man. The minute he realized it wasn’t, it stopped. He was hard as fuck, ready to cum, and he stopped it, Ryan. I swear on my mother’s grave, OK? You wanna be angry at someone? Be angry at me. I should’ve said no, but I didn’t. I pushed him away a bunch of times, but eventually I gave in. And I’m sorry that I fucked up your relationship. I don’t know…”

TK paused, as he noticed the tears running down Ryan’s face, even though he’d been attempting to hide them.

“I am fucking sorry, Ryan. I really am.” He pulled off his hat, tossed it onto the couch next to him, dipped his head forward and raked his fingers through his hair. When he lifted his head back up, Ryan noticed he was crying, too. “I’m fucking sorry.”

Ryan nodded. “Thanks,” he choked out.

“And I’m supposed to like, make amends rather than simply apologize. But I don’t know what that looks like for this, man. I can’t give back what I took from you. I don’t know how to truly make this right, but like, I want you to know that you saved my life. I’d have gotten arrested on that beach if it wasn’t for you, and I’d have never gone to rehab if it wasn’t for you. You called my family, man, set that shit up for me. You didn’t…you didn’t have to do that.” TK was all but sobbing.

“You needed help, Travis.”

“I never thanked you, Ryan. But I am now. Thank you for saving my life. Thank you for not beating my fucking face in for what happened with Ty. Thank you for opening your home to me even though I don’t deserve to be here. You? Are a good person. A real one. I hope you know that. And it’s easy to see why Ty is so in love with you. He’s miserable without you, Ryan. All he talks about is you.”

Shut up.

Shut up.

Shut up.

Shut up.

No luck.

“Even while he’s jerking you off on an arena toilet?”

TK leaned over and buried his hands in his face again.

“I’m sorry,” Ryan said immediately. “I…shouldn’t have said that. That’s not fair. We’re not together and he’s free to do whoever he wants. I…sometimes I don’t think. I just speak. It’s this whole thing I’m working on.”

“It’s just because he’s jealous of Joss Koskinen, that’s why. The day he found those pictures of you two online? He was a wreck. Ryan, I’ll make this up to you somehow. I swear to God, I will. I don’t know how, but I’m gonna make this up to you. I’m gonna.”

Ryan watched him take out another cigarette, light it, and walk back to the railing. He took a drag, dipped his head back, exhaled the smoke, and turned back toward Ryan. “Tell me how I make this up to you.”

Against his better judgment, he scanned TK from head to toe, taking in once more the sight of those barbells and the outline of his dick in his sweatpants. Ryan sighed, biting his bottom lip and nodding slowly. “I, um…I might have some ideas.”

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