Page 20 of A Constant Surprise

When I opened the it, there stood a tall, lean, beautiful brunette.

“Hi, I’m looking for Tyler. You must be Sam.” She held out her hand for me to shake.

Who the hell?

I stuck my hand out reluctantly for her to shake.

The girl was beautiful, but there was something oddly familiar about her. She had a runner’s body with long legs and an extremely toned figure. Her hair was dark and her skin looked like it had been kissed by the sun.

Jealousy began to wash over me, but before I could make any assumptions, she spoke again.

“I’m Tess, Tyler’s sister.”

Oh, thank God.

“Oh, hi,” I said trying not to sound as relieved as I felt.

Breaking the slightly awkward moment, I led her through the house to the family room where Tyler still sat watching the movie.

“Well, well, well, baby brother. You are alive.”

He jumped up so fast at her words that the popcorn bowl in his lap flew up sending popcorn flying everywhere.

“Tess? What the hell are you doing here?”

“Well, I’ve been texting you all week with no response. And then Mom tried calling you. When she didn’t hear back, she sent me. You know how she is. She thought you were dead in a ditch somewhere. And I had to take a break from my already busy life to come check on you.”

He rolled his eyes. “You can tell her I’m fine. And you can go back to New York now.”

“Don’t be rude, baby brother. I won’t stay long, but would it kill you to at least be nice to me for a few minutes?” She kissed him on the cheek.

Seeing them side by side, I could definitely see the resemblance. They both had that blacker than night hair and gorgeous tan skin. Although Tess didn’t stand as tall as him, she still towered over me.

I sat back down on the couch, as she took a seat next to me. The closer she scooted, the more uncomfortable I became. Tess clearly didn’t have any issues with personal space.

“Sam, I feel like I already know you the way that Tyler goes on and on about you.”

He talks about me?

I blushed.

“Well, I wish he would have told me more about you,” was all I could think to say.

She shot him a dirty look.

“Of course. I’m Tess, his slightly older, but much wiser sister…who apparently after 22 years, he has decided to start ignoring. You must be something special for him to not answer his phone.”

I felt my cheeks start to burn hotter not knowing if she was blaming me for him not being available to her or if she was merely interested.

Tyler saved me from having to respond. “Sorry, been busy,” he mumbled. His face was now staring at his phone.

“Yeah…busy.” Her eyes darted toward the movie on the tv screen.

We made small talk for a while, and she told me all about her crazy medical school schedule. She told me about her new apartment with a gorgeous view of the city…the guy she was casually seeing…and her new Yorkie puppy.

The girl could talk…a lot. I couldn’t imagine giving away so many personal details about my life to someone I had just met.

Tyler was still tuning her out, clearly used to how much she talked. I kept trying to make eye contact with him to get to save me yet again, but he didn’t look up from his phone.

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