Page 127 of Until You

Chapter Thirty-Four

Lanie stayed over at Tyler’s condo after the wedding. When she told him she needed to go in on Sunday to take care of some final paperwork that had to be done before her last day, he almost told her to tell them to screw it. But this was her fifteenth store opening, and he was the cause of it being an epic failure. So he convinced her to stay in bed an hour longer while he showed her how much he loved her, then he took her to a local coffee shop for coffee and a pastry before he dropped her off at her office around eleven.

“This is going to take me all day,” she said as she opened the car door. “So why don’t you call Eric? You missed your standing Wednesday-night dinner, so why don’t you hang out with him today while I’m working?”

He had to admit it was a good idea. It would take his mind off the fact that Lanie was leaving in a few days. He called Eric on the way home and invited him to his condo for pizza and to watch the Chiefs game.

While he waited for his brother to show up, he started gathering Lanie’s things to make it easier for her on Tuesday, then set them on the kitchen table. He’d just laid a couple of dresses over the back of one of his dining room chairs when he heard a knock at the door.

Eric looked worried when Tyler opened the front door. “Dude, you look like shit.”

“Didn’t you ever hear, if you don’t have something nice to say, don’t say anything at all?”

“Yeah,” Eric grinned. “You should hear the mean comment.”

Tyler laughed in spite of himself and let his brother in.

“I take back all the shit I ever said about your condo,” Eric said, walking around the living area.

Tyler felt like an ass for never inviting him over before. Just one more thing to add to his pile of shit-head moves. “Wait. You never talked shit about my condo.”

Eric gave him a knowing grin, and Tyler laughed. Who knew his kid brother was exactly what he needed to feel better? He never would have even considered it a month ago. But since that night at IHOP, he had a connection to his brother he hadn’t felt before.

He owed that to Lanie.

He couldn’t believe he was losing her. And it was his own damn fault. Why hadn’t he put things together sooner?

His eyes burned, and he walked into the kitchen to buy time to get himself together. “Want a drink?” He opened the fridge. “I’ve got beer and…Diet Coke.”

Eric laughed. “You drink Diet Coke?”

“No. Those were Lanie’s.”

“Were?” Eric noticed the dresses hanging over the chair and the partially filled box on the table. “You dumped her.” He sounded disappointed.

“The person responsible for the dumping is in question.”

“How did you screw it up?”

“Who said I screwed it up?” Tyler asked. It burned even more that he had, but dammit, he’d just been doing his job.

“Please, you’re a Norris. It’s what we do best.”

Tyler grabbed a beer and handed his brother a Diet Coke. To his surprise, the boy popped it open and took a drink. Tyler took his own generous gulp.

“So tell me how you came up with your theory,” Tyler said as he sat down.

“That Norris men screw up?” Eric plopped down next to him. “Look at me and the mess I was in at school. Alex has his own girlfriend issues. Dad…he’s practically a lost cause. Then there’s you. Never had a girlfriend until Lanie. That’s pretty sad for an old dude.”

“I object,” Tyler said. “I’m not an old dude.”

A grin spread over Eric’s face. “I knew that one would get you. But there’s no denying you never had a girlfriend, and Matt said to tell you that the stalker didn’t count.”

“Matt?” Tyler asked with raised eyebrows. “You’ve been talking to Matt?”

Eric lifted his shoulders into a lazy shrug. “I thought we were going to watch the game.”

Tyler grabbed the remote and flipped on the TV. The game had just started, and not much was going on, yet Eric seemed glued to the screen.

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