Page 48 of A Constant Reminder

Chapter 31 – Sam

Collapsing in a heap next to me on the bed, Tyler draped one arm over me, pulling my body against his.

He was right. He did know me…better than anyone ever had. At that moment, I questioned if maybe he knew me better than I even knew myself.

Every emotion seemed to hit me at once as I knew I didn’t want to keep secrets from his man for another second. I’d gone through life alone for so long, and when I finally found someone willing to accept me, flaws and all, I kept trying to hide. Hiding was something I did from James…not from Tyler.

Without an ounce of warning, tears filled my eyes. Despite my best attempts to keep them at bay, they fell anyway.

They started silently, but at my first sniffle, Tyler’s head snapped up. Noticing the tears, he moved himself to a sitting position.

“Sam, what’s wrong? Did I push you too far?”

The terror in his eyes that questioned if he had hurt me made the tears fall harder and faster.

Unable to speak yet, my head shook back and forth in an attempt to quell his fears.

“Then, what is it?”

My mind still had doubts about telling him, but my mouth didn’t heed any warning.

“James texted me.”

His face stood still for the briefest of moments, but it was only the calm before the storm because his features quickly turned angry.

“Excuse me?” He said.

“He texted me the other day after we got home from the hotel,” I said through the constant tears.

“The other day?! And you’re just now telling me? What the fuck did he say?”

“He called me a whore and told me that…”

“Told you what?” He said now pacing the room.

“That going to a hotel for the night with a man who just wants to fuck me is what whores do.”

Realizing the gravity of my words, he sat back down on the bed rubbing his hand through his longer-than-normal stubble.

“So, he’s been watching you?”

I didn’t answer him because it seemed more like he was thinking out loud than actually directing it toward me.

After taking a few moments to gather his thoughts, his eyes found mine. “Sam, why didn’t you tell me?”

Chewing the inside of my cheek, I searched for the right thing to say despite knowing no answer would be good enough. “I didn’t want to worry you.”

He scoffed. “You don’t get it, do you? You hiding something from me worries me. When I can tell something is wrong, and you lie about it, that worries me. Yes, the James thing worries me, but we are in this together. I need you to get that through your thick skull. You and I handle this together. Got it? No more secrets.” He said each of the last three words slowly to really drive home his point.

My head nodded, but I wondered how well I could keep that promise because it when it came to Tyler’s safety, I wouldn’t do anything to put him in jeopardy. He meant too damn much to me.

The mere thought of anything happening to him made my tears fall at an accelerated rate.

“Hey, shhh…it’s okay.”

He laid back down and pulled me into his arms.

A mere couple of months ago, we were in this same position with him holding me tightly as I sobbed into him. That night, the tears were brought on by nightmares of my mom’s suicide. And that night, despite making love, we were both denying our feelings for the other…me especially.

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