Page 16 of Reckless

So he knew we both had a day off and didn’t ask me to meet him. I swallowed the bitterness coming from that fact and replied.

Great. Come pick me up in two hours.

I sent him the address of Tyler’s bar. I couldn’t help Clem deal with her insecurities around being a mother, but I could help with something else. And I intended to do it the minute she boarded the damn plane.

An hour and a half later, I entered the bar. It was still early, and the place was empty if you don’t count a few weird-looking middle-aged guys that were probably regulars.

My eyes immediately flew to the counter. Tyler was there. Lucky me.

He was looking at his phone. I sat right in front of him. I was the only customer sitting there which was good. We could talk in private.

Tyler lifted his head and couldn’t hide the surprise of seeing me there fast enough for me not to notice it. He leaned forward on the counter on his elbows, his eyes pinned on mine.

My mouth fell open. He had a black eye and a cracked lip. I didn’t know how to react, but I knew for sure that I couldn’t waste the few minutes he was going to give me with anything other than what I came here for. Besides, the guy worked at a bar. He probably had to kick out a problematic customer. So I decided to pretend his look didn’t bother me. I closed my mouth, then opened it again, this time to say something. He cut me off before I had a chance to start.

“I’m pretty sure I asked you to text me, not deliver me an oral report.”

I wouldn’t necessarily define that sentence as a sexual innuendo if it wasn’t for the few seconds his eyes lingered on my mouth. I felt my cheeks blush.

“You can’t intimidate me with your sex jokes, Tyler.”

His gaze shot up to mine again.

“Who says I want to intimidate you?” He scanned my heated cheeks. “Red looks good on your pale skin,sunshine.”

The last word came out like mockery. Was he just mocking Nick and me? Or did he remember how he used it for me once? I wasn’t going to humiliate myself and ask. So, I changed the subject.

“You have to go to that camping trip.”

Tyler pushed himself of the counter.

“I don’t have to do anything.” His phone buzzed and he made a show of typing something while also ignoring me.

“You might enjoy it,” I said.

“Believe me, little Spencer. I’m very well entertained. I don’t need to find new ways to enjoy life.”

“I meant you might enjoy doing something for your sister, not the stupid camping trip.”

He shot me a surprised look and smiled at me.

“So you think it’s stupid too.”

“Well,” I smiled back at him because how could I not. His face lit up like we were sharing some intimate joke between us. “Camping is not my thing either.”

“What is your thing?” He sounded genuinely intrigued. The question caught me unprepared. Did I have a thing? I didn’t think so.

“I…” I started but nothing came to mind.

“You…” he dragged looking straight at me. The grin on his face told me he knew I had no clue how to answer him. So, I finally shrugged and told the truth.

“I read.”

His laughter filled the space around us and this time around I felt like my entire body blushed. I didn’t like the fact he was using me as an entertainment considering I came here to talk about something important that had nothing to do with how different we were.

“You read? That’s the best you got?”

“What’s wrong with reading?”

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