Page 23 of A Constant Surprise

He paused to sip his beer, so I asked. “Is that why you broke up?”

“For awhile, we tried to make it work. Beating the dead horse and all. But both of us were just angry and fighting all the time. She didn’t want to be here anymore, and I didn’t want to be with someone who was always trying to leave. We became really awful to each other towards the end.

“Then, she cheated…with a friend of mine.”

My eyes grew wide, but he went on.

“I said that was the only reason I left, but truth is, if she didn’t, I probably would have. We were both looking for a way out, and she just happened to be the first one to find it. Good thing too. We were both too young to settle down. When we ended things, she moved to Paris, and I haven’t heard from her since.”

I had no idea what to say. The way he talked about her made me know that he really had loved her.

“Did you ever try to get her back after she left?” I don’t know why I asked the question. I’m sure whatever answer he gave wouldn’t make me feel any better.

“No, and I regretted that for a long time. Maybe if I would have gone after her, she would have been willing to keep trying, but my pride got in the way. I wasn’t going to fight for someone who wasn’t fighting for me,” he said the words in the confident tone he always exuded, but his eyes still wondered what could have been.

“I’m really sorry that happened.”

“All for the best. It was a long time ago. Since then, I told myself that I wasn’t going to do the serious thing anymore. Just have fun…until the time was right. And for the record, I may have fucked a lot of women, Sam, but I have never led them on. They knew from the start that it was sex…nothing more. I wasn’t going to be their boyfriend. I wasn’t going to do the whole sleepover thing. And I wasn’t going to call them the next morning.”

That should have sounded more like the Tyler Wendell that I knew. And maybe that was how I used to see him, but he wasn’t like that with me. He was sweet and caring…not cold and stand-offish. Even after we had sex, he hadn’t kicked me out. He hadn’t been anything but wonderful. Hell, he gave me a place to live when I had nowhere else to go.

We sat in silence for a few minutes before I said, “Wait, if that’s what happened, why doesn’t your sister know the real story? She doesn’t have any clue why things ended, and she acts like you’re the bad guy.”

“Because our families are still close. I wasn’t going to derail all the friendships just because Marisol and I were stupid enough to get involved.”

“But…”

“But nothing, Sam. This isn’t up for discussion. If they want to think of me as the bad guy, fine. I don’t care. She’s gone. It doesn’t matter anymore.”

I wanted to tell him he was wrong. It did matter. It mattered that the bitch cheated on him, but everyone still blamed him. The argument was right on the tip of my tongue, but his tone told me the conversation was over.

Tension hung heavy in the air for a few moments before I defused it by taking the remote back and turning back on the game.

I knew Tyler and I were just friends, but I couldn’t help feeling some type of way about he and Marisol’s relationship. She had this amazing guy, and she cheated on him. He was such a sex machine that I couldn’t imagine anyone being better.

I continued to wonder what it must be like to date him. What would it be like to date the rich, devilishly good-looking Tyler Wendell? Was all fancy restaurants and galas with his family? Was it traveling the world? Was it constant amazing sex? Or was it just an easy sense of contentment? …Kind of like what we had.

Stop it, Sam. You’re not going to fall for this man. You would just end up breaking his heart like Marisol did. You’re damaged goods. He wouldn’t want you if he knew the truth.

I thought of how someone like Tyler, who had the world at his feet, could never be happy with someone like me. I would constantly push him away.

Not like any of that would ever happen.

But I still couldn’t help but wonder…

What if?

Chapter 12 - Tyler

I just sat and watched her.

Sam.

I found myself all the time just watching her.

I watched her when she sang to herself as she made dinner. I watched her bite her bottom lip when she was deep in thought doing homework. I watched her suck on a popsicle and unknowingly drive me crazy in the process.

I found myself doing things just for the sake of making her happy as the weeks went on. I’d make sure her favorite snacks were stocked in the house. I’d watch crappy reality tv with her and actually keep up with the characters.

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