As nice as love sounds and how the movies make it seem like it’s the best thing that’s graced this planet, I don’t think I could ever handle the constant doubts floating in my head.
“How often do you sleep late like this?” Tyler’s questions, snapping me out of my internal monologue.
I shrug, “I don’t know, maybe a couple times a week? I don’t keep track.”
Tyler adjusts to laying on his side again, tucking his arm under his cheek. “Call me.”
“I’m talking to you right now.” I tease, stifling a soft giggle.
“You know that’s not what I meant.” Tyler breaks out in a full laugh, showing off the dimple that favors his left cheek. “Call me when you can’t sleep.”
“But what if you’re asleep?” I counter, my brows knit together.
“I don’t care if I’m asleep.”
“Tyler, you can’t keep doing this.”
“Doing what?”
Making me fall for you. “You can’t keep offering to help me.”
“I’m doing this because I want to. If you need me or can’t fall asleep, just call me. I want you to. I don’t care if it’s 3 a.m. or an hour before my alarm goes off, you can call me. I’ll dump my head in cold water to stay awake with you.”
With a deep breath, the corners of my mouth lift up slightly. “Okay.”
“Okay, what?”
I roll my eyes, knowing he just wants to hear me say it out loud. “Okay, I’ll call you when I can’t fall asleep no matter how late it is.”
“I’m serious, you can call me or even text me whenever you want… even if you don’t have a reason to.”
My heart races like crazy, pounding like a drum solo at halftime. Suddenly, it hits me. This feeling? Familiar, but never with a guy–only with my family and Alli.
I feel safe.
“Thanks, Ty.” How is it so easy for him to win every situation we’ve crossed into?
“Ty? I feel so honored you’re giving me a nickname.”
“It was time for a nickname.”
“Sounds like we’re taking things to the next level.”
My heart skips a beat and I thank the earlier Serena for not turning on my bedside lamp. “What do you mean by that?”
Tyler doesn’t answer right away. I can see his eyes flicker into something that I can’t read, leaving me with a lingering question in the air. “For me to know, you to find it.”
Chapter 20
Tyler
My name is Tyler Westman and I’ve officially broken my “no more relationships” pact.
Do I care? Not really. Not when the girl who makes me want to break my own rules is next to me. I don’t knowwhenit happened, but something has changed between Serena and me. At some point, I fell for her–slowly and then all at once. I realized it even more this morning when we fell asleep on the phone, and she was still on the line while getting ready for her morning shift, not wanting to hang up on me.
I haven’t slept this well in so long.
Later that night, Serena gets off earlier than usual and I pick her up from her house before we head over to my teammate’s party, Elijah. His parents are out of town and he lives in a huge mansion, so I’m already fully prepared that all of Skyline will be at the party. His parties are known to be kind of wild with the amount of people swarming around and the blaring music. So, Imake it my duty to keep Serena company so she doesn’t feel anxious and overwhelmed by the atmosphere.
