Page 56 of Simply Irresistible
I went from being upset to being pissed to being apathetic. If I was that inconsequential to him, then in return I shouldn’t care, right? If he thought so little of me, shouldn’t I think nothing of him?
I tried to think that way, I really did, but it was hard. I loved him. He told me he loved me, too. We had already slept together at that point, so it wasn’t like he said it just to get in my pants. He had to have meant it, right?
He once told me he wasn’t sure he knew how to love. It was the same night he told me he was afraid he was going to screw things up between us. The night he’d been afraid he already had screwed things up. I thought it was the saddest thing I’d ever heard.
But maybe he was right.
Maybe he didn’t know how to love.
Because he was doing it all wrong.
31
Tyler
The banging on my door intensified as the minutes wore on. I cranked the volume on my nineties one-hit-wonder playlist to drown it out. Whoever it was would eventually go away.
“Little brother, if you don’t open this door, I am going to call Preston and have him break. it. down.” She enunciated the last three words.
Well, shit. It was only a matter of time before Hannah showed up. Had Melanie called her? No…she wouldn’t have done that. Would she have?
I crawled out of the Tyler-sized dent in my bed and walked to the door. I heard my sister grunt as I began to slowly disengage the locks.
She banged again. “Pick up the pace.” So impatient.
“Why are you being so harsh?” I asked as I opened the door. I didn’t do anything to her.
“You called out of work all week, eh?” she asked, pushing past me into the room. She sure was in a mood, and I wasn’t sure my apartment was big enough for both of us at that moment.
“How did you find out?” I asked, but I already knew the answer. I should have known Alice in Human Resources would tell on me. She was the only one in the entire organization who knew my relationship to Preston and that’s because I had to list his wife—my sister—as my emergency contact.
“Melanie called Preston requesting proof of life on you. What the fuck is going on?”
My eyes widened for two reasons. First, Hannahnevercursed. Ever. And second…Melanie called Preston for proof of life? “Proof of life? What are you talking about?”
“Why aren’t you talking to Melanie?” I should have known she was here about my relationship and not my well-being.
I sighed, not wanting to get into it with my sister about Melanie. If I told her the entire story, I’d have to tell her about Roger. I didn’t want to do that. “Things just aren’t working out in that area of my life right now.”
Understatement.
“Oh, Tyler. Stop being overdramatic.”
“You think I’m being overdramatic? When an octopus gets upset, it eats itself.That’soverdramatic.”
“I don’t think that’s true,” she said, tilting her head to the side in consideration of the random fact I’d spewed at her.
“Does it even matter, Hannah?” I asked, rubbing my eyes.
“You’re throwing away a good thing, Tyler. Over nothing, most likely. I think it does matter.”
“Yeah, yeah. One person in a relationship is always right. The other’s male.”
“You’ve always hid behind your humor, little brother. But I’m on to you,” she said, pointing her finger at me.
She pushed past me again, this time towards the door.
“That’s it…you’re leaving?” I asked, surprised she was letting me off this easy.
