Rose stared at Tyler, shell-shocked. She’d dreamt of hearing those exact words for over a decade now. Tyler, in love with her. A dream come true. Only reality didn’t feel as right as the dreams. Thinking about it, she hadn’t daydreamed about being with Tyler for some time, her heart had been somewhere else. A flash of blue eyes invaded her mind. Ethan’s eyes. Georgiana’s eyes. Rose sobered up at once.
“How did Georgiana take the news?” Rose asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
“Georgiana?” Tyler seemed dumbfounded. “What does Georgiana have to do with any of this?”
“I’m just curious. After all the strings she pulled to organize your romantic gateway in France, she must’ve been pretty stone-faced when you dumped her.”
Tyler stared back at her in confusion.
“You did dump her, didn’t you?” Rose pressed.
The dark shadow that passed over his face was enough of an answer.
“This is exactly why it’ll never work,” Rose said, turning away.
“Rose, if this is about Georgiana, don’t worry. I can break up with her in a second.”
“So why haven’t you already?”
“Rose, it would’ve been awkward. We were in Paris, living in the same house—”
“And did you sleep with her while you were in Paris, living in the same house?”
Again, she could read the answer on his face.
“It didn’t m—”
“Don’t say it didn’t mean anything.”
Tyler stood silent, petrified in the middle of the living room.
“But Rose, I didn’t cheat on you. It’s not like we were together. If you give me a chance, I would—”
“It doesn’t matter if we were together or not, don’t you see?” Rose could hardly keep it together. Tyler’s declaration of love had thrown her off, and now he was making her so angry. Rose didn’t like how worked up she was getting. “You say you’re in love with me. You say you’ve spent six months thinking about me nonstop. But that didn’t stop you from sleeping with your girlfriend, and that’s the problem.”
“But we weren’t together,” Tyler protested.
“It’s irrelevant. Love should be enough for you not to want to fool around with whoever else is available.” Rose’s voice trembled. “You shouldn’t want to sleep with other people if you’re in love with me. Period.”
“You’re not being fair. Why can’t you give me another chance?”
“Because if you blew it, then we’d be over for good, and I don’t want that. Plus…” Rose hesitated just for a moment. “I’m kind of seeing someone else.”
“Who?” Tyler was suddenly cold.
“Ethan.”
The name took a moment to register, and Rose witnessed the shock in Tyler’s eyes when it did.
“Georgiana’s brother?” Tyler hissed. “Are you kidding me? He’s a bigger player than I am.”
“He’s not, at least not with me.”
Tyler snorted. “Why does he get a chance and I don’t?” His tone was bitter.
“Because if I break up with him, it’s just that: a breakup. If we broke up, I’d lose my best friend too, and I don’t want that to happen. Ever.”
“It’s not fair.” Tyler pouted. “I would never hurt you, Rose, you have to believe that.”
“Tyler.” Rose moved closer to him. “I do. I know you wouldn’t hurt me on purpose. And I know you think you can behave, but the fact remains… you probably wouldn’t. There’s too much at stake, and I care about you too much. Tyler, if you cheated on me, I would never recover from that. Never. And I’m not willing to take that risk. Plus, I’m happy with Ethan. Really happy.”
At that, Tyler moved away and started pacing around the living room like a caged lion. “Bullshit, Rose. You care about me too much! If I tell you I can do something, it means I can. It’s all about that dude, isn’t it? Georgiana’s brother was all over you from the moment he set eyes on you.” Tyler sagged on the couch like an empty sack. “Do you love him?”
The question made Rose’s legs unsteady. Did she love Ethan? She wasn’t sure, but if it wasn’t love, her emotions were something close enough. Rose sat next to Tyler, staring hypnotized at his legs twitching up and down. “Tyler… I honestly don’t know.”
He looked at her with sadness in his eyes. “I always thought we’d end up together at some point. I never thought I’d blow it so big time, or that I’d be too late.”
Rose didn’t know what to say to that. She’d felt the same for a long time. Even when she was with Marcus, somehow she’d sensed the relationship wouldn’t last forever. But something had changed between her and Tyler. Rose had had a taste of what her love life with him could turn into. The paranoia, the jealousy, the second-guessing. She hadn’t liked it, and it had made her not like Tyler that much either. Rose didn’t want to not like Tyler; she loved him too much. But Rose didn’t know if she was in love with him anymore, or if she’d ever been truly.
A long silence lingered between them.
Tyler spoke first. “Am I?”
“What?”
“Too late?”
Rose closed her eyes to search within herself and decide where she stood. She’d imagined Tyler saying all the things he’d just said to her a million times before. But in all her fantasies she’d been elated, giddy, out-of-this-world happy, and never… empty.
“Tyler, it wasn’t meant to be between us. Not romantically. Even if I was willing to risk our friendship and give it a shot—which I’m not—the truth is I don’t want to. I’m with Ethan, and I want to be with him. Can we go back to being just friends?” As she asked the question, she felt a bit hypocritical. If she had to be honest, they’d never been just friends. There’d always been something deeper between them—a deeper bond that the sex had ruined. She hoped with all her heart they could find a way back to each other, but she was no longer sure it was possible.
Tyler stood up from the couch without saying a word. He moved toward the door, opened it, and paused, his back to her. After a few seconds, Tyler stepped outside, slamming the door behind him, not once turning around.