Until Us

by Cristin Cooper

  “Oh my gosh, the first time I played truth or dare.” Her brows rose. “And the last time I played,” she clarified, “José dared me to flash everyone.”

  Tyler choked on his bite and was tempted to go stab José with his fork, but Katie took it from him, deterring him from causing bodily harm to the jerk. She took a large bite of cake, covered her mouth with her hand, then said, “Luckily, Eric was there and he vetoed it.” Her smirk softened. “In fact he vetoed me playing any games that included me kissing or flashing anyone…besides him,” she tearfully said then dropped the fork onto the counter.

  Tyler ran his hand down her arm until their hands met. She gripped his hand and didn’t let go.

  “So why didn’t you make Jason experience the train wreck?”

  “I’m depressed,” Jason said in his defense. “I’m at a party with people my age, but I can’t relate to them. It sucks realizing I’m that awkward guy nobody knows how he got invited.” He sighed then pushed himself off the counter and dropped his fork into the sink. “At one time, I was the life of the party.”

  Katie shook her head. “I can’t picture that.” Tyler couldn’t either. The impression he got from Katie was Jason didn’t like people.

  “It took having a kid and his mother abandoning him to make me this charming,” he grumbled.

  Jason broke the silence that was beginning to get uncomfortable my stating, “Parties suck!”

  “I agree,” Katie and Tyler said in unison.

  “I should…” Before Jason could finish his sentence, Alexis stepped into the room.

  “How did I know I would find you three hiding in here?” They looked at each other then to her and shrugged but didn’t answer.

  Alexis walked toward them without saying a word and took Jason’s hand and pulled him toward the living room.

  “Where are we going?” he asked. His voice low and threatening.

  “We’re playing another game and you aren’t getting out of it this time.” He attempted to pull his hand away, but she gave him a menacing stare. “You. Are. Playing.”

  “What about them?” He pointed to him and Katie.

  “Katie gets an out because she’s pregnant.” Katie grinned. “And Tyler made it through Mica’s lap dance, so he gets an out.”

  Katie’s mouth fell open. “You didn’t say you got a lap dance?” He wasn’t sure if she was laughing or choking.

  “I was trying to forget,” he mumbled.

  It was a choke. “Right. A guy wanting to forget a lap dance by the gorgeous Mica,” she said sarcastically.

  “That girl is scary,” Jason said. His voice rising slightly.

  “Pfft,” Alexis said. “Come on, you big baby.”

  They disappeared through the doorway and when Tyler turned around, Katie blinked then blinked again. “Whoa! He barely put up a fight.”

  “Yeah. What’s up with that? Why is he even here? I thought you said he didn’t like Alexis.”

  “He doesn’t, but like a week before Thanksgiving, I mentioned to Tracy how I felt bad that Jason didn’t have any family around, so he was taking Benji to some buffet for Thanksgiving. I guess Tracy felt sorry for him and invited them to dinner and after dinner later that night to Alexis’s party.”

  She leaned in to whisper even though it was just the two of them in the room. “Tracy said she thought she saw sparks fly between Alexis and Jason.” Her cheesy grin made him laugh. “I’m not sure if I believe it, but now I can’t stop watching them whenever they’re near each other.” Her voice was tinged with laughter.

  She pushed off the counter and jerked on his hand. “Come on, let’s go watch.” They stepped into the living room right as cheers went up. “Oh Lord, they’re playing spin the bottle.” She backed up into him, like she was afraid the bottle would attack her.

  He stepped around her, keeping hold of her hand, and pulled her to the couch, where they took a front row seat. He let go of her hand and laid his arm along the back of the sofa. She pulled her feet up and leaned into him, her body stiff as she intensely watched the rotating make-out sessions.

  When it was Jason’s turn to spin the bottle, she got to her knees so she could get a better look then covered her mouth and bounced on the couch cushion. He laughed as he put his hand around her waist to keep her from bouncing right off the couch. Her reactions were cracking him up, so he missed where the bottle landed, but it didn’t take long for him to find out.

  She turned to look at him and pointed to the center of the room and mouthed “ALEXIS!” She sat back down next to him and buried her face in his chest as her body shook with laughter. “Tell me when it happens.”

  He took his eyes off the girl who was making the whole night worth it to Alexis, whose face had turned a lovely shade of red, but that was nothing compared to Jason’s expression. His face paled and turned slightly green. Tyler knew the feeling.

  He tapped Katie’s shoulder and whispered, “Look.”

  She lifted her head and watched as Alexis clumsily crawled across the circle and sat back on her heels in front of Jason. They stared at one another, never taking their eyes off each other. The room was silent except for some muted background music.

  Katie broke the silence by yelling, “Come on, guys!”

  They both jumped and Jason broke his stare to glare at her. “Quiet from the peanut gallery. If you aren’t brave enough to sit in the circle, then you can’t talk,” he admonished.

  Katie pretended to zip her lips and throw away the key.

  The room was eerily quiet when Jason’s eyes met with Alexis’s again. She made the first move and leaned in and waited. One of Katie’s hands gripped his leg in anticipation and squeezed when Jason circled a hand around Alexis’s neck and pulled her to him. Their mouths met and soon a mere kiss turned heated.

  Alexis gripped Jason’s wrists as they kept going, ignoring the fact that they had a room full of people watching them. “Is it getting warm in here?” Katie said under her breath.

  Finally, the girl sitting next to Jason cleared her throat and said, “I’d like a turn.”

  Jason let go of Alexis and leaned back with wide eyes. He appeared to be struggling to breathe then suddenly he stood and backed up, tripping over a chair. “I have to go. Babysitter.” He pointed to the door and opened his mouth to speak again, but nothing came out.

  Alexis stayed knelt in front of his empty spot with a matching expression. She watched as Jason ran out of the house like his pants were on fire.

  The room stayed silent until Alexis crawled back to her original spot.

  It didn’t take long for the awkward moment to clear. The next couple went at it like they had been waiting their whole lives to kiss each other.

  “Holy. Shit.” Katie whispered. “You saw that, right? I wasn’t seeing things.”

  “No, I saw it.” Tyler was trying to remember the last time he kissed a girl like that. He and Audrey made out all the time, but never like that.

  “I miss making out.” Katie sighed and leaned back into his side.

  He put his arm around her and said, “Me too.” He looked at her, wondering if kissing her would be anything like what he just witnessed. Just as the idea came to him, his chest tightened with the overwhelming guilt he felt every time he thought of her as anything more than a friend.

  He ran his hand down his face, realizing it was time for him to start dating again. Daydreaming about kissing a pregnant girl who was mourning her boyfriend, who happened to be his best friend, wasn’t healthy. It didn’t matter that he was falling for her more every day. She would always be Eric’s girl.

  Chapter Fifteen

  November 2015

  Katie

  “Katie?” A soothing voice whispered in her ear. A shiver ran down her spine and her body did a full-body shiver. She moaned and tucked her legs in and snuggled closer to the heat source. “Hey.” A hand caressed her cheek, pushing her hair out of her face. “Katie? You’re freezing. Get back in your sleeping bag.”


  She blinked one eye open and then the other, giving Tyler a tired smile. “It’s cold,” she said with a scratchy voice.

  “I know. Why aren’t you inside your sleeping bag?”

  She lifted onto an elbow and looked down at herself in confusion. “I…uh…I’m not sure. I woke up some time last night to use the bathroom, but I thought I got back inside my bag.”

  Squinting, she looked around the room. Without her glasses, the world was blurry, but she could see well enough to notice all the sleeping bodies littering the floor.

  She shivered again, trying to figure out why the house was so cold considering how many people were in the room when she felt the slightly cool breeze hit her arms. She stood to close the window wrapping her arms around her body and running her hands up and down her arms. The moment her bare feet touched the hardwood floors she squeaked and jumped back onto her sleeping bag.

  “Let me. I’m about to sweat to death,” Tyler said with a laugh. His sleeping bag was already unzipped and she realized it was his warm body she was trying to snuggle against. He lifted the edge of his sleeping bag and offered his already heated bag to her. She didn’t waste a second climbing in. By the time he returned from closing the windows, she was comfortably nestled in his bag with the edge pulled up to her chin.

  He lay down on top of her bag and folded her pillow in half to incline his head slightly then clasped his hands over his chest.

  “Mmm. It’s like a heater that smells like you.”

  Tyler’s body tensed and he looked over at her with his brows drawn in. “Does it smell bad?”

  She shook her head. “I don’t think so, but I like the way you smell.” He stared at her. The lines on his forehead softening before he rolled onto his back and covered his eyes with his arm. “Are you okay?” She hoped she hadn’t offended him. He did smell good, like soap and his spicy aftershave. It made her think of warm hugs, laugh lines, and comfort. She took in another deep breath enjoying the scent.

  “I’m fine,” he sighed.

  He didn’t look all right. He looked like he was in physical pain.

  “Tyler…” Before she could ask him if she hurt his feelings, her stomach made a loud rumbling noise.

  His arm dropped to his side and he looked over at her. “Oh man!” He chuckled. “Was that you?”

  “It’s not me, it’s the baby.” Most of the time, she pulled the baby card to be funny, but in this case, she was dead serious. Her stomach was now ruled by a human the size of an orange. After weeks of throwing up every day, she was now starving. All. The. Time.

  “Then we better feed the baby.” His voice was earnest, but his smirk gave away his amusement. She loved it when she could get him to laugh.

  He helped her out of his bag. She was still cold but not for long. He dug through his bag next to their sleeping bags and withdrew a sweatshirt and pulled it over her.

  “Do you know what I did with my glasses? I need them to be able to find them. It’s a vicious cycle,” she giggled.

  “Yeah. You fell asleep with them on last night.” He reached behind him to a side table then handed them to her.

  She slid them on and sighed with relief to see the world again. “Better.” She clapped her hands, startling somebody nearby. “Oops,” she whispered. “I planned to make breakfast for everyone, you up for helping me?”

  “I’m in.” He fist bumped her then took her hand and guided her through the swarm of bodies, trying not to step on anyone. “How did you manage to walk through here last night on your way to the bathroom?” he asked out of curiosity.

  “It wasn’t easy.” And she was pretty sure someone was going to wake up with a bruise from her accidently kicking them the night before. She had heard a moan, but whoever it was just rolled over and didn’t make another sound.

  Entering the kitchen, Katie pushed up the sleeves of the sweatshirt and prepared to get to work. “You start the coffee and I’ll get the ingredients out.”

  “Yes, ma’am.” His smirk was back and he followed her orders until the food was made and set up in the dining room in food warmers.

  Katie and Tyler sat on stools at the island while eating bacon and staring at the mess they made. “Have you eaten anything besides bacon?”

  She shook her head and pushed herself off the stool. “I wanted to finish making pancakes for everyone else before I made us Billy pancakes.” She went through each cupboard until she found the ingredient she was looking for.

  “Billy pancakes?” he asked.

  “Yeah. He makes special pancakes just for me.” She poured the batter onto the griddle then placed chocolate chips in the center of each in the shape of a heart.

  “That’s sweet. And, in a few years, you’ll be able to pass on the tradition to your baby.” Her smile fell and her hand clenched the bag of chocolate chips. She turned to face away from him, hoping he didn’t catch it.

  He did.

  He pushed back the stool and walked around the counter until he was standing in front of her. Lifting her chin, he forced her to look at him. “What’s wrong? Is it the baby?” His brow wrinkled and he looked her up and down as if he were checking for a visible sign that something was wrong.

  She closed her eyes and shook her head, not wanting to look at him when she admitted what she had been considering. Out of all of her friends, he was the one she was afraid to lose the most. But he was also the only one she wanted to confide in.

  “It’s not the baby. Well…it is and it isn’t.” She stepped away from him, putting a foot of distance between them. She swallowed the growing lump in her throat and managed to say, “I’m thinking of giving the baby up for adoption.” She focused her eyes on the pancakes, making sure they didn’t burn giving her an excuse not to face him.

  “You’re giving the baby up? Why?” He didn’t wait for her to answer. “I’ll talk to your parents and Eric’s parents and see how we could help or work out any issue you might have. I’ll take care of it. I already found you an excellent pediatrician. I’ll make an appointment with him and maybe talking to him will….”

  “Stop! I said I was thinking about it. I don’t know what I’m going to do, but I know I don’t need you talking to my parents or picking out a pediatrician!” Her voice rose and her body shook. She flipped the pancakes with so much force one flew off and landed face down. “Shit!” She bent down to clean it up, but he beat her to it.

  “Jeez, is this why Audrey left? Because you react instead of communicate?” She slapped her hands over her mouth and shook it. She didn’t mean that. Well, she did, but she didn’t mean to hurt him. By the way his jaw clenched, she not only hurt him but pissed him off. “Tyler, I didn’t…”

  “Hey, guys.” Alexis walked in with all the telltale signs of drinking too much the night before. Her eyes were squinting and she was rubbing her temples with her fingers. Her hair or some of her hair was in a ponytail that now hung askew and her eye makeup was smeared to the point of making her look like a raccoon.

  She took a few steps into the kitchen then stopped and looked back and forth between them. “Am I interrupting something?”

  Katie looked to Tyler and begged him with her eyes not to say anything to her.

  “Nope,” he said gruffly. He leaned against the island, his knuckles gripping the counter so hard they were turning white. His eyes never left hers.

  “Okay,” Alexis said drawing out the o. “I just came in to thank you guys for making breakfast and to say good morning to the baby.” She bent down in front of Katie, lifted the sweatshirt and did just that. She did it every morning when they got up for their morning coffee.

  Alexis stood back up and looked back and forth between them again. Anybody who walked into the room would have been able to feel the tension between them.

  “I’m going to go grab some food before it’s gone.” Alexis backed up, keeping her eyes on them, as if they would attack her if she turned her back on them. “Love you guys.”

  “Love you,” they muttered.r />
  Once they were alone, Katie swore when she realized that the pancakes were burnt and it now smelled like burnt chocolate in the room. She chucked the pancakes into the garbage, wishing she could take back the last five minutes.

  After turning off the griddle and dropping the spatula and mixing bowl into the sink, she faced him. “I’m so sorry.” Tears pooled in her eyes at the thought of hurting him. “I shouldn’t have said that. Please forgive me.”

  He stared down at his bare feet and ran his hands down his face. But he didn’t speak, so she went on. “I didn’t tell you so you could fix it. I told you because you’re my friend and I needed to tell someone.” She folded her arms over her chest, feeling completely vulnerable and afraid she just ruined her friendship with Tyler. “You’re my someone,” she murmured.

  He reached out and tugged on her sleeve until he could take her hand in his. “The truth hurts sometimes. I’m sorry. I know I sometimes take charge when I don’t need to.”

  “Without all the facts,” she added.

  “Yes… without all the facts,” he repeated.

  She looked into his eyes. “I’m afraid I’m going to lose you.”

  He shook his head and pulled on her hand until she was in his arms and her head was against his chest. “That’ll never happen. I’m here for you no matter what you decide.”

  She managed a muffled “Thank you” and wrapped her arms around him.

  Chapter Sixteen

  December 2015

  Tyler

  The woman sitting across from him, Vanessa, attempted to hide a yawn behind her hand. It was the third time. He was counting.

  Tyler held back a sigh of disappointment. This had been his first date in months and it was dying a slow miserable death. The conversation felt forced and every time he asked her a question she responded with a one-word answer.