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When I came back home the next morning, I found Brady coming down the stairs, still decked out in his PJ's. He scratched his stomach, and then when he saw me he grunted. "Look what the cat finally dragged in." I rolled my eyes.
"Did you have fun with Raina?" he asked. I blushed, because it wasn't really Raina I was spending time with.
"Yeah," I told him, not looking him in the eyes. His eyes narrowed as he got down to the last step, but I didn't wait for his assessment on why I blushed. I rushed past him and up the stairs, avoiding the questions I knew he would ask. When I came back down, I met up with Sarah. She was coming in from one of her runs.
"Hey," she said, bending down to put her hands on her knees, trying to catch her breath. She then started to do some stretching, trying to loosen up the muscles that had become tense with her jog.
"Hey," I answered back.
She smiled. "You should come with me sometime," she suggested as she finished up stretching. Sarah ran all the time, just not in the evenings lately. At least that’s what I got from Brady.
"Yeah, I don't think so."
"It would be good for you to stretch your lungs and get some clean air into them."
"Maybe," I told her as she finished. All that running was why she was so fit, but she had muscle too. I guess you needed to be fit to keep up with Brady. She and Brady would run together sometimes, but they'd never get me to do that.
I didn’t seem to have a problem with running, just not the type of running they did. Maybe it was time for a change. Maybe it wouldn't be a bad idea to change from running away, to running out my frustrations.
I ate breakfast then went back upstairs. I needed to work and send an email out to my professors, asking for an exception for all the homework I had missed. I was stressing because I needed those classes. I had gotten a scholarship, and because I missed so many days, it could affect whether I could continue or not. I might end up having to pay for it, and I was worried about that. Thinking about money made me think about getting a job once again. I wondered if the antique store was still hiring.
When Monday morning came, Tyler picked me up, and I went to my classes again. At the end of each class, I talked to my professors, asking if they had gotten my email. All of them agreed to let me continue with my classes with the opportunity of getting my credits back and a passing score if I turned in my work promptly. On top of that, I had been given extra work to complete.
I was grateful, but also stressed. I had so much work to get done that when school was over, I didn't hang around with the guys or Raina. I went upstairs and worked until dinner time, ate and then went back to my paperwork.
I worked diligently, well after nightfall. It was close to midnight when I noticed my ribs had started to hurt from sitting upright, and my head pounded. I shut off my light and went to get my pj's on when I heard a tapping noise. HotShot picked up his head as his ears extended upright on high alert. He growled when he heard it again, and shot out of my bedroom. I was kind of curious. The tapping wasn't at my window, but more off to the side almost as if....
Then I heard it again.
It was definitely pebbles being thrown at a window. I heard some grumbling down the hall and then the creak of a window being pulled up. Brady's voice grumbled out to the noise maker down below. His irritation was clear.
"Wrong window, Tyler."
Rushing to my window, I peeked out and saw Brady leaning his head out of his window and Tyler down on the ground below in the backyard with his hand behind his neck rubbing it embarrassed.
"We have a front door," Brady growled to him. "And cell phones."
"Sorry, sir!"
"Try the window two spots over," he suggested, "Or better yet, call her." Then he shut his window.
I laughed as Tyler shifted uncomfortably and wished I had a camera to record this moment. How did Tyler keep getting himself in these situations, I didn't know, but I could assume life with him would never be boring.
I pushed up my window and poked my head out. "Yes, Tyler McGuire?" I said in the happiest voice. "What are you doing, coming around trying to get poor Brady's attention at this time of night? Shame on you. Don't you know he's already taken?" I couldn't contain the laughter in my voice.
"Shut up, Daniels, and get down here," he growled. "Fast."
"Alright, hold on to your rocks. I'll be there in a sec."
***
Finding my shoes, I quickly put them on and then grabbed a jacket for warmth before I made my way downstairs, still chuckling about Tyler’s mistake. I slipped through the kitchen towards the back of the house where the laundry room was located and then went over to the back door that led outside. This was where Tyler was waiting.
"You know," I whispered softly, as he walked towards me, "that you're technically trespassing?" I had reached the bottom of the cracked concrete steps when he got to me.
"I wanted to spend some time with you and talk. Brady will get over it." His deep voice, while low, vibrated, making me shiver. I slid my hands into my jacket pockets for warmth as he wrapped his arm around me and propelled me towards a swing-set left by the previous owners.
"What are we doing?" I asked, when he guided me to sit down.
"Talking," he said again.
I wrapped my hands around the cold metal chains that held up the seat of a swing and sat down as Tyler went behind me.
"Now? This late at night?" I felt his hands on my back. He gave me a soft push, making the swing move. What in the world could he possibly want to talk about tonight that couldn't wait until morning?
"Yes," he spoke, and I felt his hand once more give me another push. While I was only swinging softly, I still could feel the breeze on my face and the damp coolness that lingered in the air. It should be a few more weeks before the weather would start shifting into winter.
"Yes. Is that it? Why?" My fingers tightened on the chain, and I put my feet down to stop the swing. I turned to see him behind me.
He placed his hands above mine on the chains, almost encompassing me with his body. His chest was at my back, with his arms just above where mine rested. He bent down to peer into my eyes. He looked intense and unsure.
"You were so distant today. You have a lot of work to get done, and that's why I didn't bother you." He looked up at the sky and the stars, and chuckled. "Would you laugh if I told you that Kayden came into my room and said he couldn't sleep, followed by Lincoln, which led to me coming over here. They're worried that the talk Raina gave you about our relatives, and the talk you had with Kayden, has you rethinking about things. That you might be trying to distance yourself from us." My breath caught as he told me this. Was I? I had a lot of work assignments to finish, but I never once thought about not being with them.
He looked back down as his midnight eyes were shadowed by the darkness and softly questioned, "Are you, Daniels? Do you want us to back off?"
I turned around shaking my head. "No. I just have a lot of work ahead of me. My professors gave me extra assignments, and I'm going crazy with it. We haven't actually talked about all of this, together. I heard what Lincoln wants and Kayden, but what about you Tyler? Are you on board with this?"
Even though it was late at night and darkness surrounded us, the stars gave me enough light to see him. His eyes widened, the whites of his eyes almost glowed in the dark, as he realized he hadn’t talked to me about this yet.
"Yes." His voice came out strong as his hands left the chains, and he leaned down to cradle my head. "I'm sorry. I didn't realize I hadn't told you how I felt. I want to hold hands, steal kisses from you and keep you safely tucked between my brothers and me. I want you, Faith Daniels. We want you. Will you give us a chance to prove that you can count on us? That you have my heart, so you never have to lose yours. If my idiot brothers make a mistake, you will have me. I will always be there for you."
His confession was similar to what his brothers had told me, and I never questioned it, but I was now. "How can you and your brothers be so sure that this relationship will work? That you won't get sick of sharing me and leave? How can you know?"
Tyler got close to me. His nose almost touched mine as he bent down. I could see his eyes now. They were intense as he whispered, "Because it's not about sex." A shiver raced down my spine. "It's not about lust. It's about you." His midnight blue eyes bore into mine as he spoke his next words, making my heart skip. "It's about how your eyes light up when you laugh, or how you care if one of us gets hurt like you did with me at the diner before you went off on me"—I snorted—"Or when Brady came over asking me where you were, to finding out you ran. I had made up my mind when I realized that you ran, that I was going to find you and bring you back. To me. To my brothers. I was a mess when I realized that you left, but to see you in that hospital bed and not knowing who I was, that was the worst. I felt what it was like to almost lose you, and I didn't like it. Not one bit," he said, as his lips brushed against mine. "You're it for me, and I'm not letting you leave me again." With that, his lips pressed against mine as if he demanded control.
He tilted my head back, as one of his hands went to my neck and he circled his palm around the curve of my neck, with his thumb at my chin, tilting it up even further. His lips were warm as they opened under mine. My hands gripped the chains, afraid to let go so that I wouldn’t fall. He really had me at his mercy, and I couldn’t help but wonder if he meant to do that. The emotions in me rose up as I put in all I could to his kiss. He drew back a little, nipping at my lip, then sucked it to dull the sting and went back for more.
I was heating up with all of his attentions. When he pulled back, I was in a daze. My crazy hormones told me to jump him right then, but thankfully my mind had some sense left as I swallowed back my lustful thoughts.
"Wow," I whispered. He had me down to one-word sentences. He was dangerous with those kisses.
He gave out a husky laugh and murmured, "Yeah, well, you completely undo me."
I bushed. Did I say that out loud?