Page 19 of Reckless

It was weird. Tyler and I were going in the opposite directions and yet I couldn’t help but feel like we were somehow moving towards one another.

As I stepped outside, I turned around to see if he was still standing where I left him.

Our gazes met and we both froze for a moment, just looking at each other. Then Tyler turned his back on me and disappeared behind the door leading to his office.

Later that night, when Nick and I were sitting on the floor in my living room munching Chinese, I told him about my history with Tyler. I told him every little embarrassing detail. From the moment I first realized I was in love with my best friend’s brother to the one-night stand we had five years ago.

I wanted to connect with Nick. Build something that extended beyond what we currently had. And there was a teeny tiny seed of hope that Tyler would agree to fly to California and I didn’t want to be that girl. The girl who lied to her boyfriend about her relationships with the men of her past.

Nick reacted like it didn’t bother him at all that I was going to spend time with a man I was obsessed with for years. Not that I wanted a jealous, possessive boyfriend, but shouldn’t he at least feel anxious about it?

I should have probably let it go, but I couldn’t hold it in me.

“Isn’t that bothering you?”

“Honestly? No.” He seemed calm and more interested in his meal. “I trust you.”

“Oh,” I mumbled, and I felt like an asshole. The man trusted me. It was a good thing. A healthy reaction. Then he continued.

“And I am a cardiac surgeon. I can’t be intimidated by a thirty-year-old frat boy. But even if he wasn’t a train wreck, you are so…conscientious. I know you would always do the right thing, even if it’s against your actual wishes.”

Ouch. That sounded awful.

And true.

Chapter Seven

Tyler

OnThursdayIfoundmyself at the airport.

Hannah looked so satisfied with herself. She probably thought it was her who influenced my decision to fly back home. The looks she shot me every now and again were full of confidence. She thought she understood how I operated. And that grated on my nerves.

True. Her last words before she left the bar unsettled me. I wasn’t used to people believing in me to do the right thing. On the contrary. People treated me like an irresponsible, reckless asshole which just gave me permission to act like it.

Hannah telling me sheknewme, that sheknewI was going to do the right thing made me feel something inside my chest I couldn’t immediately identify, so I just pushed it aside and used Tracy’s as a distraction.

Two people influenced my decision to fly back home. The first one was Patrick Hayes. My new business partner needed time to buy the bar and renovate it. I received that information from his son.

Kieran Hayes paid me a visit on Monday, informing me and the staff that we were all going on a two-week paid leave. In a private conversation I found out that the basement would be fixed too. I hadn’t realized that an illegal underground fighting ring needed to look fancy, but they were bringing another clientele to the table. Maybe these customers wanted the shiny new interior both upstairs and downstairs. So I used the moment to ask Kieran for new, less slutty uniforms for the girls.

“Already on it.”

The other person that affected my change of heart about the camping trip, was surprisingly my mother.

Sylvia Hartley was a bitch to everyone, her kids included. I imagined she would be livid because of Clem’s pregnancy. She wasn’t happy about how the situation was unfolding, but she tried to be supportive. If she was trying, why couldn’t I?

So, I was now standing at the airport, preparing myself for all the time I would have to spend at that camping trip.

“Where is your girl?” Nick asked me. He was seeing Hannah off.

My sunglasses hid the glance I sent her way. Her smug face made me want to turn the things around. To make her uncomfortable.

“Tracy is my fuck buddy,” I said loudly enough for the deaf ninety-year-old grandma three rows behind us to hear. Hannah coughed out a lung, choking on her coffee.

“I had a fuck buddy in college. It didn’t end well,” Nick said while he patted his girlfriend on the back.

“Yeah, most girls tend to catch feelings,” I knew that comment would rile Hannah up. “You have to pick them carefully. I rarely make the mistake to get involved with girls that are high maintenance.”

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