Page 19 of A Constant Surprise

Her giggle filled the room. “Yeah, it wasn’t until I was older that I realized that was definitely a Midwestern word.”

I made a mental note to try to make her laugh more because the sound was absolutely contagious.

“So, you said your dad worked a lot. What did he do for a living?”

I worried about pushing her to far again, but I was hoping the question wouldn’t be too terribly personal.

“He owns and runs a cattle farm.”

I nodded because I had absolutely no idea what to say…mainly because I had no idea exactly what running a cattle farm entailed

She must have seen the look on my face because she continued. “We lived on a big piece of land where he would raise cattle for food for the town.”

“Isn’t ranching usually a lucrative business?” I wasn’t sure if that was true, but I had heard of a few ranchers who had made big money.

“Well, like I said, he just raised enough for the town. He didn’t have the money to really expand to make it a bigger operation. He made enough to make ends meet, but we never had any extra. Plus, with my mom’s medical bills, things got really tight.”

As happy as I was that she was letting me into this small part of her world, I wasn’t going to push about her mom. I knew she would tell me when, or if, she was ready.

“How did your parents make all their money?”

I took another bite and swallowed before answering. “Real estate. They started doing the whole flipping houses thing to start out. Buy cheap, fix it up, and sell for a profit. Now, they do the same thing but on a much bigger scale. They buy large buildings or pieces of property and find a way to flip and sell for the big bucks.”

She nodded but remained silent. The girl was so damn hard to read.

We spent the rest of the evening talking and laughing. Sam insisted on doing the dishes so Jacinda would have less to do, so I stood in the kitchen and dried them as she finished.

On the outside looking in, Sam and I were complete opposites, but in this case, I was hoping opposites would eventually attract.

Chapter 11- Sam

A few weeks later and things were still going better than I ever thought possible. I had adapted to my new home quite well, and Tyler and I had become closer than ever.

Our days were full of classes and homework, but our evenings were spent laughing and watching movies. And our weekends were spent trying new restaurants or going to see new movies in the theatres.

He made me laugh so hard I’d snort. It’d been years since anyone had made me giggle like Tyler did.

It was still remarkably hard to keep my hands to myself…especially when I would catch him staring at me with that fire and hunger in his eyes. The look told me that if I let him, he would fuck me into ecstasy.

I couldn’t though. I couldn’t get sucked in and let myself catch feelings for this man…no matter how charming he was.

When he found out my secrets, he would run the other direction, and I would be devastated. I couldn’t let that happen. I wouldn’t.

Instead, I would enjoy my good friend and enjoy our time that we had together.

Besides my time spent with Tyler, I had also managed to repair my friendship with Emily. A couple weeks after I had moved in, she asked if we could go for coffee.

I reluctantly agreed because at the end of the day, I still missed her. When we went and met, we both broke down in tears. She apologized for asking me to leave, and I finally let go of my anger and forgave her.

Honestly, I loved Emily, and I missed living with her, but I was also grateful to her in a weird sense. Without her kicking me out, I wouldn’t have moved in with Tyler and found an equally wonderful friendship with him.

I confessed that he and I had slept together but just the one time. She wanted to know every detail but didn’t divulge much. I was never one much for kiss and tell…no matter how amazing it was.

Finally, I was feeling like I was in a state of peace. There was no drama between Emily and me. My tutoring business was still doing well, and I wasn’t constantly worried about money. It was the first time in as long as I could remember that I wasn’t constantly in a state of anxiety and panic.

One lazy Saturday, we were laying around watching tv when the doorbell rang. Tyler didn’t act the least bit phased by the sound, so I got up to see who it was.

“Don’t worry…I’ve got it,” I sarcastically mumbled while skulking to the door.

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