Page 42 of Embers in Our Souls
“Where’s Marissa?” I see River and Clay look at one another with questioning expressions, while Abby looks down at the ground.
“Hunter fell off his bike, getting a few scrapes. He’ll be fine. The bike was one he was fixing up. It wasn’t the one he usually rides, which is good. He’s inside if you want to go in.” Malloy completely ignores my question about Marissa.
I look around them and nod. As I make my way into the room, I swear I hear River whisper, “You owe me fifty, Clay,” but I could simply be hearing things.
The moment I move into the room, I slide the glass door closed and Tyler looks up from his phone. His eyes lock onto mine and we stand in silence, staring at one another. I notice a crack down the center of his phone, but besides that, the phone seems to be working.
I expected him to be in a hospital gown, but that’s not Tyler’s style. He’s opted out of wearing it and is simply topless, his tattoos now on full display. I get to see his toned physique, and, indeed, he’s tatted like I saw on his social media posts. But in person, it’s a whole new level.Indiana, do not drool over a newly injured man.There is something significantly wrong with me.
I can’t help the way my eyes roam along his chest, moving down his abdomen. Malloy was right, his injuries are minimal, but I can see he has some stitches along his forearm, in addition to some scrapes along his shoulders.
“Hey,” Tyler whispers. “Who called you?”
“Malloy,” I say. “How bad is it?”
“Nothing that won’t heal.”
I stay rooted in place. “You want me to call anyone else? You need Marissa?” I ask him.
He shakes his head. “Everyone I’ll ever need is standing right in front of me.”
At his words, my heart skips a beat. Why is he saying this to me? Why did he break my heart years ago to just come back into my life and ruin me again?
I can’t risk this, especially with a kid this time.
I look down at the ground, worried the trance will suck me in and I’ll never be able to pull myself out.
“Indiana,” Tyler says my name in that way that makes me melt into a puddle.
“Yes,” I answer, my gaze planted at my feet, looking at the linoleum of the hospital floor. The speckles of blue, gray, and green enough to keep me occupied for now.
“Please look at me,” he begs.
“I think it’s best I don’t for now,” I answer honestly.
“I think it’s best we have an honest conversation for once.”
“We’ve had many conversations for years and all that got me was heartbreak.” I feel that damn lump in my throat forming.
“I think for all the words we said to one another, we never said what we really felt. At least, I didn’t.”What is he saying to me?
“What does that mean?” I ask him.
“It means that I said a lot, but I didn’t say the most important thing,” he tells me.
“And what was that?” I ask, the curiosity pulling me further into him, my gaze remaining planted to the ground though.
“Indiana, are you still with Roger?” he asks me and I can’t help my head shooting up to meet his gaze, my expression pained. “I won’t compete with another man.”
“Funny coming from a man that had another woman by his side last time I saw him,” I say on a laugh, no humor behind my words.
“Marissa is back in California with her girlfriend.” I can’t help the slight gasp that escapes my lips at his confession, while his smirk grows.
I wonder how many people know this side of Tyler. I’ve seen his social media page where everyone has fallen in love with the carefree version of him. But I know the real Tyler Hunter that is all cocky. This side of him, where he throws these smiles my way, casting glances at me that feel like he’s undressing me with a simple look.
“I see. Well, Roger is still very much my boyfriend,” I tell him.
“Sounds like you have a decision to make then,” he says, biting down on his lower lip and scratching his eight pack. It’s hard not to follow his movement and he knows it.
