“He’s not a bouncer. He’s just—big.” I swat Roman’s arm. “Stoppushing.” Then, swallowing, I give my last plea: “Let me in. Please. We need to talk.”
And finally, from the other side of the door, I hear a reluctant sigh. Relief jumps behind my sternum as the door swings slowly open.
My first, highly judgmental thought is that Tyler hasn’t aged well. His hair is thinning, his face haggard and contorted into a grimace that even the scruffy beard can’t hide. His once-lively eyes are duller now, and his old spark of energy has gone.
But I chasten myself immediately.It’s his prerogative to age however he wants,I think firmly.And it’s none of your business.
“Come in, I guess,” he says, the words irritable. He spins on his heel and leaves us to step inside. We follow him wordlessly into the living room, where he gestures to the sole loveseat in the small space. We both glance around as the sound of music plays somewhere overhead.
“My roommate,” Tyler mutters, his cheeks turning a ruddy color. “I can’t—” He breaks off, purses his lips, and then goes on. “Rent is steep these days, even in Lucky.”
I have to stifle my surprise at this, because compared to the surrounding areas, Lucky is actually unusually cheap. I glance around the room, looking more carefully this time. It’s sparse, not gross but not as clean as he’s kept his space in the past, either. I smooth my black skirt beneath me as I sit on the loveseat, Roman settling next to me.
“What’s going on, Tyler?” I say with a sigh. “I know it’s been a long time, but you could have given me a heads up or something.”
Tyler sits in a straight-backed chair off to one side, rubbing the back of his neck. It’s an old habit, one that means he’s distinctly uncomfortable. He doesn’t joke or try to make light of the situation, either, which in the past has been his first line of defense.
It’s serious, then, if he knows this isn’t the time.
“I fell into some debt,” he says with a jerky shrug. “Things piled up. I meant to reach out. I just?—”
I wait for him to go on, but he doesn’t. And judging by the way he won’t meet my eye, by his carefully blank expression, I think I know exactly which debts have piled up.
“Have you been gambling?” I say briskly.
Next to me, Roman lets out a long, low whistle, which is not at all helpful. “Where does one go to find a bookie in Lucky, Colorado?”
“Online,” I say. “Be quiet.”
He holds up his hands in surrender, but his eyes are full of laughter.
“Don’t start,” Tyler says, looking tired. “How I spend my money isn’t your business anymore.”
“I think you’ll find you’re wrong there.” The words come not from me but from Roman, and my brows jump. When he speaks again, his voice is light, his face pleasant, but his eyes are no longer amused. They’re steely, glittering with warning. “Aurora’s signature is on that loan too, correct?”
Tyler stares defiantly at Roman, but it only lasts a second before his eyes drop under Roman’s hard gaze. “Yes,” he mutters, his body slumping further into his wooden chair.
I frown at Roman, because although I’m grateful, I don’t need him fighting my battles for me. But he just shrugs unrepentantly and then leans back against the cushions, looking around the room with bland interest and faint boredom.
Directing my attention back at Tyler, I ask, “Do you have a job?”
“Not yet.” He still won’t meet my eyes. “I’m looking.”
I have to swallow my anger, force it down so it doesn’t explode out of me. “Look hard, please. I expect you to pay me back half of the remaining balance.” It’s all I can do, and even this request can’t be legally enforced. I cosigned. This situation was always a possibility.
It just felt so unlikely at the time.
How could I have been so stupid, trusting someone like that?
“I’ll find a job,” Tyler says, shifting with plain discomfort. “Can you just—chill? For once in your life can you calm down?”
Hurt and embarrassment and humiliation try to stir inside of me. I take those emotions and set them on fire, a bonfire I dance around under the full moon that illuminates my path forward.
Those feelings have no place here, regardless of how they hurt and how difficult they are to suppress.
“I’m calm,” I tell him as I ease the tension out of my body.
“And this isn’t entirely my fault, you know,” he goes on in a hard voice. “You could have helped me pay from the start.”
