Page 87 of Against The Rules

They pull out solid wood piece after solid wood piece, all a pretty grey-washed brown, and start to assemble a gorgeous wood desk.

My mouth hangs open as they work, because damn, this is going to be amazing. I’m already excited to organize all my things in each of the drawers, and honestly, with the help of my ring light, the desktop will be a gorgeous place to take some promo pics.

This is so much better than what I had. It’s so… thoughtful.

When they start to put together the chair, my eyes are brimming with unspent tears. The chair’s base matches the desk perfectly, but the fabric isn’t boring office grey or black. Nope. It’s a pretty pink velvet, patterned all over with bright flowers, and Tyler nailed it.

As I’m blinking back tears, still too stunned to do more than watch, the doorbell rings again.

“I’ll be right back,” I say nonsensically, seeing as how they certainly don’t need my help.

There’s another delivery person at the door, and she hands me a medium-sized box, warning labels about batteries all over the cardboard.

“What’s this?” I ask, thrilled and shocked all over again.

“Something from Apple,” she says. “Don’t know. Sign here, please.” I do what she says, my heart racing.

This is too much. This is way too much.

I close the door behind her and set the box on the kitchen table, staring at it warily.

I’m saved from opening it for a hot second as the desk delivery crew leave. I thank them profusely, then lock the door behind them, still staring at the package like it might grow teeth and chomp me.

My phone vibrates against my thigh, but I’m not ready to talk to anyone.

This is kind of freaking me out.

I can’t even fathom how much it cost for him to buy and send over a whole desk, not to mention the cost of them setting it up. I mean, yeah, I know he makes good money as the starting wide receiver for the Beavers, of course he does, but… this is a lot.

Swallowing hard, I grab a pair of scissors from the kitchen junk drawer and run it over the tape line.

“Oh my god, Tyler,” I mutter, my eyes huge as I pull out a new iPad Pro. There’s an Apple Pencil too, and I set them on the table next to each other.

I’ve wanted one of these for ages.

“Oh my god,” I repeat, beyond excited and intimidated by learning how to use it all at once.

That’s not all that’s in the box, though. A new MacBook is nestled in the bottom too, along with a note.

Peaches,

I feel really badly about what happened to your last office set-up. I don’t regret how it ended, not even a little bit, but I know you need a comfortable place to work. I hope you like what I picked out and don’t mind me taking care of you. It made me happy to do it. I know you’ll put the new work tools to good use. I can’t wait to see what that brain of yours dreams up with them.

Missing you,

Tyler

I hold the note to my chest, emotion washing over me like a tsunami.

Wow. This is by far the most thoughtful thing anyone’s ever done for me.

It’s way, way too much, and I bite my lip because there’s no way I can ever repay him for all this. At the same time… I’m too excited to tell him I can’t accept it.

I have a sneaking suspicion that he wouldn’t let me not accept it, either.

My phone vibrates again, the shrink-wrapped, shiny new tech reflecting the late-afternoon sunlight straight into my eyes. Yeah, that’s why they’re full of tears again.

The sun.

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