Page 30 of A Constant Surprise

As soon as I led Ted to the front door and shut it behind him, I started searching for Tyler. A little while ago, I had heard the front door shut, so I assumed his visitor left.

At least, I really hoped she had left, and I wasn’t about to walk in on something I didn’t want to see.

He wasn’t in the office or family room, so I tried upstairs. As I creaked open his bedroom door, he was laying in bed reading a book.

“Hey.”

“Hi.” He said in a clipped voice.

“You want to talk about it?”

“Not really.”

My heart sank. “Oh…are you sure because…”

“I said not now, Sam!” His words came out angry and cold.

“Fine.” I said slamming his door behind me.

I sauntered down the hall into my room and laid down trying my hardest not to let any tears fall. He’d never gotten upset with me before. For anything. Now, this bitch shows up, and he’s acting like a complete asshole?

Her beautiful face ran through my mind, and I couldn’t help but think that Tyler should probably be with someone like that. They were certainly both equal levels of gorgeous. And they already had a history that included being madly in love with one another.

I couldn’t believe I was about to open up and tell him my deep, dark secret. And I was going to tell him that I wanted to give us a shot.

What the hell was I thinking?

After seeing her and seeing the type of woman he was clearly attracted to, how could I think he would be satisfied with me? The little farm girl from Kansas. I could never be enough for a man like him. And when he found out how broken I truly was, he would run the other way and leave me even more shattered than before.

No. I couldn’t let that happen. I wouldn’t let happen.

There was a gentle knock on my door, and Tyler peeked his head in. “Can I come in?”

“It’s your house,” I replied in my most snarky voice.

He sat on the edge of the bed, and I was suddenly very grateful that I hadn’t started crying.

“I wanted to apologize for snapping at you. I was upset with Marisol, and I took it out on you.”

“It’s fine.” I shrugged.

“No, it’s not. I should never talk to you that way. She came here to try to get me back, and she just had my head all fucked up.”

His words were a punch in the gut. Although I was expecting that is what she wanted, it didn’t make it any easier to hear.

“What did you say to her?”

“I told her to get out.”

Relief washed over me, but I felt myself about to make a grave mistake. The words were coming out before I even knew what I was saying. “Maybe you should give it another chance.”

His head snapped to me. “What?”

Yeah, what?

“I mean it seems like you guys once had something really good, and I mean maybe there’s a reason you haven’t dated anyone seriously since. Maybe it’s because you’ve been hoping she would come back.”

Shock was written all over his face. Hell, I couldn’t even believe what I was saying.

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