His words are a threat and a temptation.
This conversation is going in the wrong direction. I’ve got to get the upper hand. At the very least, a grip on the way he makes me feel. What is it my therapist always says? No one can make me feel anything. I’m in control of my emotions.
Tyler watches, listens in a way no one ever has. I used to love that about him, but now I see the downside to it. I don’t want him butting around in my thoughts and emotions. Damn him for trying to get into my head.
“Leave me alone, Tyler.” I turn and reach for the bag of bread.
“No.” It’s not the volume of his voice, but the tone that has me turning back. “We can’t live together, which means you need to tell me the truth if we’re getting you safely out of here.”
I cross my arms. No way am I telling him anything.
He glances away and sighs. “I’ll keep it to myself, if that’s what you want. But you need to be honest with me. It’s the only way. Like it or not, we’re in this together until you move out.”
Tyler
My words suggest I only care about getting Mira out of Cali’s place, but it’s more than that. Mira was my first—first crush, the first girl I had sex with—and for some reason, she means more. I need to know she’s going to be okay.
I see Mira’s rough side like everyone else, but I’ll always wonder about the softer part of her she doesn’t show anyone. The playful, sweet girl I once saw lurking beneath the surface.
So yes, I want her out, but I also want to help her. I’d swear she’s not telling the truth, and if I can get her to trust me, even a little, maybe I can get us out of this fucked-up situation.
She rubs her arms. Her shoulders hunch forward slightly, an atypical response from the girl who holds her head high, no matter the situation. It’s as though the weight of the world has fractured her resolve.
Mira walks past me into the living room. For a moment, I think she’s going to keep walking and shut me out. But she doesn’t. She stops in front of the couch and sits in the center.
I walk over and take the recliner across from her, waiting for what’s to come, because with the way she’s holding herself tight, her arms tucked close to her sides, I sense her vulnerability. I have a knack for pissing Mira off. If I want the truth, I had better keep my mouth shut.
She doesn’t speak for a long moment. She turns to the side and stares out the window, the saddest look I’ve ever seen pulling down her pretty features. That look hits me square in the chest, knocking the air from my lungs. I want to protect her, destroy whatever has given her this look of utter defeat.
I figured she was lying about something. I believed she’d gotten herself into trouble, but what is this really about? Mira doesn’t cower or back down easily. Whatever’s got her worried is big time.
She raises her eyes and singes me with a glare, which takes me aback for a second. It’s the kind of look I’m used to from her, but she just did a one-eighty on me. I’m all ready to protect and maim for her, and she’s looking at me like she wishes I were dead.
Is there any wonder she twists me in knots?
“What I’m about to tell you does not leave this room, Tyler. Ever. This is a secret between the two of us. No one can know.”
“Been there, done that.” Kind of rude, but true. No one knows we slept together. Well, except for the high-school kids who must have seen Mira leave the bedroom with bedhead.
The centers of her cheeks turn pink, and my heart stirs to life.
Still works. Still awesome. I love that I can draw a blush from her. There are some perks to living with Mira after all.
“Don’t be an ass.”
“Too late.”
She rolls her eyes. “Do you agree, or not?”
“I won’t tell anyone. Now spill it.”
She sits forward and tucks a leg under her, her breasts bouncing with the motion. That one movement tosses my brains to the wind.
Focus, man. I reluctantly drag my gaze to her face.
“You know how close Lewis and I are?” I nod, and she glances away, biting the inside of her cheek. “He doesn’t know what I’m about to tell you. When I say no one can know—I mean no one.”
That gets my attention. Lewis and Mira are tight—were tight. I’m not sure what they are anymore. I thought I knew what they were in high school, but that seems all wrong, since she indicated she never slept with any of her friends. Which was a surprise. I could have sworn Mira and Lewis were a couple at one time. But then, I didn’t actually believe that rumor until Holly suggested Mira was sleeping with both of us. I wish I had known there was nothing going on between them. If I’d known the truth, Mira and I might have parted as friends.
