“Dating, seeing each other—you know that ritual men and women do?”
Tyler steps closer.Here it comes, the you-can’t-date-my-friend speech.“Cali, I get it that you’re going through a rough time.I know the feeling.”
He does?He doesn’t know I lost my job.He must be referring to the breakup, but what does Tyler know about breakups?He hasn’t had a girlfriend since high school.
“Which is why,” he adds, “I want you to stay away from Jaeger.He’s a good guy.He doesn’t deserve to get fucked over on the rebound.He put up with enough shit from women in his past.”
I stare, dumbfounded.There it was again, that allusion to Jaeger’s past, which Jaeger said was behind him but that I’m getting the impression had left its mark.“Are you warningJaegeraway fromme?What happened to the Tyler Detector and keeping guys away from your innocent sister?And for the record, Iama nice girl.”
Tyler sits next to me on the couch, the weight of his large body making me bounce on my end of the cushion.“You are, but like I said, you’re”—he flaps his hand—“messed up.Unstable right now.”
I shake my head in exasperation.“Thanks, Tyler, ’cause I needed my brother to turn on me in my time of need.”
He nudges my shoulder.“I’m not turning on you.It’s just that I know Jaeg.I know what he’s been through.The Olympics were months away when he had his accident.Not years—months, Cali.Training was his life and he lost it all.And then he had to deal with… well—anyway, all of that messed him up.”
Tyler rubs his mouth and shakes his head.“I saw the way he watched you at his parents’ place.He’s a serious guy, and he likes you.If you’re not serious about him, don’t do this.”
The last thing I want is to hurt Jaeger, not that it seems possible.The guy appears pretty self-sufficient, and he doesn’t lack for female attention, considering the attractive client I saw hanging all over him.But I get what my brother is saying.I’m a little off-kilter right now, free-falling, as it were.Okay, I have no idea where my life is going and I’m totally screwed up.
The problem with giving up Jaeger is that not being with him would hurt me.I’m happy just hanging around him, not to mention, his kisses turn my limbs the consistency of pudding.I felt terrible when I thought I’d lost him to Gen.I don’t want to go through that again.“Why are you really in town, Tyler?”
He stands and rummages in his bag, his movements stiff and jerky.“I had a similar situation with a girl.Nothing I want to talk about.”
My big brother had his heart broken?That’s a first.
I lay my head on the back of the couch and wince.My stomach is tied in knots.“Well, you’re welcome to stay as long as you want.”I glance over, and Tyler’s staring at me.
“What’s wrong?You sick?”he asks.
I rock my head from side to side and gaze at the ceiling.“I’m a loser, Tyler.I haven’t told you or Mom yet, but I lost my job.”He raises a brow, and I wave off the questions.“Long story.”
He sits beside me again.“You’re not a loser.You’re almost as smart as me, which makes you one of the smartest people on the planet.”
Confidence runs in the family.
In comparison to Jaeger and what he accomplished after adversity, I am a loser.I have nothing to offer but baggage.
Before I left his place, Jaeger told me he bought his house and workshop with the money he earned.That beautiful place and the property ishis.He’s wealthy—and I thought he was a side-of-the-road salesman.I figured with my college degree, I had the upper hand, but I don’t.
I can’t stay in Lake Tahoe forever.My mom would have a heart attack, and I’d never amount to anything working one of the myriad unskilled jobs available.
If I obtain my law degree, that would be something.I wouldn’t be a loser with no future.I’d have something to contribute to a relationship.Eric booted me when I had things going for me.How would a relationship with someone like Jaeger ever survive?
I am nothing without that law degree.
ChapterEighteen
The next day I do laundry and wait for Jaeger to call or text.Yes, that’s how lame I’ve become.I’m sitting around waiting for a guy to call.Gen’s having an early lunch with Nessa, and Tyler drove to his friend’s place.Not having a car bites now that Gen and I are no longer on the same schedule.
I fold clothes on the bed and glance at the phone every few minutes.It rings, or rather, chimes, and I launch across the bed in a quasi-cartwheel and swipe it off the nightstand.
I take a deep breath and let it out easy.He doesn’t need to know I just sprinted to answer the call.“Hello?”I say calmly.
“Hey, Cali.”
What the hell?“Eric?”
“Surprised?”
