Page 11 of Spring Breakup
“And Tyler isn’t?” Dean asked.
“He will be. He’s better off, but it hurts to be hurt. You should be nice.”
“I’m nice.”
“You’re the nicest guy I know. Which is why it’s weird that you’re so”—Rosie fluttered her hand—“whateverit is you are about him.”
“That makes no sense.”
“Sorry. Three orgasms does that to me.”
Leo had given her the first two before they’d moved out onto the balcony. Dean had been fortunate enough to give her a third.
“Lucky girl.”
Rosie chuckled sleepily. “You’re a nice guy… Tyler’s a nice guy. So, you know… be nice together.”
That sounded like a warning, so Dean took it as one. “Gotcha.”
“Staying?” she asked as her eyes closed. He never stayed the night with them and didn’t plan on it now.
ExceptTylerwas in his bed, which was a recipe for disaster.
“We’ll see,” Dean said, but she was already asleep.
Dean did try to sleep in the big king bed with Rosie and Leo, but his mind kept wandering. Surely, Tyler had noticed that Dean hadn’t come downstairs.
Not that it mattered what Tyler thought. It didn’t matter at all.
Tyler probably slept in pajamas with parrots on them. And he probably snored louder than Leo. And he was probably a blanket hog to boot.
Dean slipped out of Leo and Rosie’s bed, tiptoed downstairs, threw a log into the stove, and climbed into bed with Tyler.
Tyler didn’t stir.
Dean expected to toss and turn all night, but he was quickly lulled to sleep by Tyler’s steady breaths and warm body.
* * *
The next morning,they finished their breakfasts, bundled up, and walked out into the slushy snow. Tyler looked around with fresh eyes after his late-night excursion. He’d woken up late and alone, the other side of the bed cold and unrumpled. Dean had obviously never come to bed. He didn’t know how to process the information he’d learned last night, and it was hard to pretend he wasn’t in on the secret. The whole world felt different and new in the daylight.
The lake was still iced over. He spotted the firepit and rustic benches where he’d sat last night. Mountains covered with heavy blankets of snow surrounded their little slice of heaven from all sides, but they couldn’t see the peaks, as they were shrouded in dark, ominous clouds. It was warmer than yesterday. The taste of rain was in the air.
At the crossroads of the driveway and the gravel road, there was a large wooden sign that pointed the opposite direction from which they’d driven in. It said that the town of Silverbrite Springs was only three-quarters of a mile.
The plan was to follow the road into town and enjoy the break in the rain that had moved through in the middle of the night. While they were in Silverbrite Springs, they planned to grab lunch from the one place that sold lunch in the off-season and get a drink from the one place that served drinks.
After a few minutes of walking in silence, Dean said, “Can you imagine living somewhere with such a long winter?”
“It’s spring. Spring always starts on March nineteenth, twentieth, or twenty-first,” Tyler said, then internally cringed. He couldn’t help himself. Francis had hated when he’d spouted random facts.
“There’s snow on the ground. That’s winter,” Dean said.
“Not technically.” What was it that Brooks had said last night?Winter is long, and spring is slow.
Dean stared at him for a long second, but Tyler couldn’t read his expression.
“Seasons are really justfeelings, don’t you think?” Leo said, voice full of levity. “My heart is telling me it’s winter.” Leo slung his arm around Dean’s waist, and they walked ahead.
