‘How do I get back?’ The words are soft and I barely recognize my own voice.
He reaches out and takes my hand, his skin warm against mine. I raise my eyes to meet his.
‘We’ll sort this out. Together.’
And despite myself, I believe him.
Chapter Nine
He is kind and sweet and buys another drink and touches my hand and says all the right things. And yet still –still– I look at him and I see the nemesis I have railed against for so long. What the actual fuck is wrong with me?
Tyler fucking Adams,whispers the voice in my head.
Tyler fucking Adams.It doesn’t quite feel right, doesn’t fit the guy in front of me who is … well … nice.
He orders us chips and curry sauce. Tells me a story about a holiday to Slapton Sands in Devon a few years ago where he discovered this delicious combination. I tell him about how that is where Rachel took my dad for their first trip and then he came home and asked me and Cesca if perhaps we’d be okay if Rachel became a more permanent feature in our lives. They got married a year later and we had a party in the same place. Cesca and I were bridesmaids and the day was perfect.
Tyler fucking Adams.
He comes back from the bar and this time he sits next to me on the bench, the warmth of his thigh pressing against mine. He tells me stories about his family. About his friends from university. He studiously does not mention a girlfriend, even though I start to listen out for one, for a name repeated a few times, someone who makes his breath catch in his throat.There is no one. Or least he doesn’t seem to mention anyone obviously special.
Not that I care of course.
We talk and talk and I find myself telling him everything about the last week, all the tiny details that made me realize I wasn’t in my world but skipping through others.
Tyler Adams.
It’s four p.m. and there’s no longer any space between us, our thighs still pressed together as he listens intently. He believes me. He wants to help me.
Tyler Adams.
He leans in to me, the heat of him, the feel of his breath on my neck.
I pull away, look up into his face.
He smiles. A sad smile that doesn’t meet his eyes.
‘I like this version of you, Bethany Raven,’ he says quietly.
I like this version of him. But I don’t say it. I can’t say it.
Maybe he was always like this,the traitorous voice whispers inside my head.Maybe you judged him too harshly.
Tyler Adams.
My resolve breaks and I lean my body towards him. His gaze holds mine. My heart skips.
FuckingTyler Adams.
He walks me to my flat just after five. There is no plan, no real idea how we can possibly get me back to my own world. ‘I just need some time to think about it,’ he says gently at the door to my flat. ‘It’s too big a problem, too big a question to answer right away.’
‘But do you think …’ I don’t finish the question. I don’t know if I want him to answer. What if he says it’s impossible?
‘Nothing is impossible. The fact that this version of you ishere in this world … ifthatis possible, then anything is.’ He shrugs. But not in a way that dismisses the size of the issue. The gravity of the situation is etched into his features, into the way he holds himself. ‘We’ll find a way.’
And do you know what? I actually believe him.
Fucking Tyler Adams might just be the only person who can save me.
