Page 57 of Impulsive Saint
“That explains why you were so happy to see me.” he harrumphed.
“Oh stop whining. I’ve decided to stop being mad at you. We’re going to be friends again. It’ll make the rest of the road trip much more pleasant.”
Tyler chuckled at her matter of fact tone, “Is that so?”
“Yep.”
“Okay then, what’s next on your to do list, friend?”
She rolled her eyes, “Dinner. I’m starving.”
He chuckled, “So you’re just going to gloss over the whole tattoo experience. Are you even going to tell me what you ended up getting permanently inked into your body?”
She turned and walked backwards in front of him, holding her wrist up. It was covered in a clear bandage but he could now clearly see the dark ink against her inner wrist. It was a tiny little bird, so small it was hardly even noticeable. It was cute, dainty and feminine, just like the woman that wore it, and he had to admit there wasn’t anything gaudy about it.
“Why a bird?”
Ashtyn shrugged, turning back around to walk beside him again, “It just felt like the right thing for this moment in my life. I’ve spent most of my life feeling caged but now I’m free. I’m spreading my wings and flying on my own and even if I crash land, it’ll be because I left that cage and tried. It probably doesn’t make sense to you but…”
“It makes sense.” He cut her off as his heart squeezed painfully in his chest. “And I think it’s perfect.”
“You do?” She looked at him out of the corner of her eye, clearly surprised.
“I do. It’s perfect, just like you.”
She grinned at him then and that pain in his chest spread throughout his whole body. She had decided they were going to be friends again. She didn’t seem to be mad anymore. He’d been hoping for this when he set out to find her at the tattoo studio but now that he had her so close, now that she smiled at him and it felt like having the sun beating down on him with warmth, he didn’t think it was enough, or that friendship with her would ever be enough.
Hunter had been right. So had Millie. And, in the back of his mind, he’d already known the truth.
He was falling for her, because how could he not? She was brave and beautiful and everything he could have ever wanted in a woman. He was falling and when he crash-landed, it was going to hurt like hell.
17
Ashtyn stared at herself in the cloudy old mirror above the sink in the bathroom of their newest motel room. As she brushed her teeth, she couldn’t help but notice the small black bird inked into her wrist. Each time she caught a glimpse of it, she smiled and felt pride course through her with the knowledge that she had changed herself irreversibly.
The tattoo was proof that she was different now. Even if the girl in the mirror with her long blonde hair and blue eyes and sharp cheekbones still looked exactly the same as the girl in the mirror that day in the church, she had changed. This journey had changed her and this tattoo would always be there to remind her of that.
The grumbling that came from the other room also made her smile as she rinsed her toothbrush and packed it back into her bag. The man in there had changed her too. He didn’t even realize how much he had done for her, what his support and encouragement and even his arguments and disapproval had meant to her on this trip.
Nobody had ever spoken to her or treated her the way that he did. He was so different from everyone else in her life and she regretted yelling at him that he wasn’t when she’d been mad at him for rejecting her. Hewasdifferent and the fact that he hadn’t walked out on her, hadn’t left her behind or abandoned her because she didn’t agree with him was just further proof of that.
And it wasn’t just that she was changing in his presence, she knew that their relationship kept changing too.
From strangers to allies, to friends to lovers, to enemies and now back to friends, even if it was an uneasy and tentative bond. They’d gone through a lot in such a short period of time. This trip, running away, only having Tyler there to have her back, it made everything between them more intense and she knew that had to be why her feelings for him seemed to multiply every single time he smiled in her direction or cursed under his breath about her stupid list.
She liked him. She liked him a lot and she knew it was more than just simple attraction or chemistry. It wasn’t just physical. Her emotions were involved and that complicated an already severely overcomplicated situation.
Tyler had pulled away from her today because he thought it was for the best. Even if she was sick of people acting in her best interest instead of simply hearing her out and letting her decide what she wanted, she knew that of everything he’d said that morning that she could argue or hate him for, his honesty wasn’t one of them.
He’d only been being honest with her and she couldn’t hold that against him. There were so few people in her life that were honest with her, truly honest about their motives and their intentions, that she knew how precious Tyler’s honesty was. She wasn’t sure that she and Aaron had ever been one hundred percent honest with each other, not about their feelings and certainly not about their doubts. So she could accept Tyler’s honesty and let everything else go because in the end she’d prefer he tell her the truth than lie just to make her feel better.
It had been a long day on the motorcycle. It had been a long night getting the tattoo and then getting away from Jose when he started to turn suggestive. But then Tyler had walked through that tattoo studio door, just when she needed him, and he’d saved her all over again. It was then that she’d realized she couldn’t stay mad at him, not when he had done nothing but be there for her for the past few days.
They’d talked over dinner at a diner down the street. Talked about everything and nothing. They’d laughed about the ridiculous gold tooth Jose had been sporting proudly and argued about whether or not she had implied to the gas station clerk that Tyler was an abusive boyfriend. They’d talked about the reasons she wanted her little bird tattoo and he’d opened up about a few of his own, explaining when and why he’d gotten them and what they meant to him.
He’d told her about his brother calling to check on him now that he was back from his honeymoon. She felt as if she knew Hunter and Millie herself now and couldn’t help but wonder if she’d ever get a chance to meet them. The talk of their honeymoon had turned the conversation back to Ashtyn’s life and she’d admitted that she hated skiing, hated snow and hated being cold. She’d only agreed to go to the mountains with Aaron for their honeymoon because it was a family tradition for him and she hadn’t wanted to complain. Tyler had given her a knowing look at that and she’d realized that despite the easy conversation they were both learning more about each other, understanding one another better, and bonding even more than they already had on this journey.
She knew they didn’t have much time left on the road. She’d looked at the map on her new phone. They could be in Las Vegas by tomorrow night if they drove straight through tomorrow. Her journey, their journey together, was almost over, but no matter if she crossed every item on her bucket list off, she wasn’t ready for the end.
