Page 48 of Our Bender

“Oh, no, we don’t-”

“I’m fine. I’ve been with her for a while now,” Tyler interrupted, making it sound like wedidlive together…

“Uh… we don’t live together. We’re not… together,” I said, eyeing Tyler strangely. The tips of Tyler’s ears reddened a bit.

When I met Jeff’s gaze, he was smiling wider.

“Great. Okay, well, we’ll get that fixed up for you no problem,” Jeff said in a soothing tone. “It doesn’t look too bad, but it’s good that you came in. You’ll probably need about three to five stitches I’m guessing.”

“Okay, thank you,” I said politely.

“I’ll be just a minute. When I come back, we’ll numb you up a bit, throw in those stitches, and then you’ll be on your way. Sound okay?”

I nodded.

He gave me a wink before turning on his heel to leave the room.

Tyler whirled on me. “What the hell was that?”

“Uh… what was what?” I asked skeptically.

“I had to fight tooth and nail to get you here, and now this guy wants toliterallysew you up and you’re all like, teehee, okay!” he said, mimicking me.

“Hey, I did not sound like that,” I bit back defensively.

“Uh,yes, you did.” He racked a hand through. “Of fucking course,” he muttered to himself.

“Tyler, what the hell is going on with you?”

“FuckingGrey’s Anatomyor some shit. Of fucking course,” he muttered.

“OhmyGod,” I laughed, “Tyler, calm down.”

He clasped his hands behind his neck and hesitantly made eye contact with me. “Do you… do you like him?” he asked, and I swear to God, he looked like he was sucking on a sour lemonhead. A laugh bubbled out of me.

“Tyler, I don’t even know him!” I whisper-shouted. “And so what if I do?! What’s it to you?”

He rubbed a miserable hand down his face. “You’re wearing my hoodie and he was openly flirting with you. Hewinkedat you. He knows no boundaries. He’s a dick!” he said with outstretched arms.

“Okay, he wasnotflirting with me, Tyler,” I deadpanned.Was he?“And who cares if he was?”

“Me!” he exclaimed, looking miserable.

I stared at him. “What?”

He rubbed his hands down his face before looking back at me skeptically. “Aren’t you a romance reader? Because those books on your nightstand, they’re all romance.”

“And…?”

His eyebrow furrowed. “I just really feel like you’re not grasping the plot here,” he said, wagging his finger between the two of us.

I burst out laughing. “What?”

“Icare. I like you, Josie. I was gonna ask you out on a date after this.”

“Tyler,” I said gently, feeling my heart pound, “We’re not in some kind of book or movie, okay? I like you too, but as a friend.” And that was the truth. In the last couple hours, he proved to be a nice guy… but at the end of the day, no matter how attracted I was to him, he was just another hockey player who traveled all over the country playing a game, and I wasn’t about to make the same mistake again. Actually, he’d be worse, because he played for my dad. “You’re really not my type.”

He pinched the bridge of his nose. “Of course,” he muttered. “The first girl I like inyears,and she says the same damn thing.” He let out an incredulous laugh and shook his head.

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