Page 12 of Don't You Want Me, Baby?

‘It’s a game, not the Olympics,’ Tyler cut in, draining the rest of his pint like it was thimble-sized. ‘Shall I get the drinks in before the next game?’

This was it: her chance to address the elephant in the room. ‘I’ll come with you.’

They left the other two ribbing each other and headed to the bar. As they waited for their turn, she tried to think of a good way to start the conversation. He broke the ice first.

‘Did you get your plan for the Arms done yet?’

‘Not yet.’ She’d hidden in her office for another hour and then given up on her new life for another day.

‘So what’s holding you back? You were all guns blazing a few months ago.’

‘I still am, I just…’

‘You’re still waiting for things to change, Amber. They won’t unless you change them.’

She felt her head rear back as if he’d slapped her. ‘Ouch. Say what you mean, Ty. It’s not like I just got dumped or anything. Give a girl a minute.’

‘I mean it.’ He turned to face her, his eyes lasering in. The barman interrupted them, and Tyler ordered another round. When she went to get her purse out to pay, his meaty hand covered hers. Everything stopped.

‘I’ll get it. You need to save your money for bigger things.’ She barely heard him. The second his fingers cradled hers, she felt it. Through her whole body. Her head spun to look at him, but he was staring at the point their hands met.Did he feel that? It registered as a seismic event on my end.‘I… I made it awkward, the other day.’ He swallowed, and she felt his fingers squeeze hers, just for a second before he pulled away.

‘No, you didn’t.’ The barman left the drinks on the bar, Tyler tapping his card on the reader without even a glance. ‘I did that. I shouldn’t have said it. You’re my friend, Ty. I don’t want you to feel awkward at work.’

‘No,’ he rumbled back. ‘I don’t feel awkward. I just wish you’d said something sooner.’ She waited for him to burst into laughter, tease her about porn again. He didn’t do any of that. In fact, he looked like he meant every damn word. ‘I wanted to say something myself, but I didn’t know if?—’

‘Hey.’ Sharon made them jump, reaching between them for the drinks. ‘Second game needs starting; we only have the lane another hour.’

He didn’t take his eyes off her. Amber wanted to tell Sharon to give them a minute. She wanted to hear more.He was going to say something? When?Why didn’t he say something when she met Brad?Before? Why now? Why couldn’t she look away? Her feet felt like they were stuck to the carpet.

‘Hello,’ Sharon sang, clicking her fingers in front of their faces. ‘What the hell’s going on with you two?’Good point, Shaz. This was Tyler. My employee, my friend.She needed to get a bloody grip.

‘Nothing,’ Amber replied finally. ‘We’re coming now.’

She watched Tyler bite the inside of his cheek before grabbing the pints and striding back to Ben.

Sharon pulled her back. ‘Hang fire a minute.’Fine by me. I need a hot minute to get my shit together.‘I don’t know what’s happening tonight, but you are acting off.’

Amber headed back to the lane without answering. Sharon reached for her arm. ‘Amber, talk to me. You’ve been weird for days.’

One look at her friend and she caved.

‘I know. I’m kind of going through something. I had a weird conversation with Tyler.’

‘Good!’ She folded her arms. ‘It’s about time he said something.’

‘Er… yeah. He said something. Wait, what do you know about it?’

Her expression softened, and she hooked an arm under hers and walked her right back to the guys. ‘Are you kidding? It was my idea. Well, I helped.’

They were almost within earshot now. Amber hit the brakes. ‘What do you mean, you helped? How long have you known about this? I mean, I didn’t have a clue. When we were in the office the other day, we got to talking.’ She gripped Sharon’s hand. ‘I actually really need to talk to you about this. You know, a woman’s perspective. The thing is, Tyler?—’

‘He let slip about the party. I knew it! He said I would be the one to crack!’ She cackled to herself. ‘Well, actually, we thought Brad would ruin it, but—’ She paused, wincing. ‘Sorry, but at least you know now. I felt so bad for whispering around you. Tyler was theone who wanted it to be a surprise party. I said we should just tell you, but he’s been planning the thing for weeks. He also said if I told you, he would make me do all the cooking for it.’ She shook her head, laughing. ‘And he caved! What a loser, eh?’

Amber glanced across at their lane. Ben was talking to Tyler. Who was staring right at her, a rueful look on his face.

‘Tyler planned a whole surprise party for me?’ No-one had ever done that. Not since her grandmother. Bradley would never have even thought of it. ‘Why would he do that?’

Sharon rolled her eyes theatrically. ‘You kidding me? Ty knows what a big deal your thirtieth is to you. He knew things weren’t good with Bradley.’ She linked arms, pulling her back to the guys. ‘And it’s Tyler, come on. You know he’s a big softie when it comes to you.’

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