by Claire Adams
“Okay then, let’s get to your house and get you ready.”
“You know my mother and sister are going to love this, right?” I said as I snickered. “They used to take so many pictures when we would go to dances. The only thing missing is a girl in a sparkling dress and a corsage.”
“Too bad you don’t have a woman on your side. You know, I think this is the first time we have hung out that you haven’t had some random girl with you. You didn’t want to bring one home?”
“No! Wow, that’s not going to happen. I don’t have any women I like enough to hang out with them for two months around my family.”
“You can have mine,” Bryce joked.
“I think Ashley is partial to you; I’ll just find my own. How are the kids doing anyway? Sorry I didn’t ask about them sooner.”
“They are good. Ashley is amazing with them. Sometimes I wonder how on earth I got so damn lucky. Remember what jerks we were in high school? Seriously, how did I even end up finding a woman as good as she is?”
“I wasn’t a jerk. You and Mike had the market cornered on being jerks. I was a nice guy.”
Bryce laughed as if I was joking, but I wasn’t. They were the ones who catcalled all the ladies and tried to feel girls up at every party we went to. I had Kelsi; I didn’t need to be involved in their craziness.
“When was I a jerk? I was the nicest boyfriend ever. Remember how I got Kelsi those Valentine’s cookies and had one waiting for her in each of her classes? Come on: I was Mister Romance.”
“Right, and how did that turn out for you?”
“She broke up with me. I was a great guy, she just wanted to move on.”
“Wow, really, Tyler? Do you seriously believe your own crap? You were just as awful to her as we were. Maybe even worse because you were her boyfriend. Mike and I were just lame high school boys, but she cared about you.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Oh, man. You don’t think she actually broke up with you because she wanted to move on with her life. Why do you think she broke up with you really?”
“Because I was moving too fast and she didn’t want to sleep with me,” I said honestly.
Kelsi and I had been getting along great until a party one night when we were about to go all the way. She freaked out, and after that night, nothing was the same. She was distant, wouldn’t talk to me, and never came around my house until the night she broke up with me.
“Wrong.”
“No, I think I would know why my own girlfriend broke up with me.”
“Mike and I were teasing her and you constantly about getting naked. Mike was relentless with her. He was always saying stupid comments about how he wouldn’t have fumbled with her naked ass in front of him. She was pissed at you for not standing up for her honor; that’s why she broke up with you.”
“What? No, she didn’t say that. She said she wanted to go to college without the ties of our relationship. Then we just grew apart.”
“For such a smart man, Tyler, you are really dumb,” Bryce said as we arrived at my parents’ house. “She loved you and you just let Mike and I tease her. I talked to her a couple of years ago when Ashley and I ran into her at the diner.”
“What did she say?”
“I’m not going into it all. She was really nice about it, and she is definitely over you. But don’t be delusional and think she actually broke up because she was going to college. She got her heart broken by your cold-hearted ways.” Bryce slapped me on the back as we walked into my house.
“Mom, I’m home.”
“My boy,” my mother said as she moved quickly toward me from the kitchen. “I’m so excited you’re here.”
“Hi, Mrs. Pace, how are you doing?”
“I’m good, Bryce. How are Ashley and the kids?”
“Anderson just learned to ride his bike and Abby is obsessed with having afternoon tea. They are doing just great. I’m sorry to hear about Mr. Pace; our thoughts are with him and the whole family.”
“Thank you, dear. It’s going to be a rough time, but I’ve come to terms with it. Henry is at peace with it as well. We all have to die sometime; he just wishes he could have gone while skydiving,” mom said with a laugh.
It wasn’t true at all. My father didn’t do adventurous things, but he did like to make jokes about them often. I couldn’t imagine he’d ever go skydiving, no matter what was going on in his life, but it was a fun sentiment to know he was still making silly jokes about skydiving. Even when I was a teenager he used to joke that he wanted to die while on safari in Tanzania, or backpacking in India. It was just my father’s humor because everyone knew he didn’t like those sorts of things.
“Tyler, I hear you’ve been busy dating all the millionaire gold diggers,” Maryanne said as she gave me a hug.
“Well, I’ve got to do something with my free time,” I jabbed back.
Maryanne was my sweet little sister, but she was angry with me for not coming home sooner. She was often angry with me, though, so there wasn’t much new going on in our relationship. We loved each other, that was undeniable, but her idea of showing love meant that I had to be there holding Dad’s hand every day and helping around the ranch. My idea was to pay for the mortgage and ensure there was enough hired help around. I’d grown so accustomed to her attitude, though, that I couldn’t help but smile as we hugged. I was going to be home for several weeks, and I knew she would warm back up to me soon. We were family and family stuck together.
The silence turned from normal to awkward rather quickly, and I knew it was time for me to get ready for the reunion that evening. Getting used to being around my family sometimes took me a day or two. I was a different man when I was with my mother, much different than I was while running my company or dating women. She knew more about me than anyone else in the world, my sister included. It was my mother who made me feel whole and my father who had always pushed me to do better. As we moved closer to the end of my father’s life, I couldn’t help but have a sad sense of relief that at least it wasn’t my mother who was dying.
I love my father, don’t get me wrong, the love I have for my father is second only to that which I feel for my mother. But I knew I could go on with life after my father passed on; I wasn’t so sure how I would manage when it was my mother’s time.
“I’m going to take a quick shower and get dressed for the evening. You call me if there is an emergency or if you hear of anything going on with Dad,” I said softly as I kissed my mother and gave her another hug.
“I’m sure it will be an uneventful night. Your father is doing relatively well right now. It could be several weeks still. We just don’t know.”
I hurried into the shower and let the warm water wash away my anxiety over everything that was going on with my father. It was stressful to have someone you love dying, and I had only just stepped into that stress. My sister and mother had carried much of the burden for the last few months, and that wasn’t lost on me when I dealt with my sister and her agitation toward me. I would have been much less friendly to her if I had been the one stuck at home taking care of our sick father.
“Are you drowning in there?” Bryce yelled from the door to the bathroom. “I don’t want to spend my only free night standing outside your bathroom. Let’s go.”
“You can’t rush perfection,” I yelled back at him.
“If I didn’t know you better, I’d think you were stalling because you are nervous about this event.”
“Well, you do know me, and you know I don’t get nervous.”
I threw on a freshly pressed black suit and we were on our way to the reunion. There was no denying I was anxious about seeing everyone from high school, but I wasn’t nervous. They probably knew more about me than I knew about them and that was the only thing I didn’t like. In business, I was always prepared when I went into meetings with people. But on this evening, I’d just have to wing it and push the conversation toward them so I didn’t have to be in the sp
otlight.
“When did Mike say he was coming in?” Bryce asked as we drove to the venue.
“He should be here already and hopefully on his way here. Knowing him, he likely stopped off at the bar or casino before he is coming, though.” I laughed. “Wait, he knows there’s free alcohol here, he’ll be…”
I didn’t even finish my sentence as we saw Mike standing and waiting for us by his rental car. He had actually worn a suit, like I had suggested, which surprised me a little bit. Mike wasn’t known for his memory.
“Mike, man, you’re looking sharp,” I said as we did a quick hug.
“Yeah, I think you two are showing me up a little bit,” Bryce added, although Bryce looked pretty sharply dressed himself.
“Man, it’s good to see you two. It’s been like six months since we were in Vegas.”
“Yeah, dude, time flies, doesn’t it?” Bryce said as he embraced Mike as well.
“You two can come see me at my place anytime it works in your schedule. I’ll get you a ticket and you can crash at my house. You know I’ve got five bedrooms I don’t even use.”
“Yeah, man, I know, your house is like one of those places on ‘MTV Cribs.’”
“Dude, Mike, that show has been off the air for years. You’re getting old,” Bryce joked.
“Is that Tyler, Bryce, and Michael?” a woman said from the doorway to the convention center.
“Yeah, hey, how are you?” Bryce said as he took the lead and greeted the woman.
I had no idea who she was and instantly became concerned with my ability to recognize people at the reunion. I hadn’t seen most of my old high school classmates since high school; if they didn’t look like they did back then, it was possible I would have no idea who they were.
“Tyler Pace, wow, you sure did grow into one handsome guy,” the woman said as she hugged me. “I guess you didn’t need that calculus class after all.”
“Emily Peterson, is that you?” I said in total shock at seeing my old math class buddy.
“It’s Emily Maynard now.” She laughed.
“Wow, I’m sorry I didn’t recognize you at first. You look amazing.”
“Thanks. Pretty good for a mother of five, right?”
“What? Seriously? You’re a mother of five? No way.”
I refused to believe my friend had actually had five children since the two of us had last seen each other. I still vividly remembered what it was like to have her in the chair behind me and how distracted I was by her gum chewing all the time. It felt as if those moments were only weeks behind us, not years.
“It’s true. I married Jackson, and we did the whole happily ever after thing.”
“Oh, yeah, Jack Maynard. Okay, now I get it. Is he here, too? I can’t wait to catch up with him.”
“No, he’s traveling in China on business. He really wanted to be here though, and I’m sure he’ll be pissed that he missed seeing you. No one thought you would be showing up at this thing, now that you’re a celebrity and all.”
“I’m not a celebrity.” I laughed.
“Okay, okay, just a guy from Time Magazine’s 100 Most Eligible Bachelors Under 40. But you’re right, totally not famous.”
“You were in Time Magazine?” Mike asked in total surprise.
“Yeah, he’s kind of a big deal,” Bryce joked. “You should be nice to him.”
“Oh, yeah, man, I’m always nice to my best buddy Tyler. Can we move this convo into the party so I can get my drinking going?”
That was the Mike we knew and loved. He would likely be cozied up to the bar all night long, or at least until the alcohol had him unable to stand on his own. I could only hope that we would get a good hour or two out of him before he started to slur his words and make a fool out of himself.
“So, Tyler,” Emily started to say, “is there anyone you’re here to see?”
“No, not really. I’m excited to catch up with everyone.”
“Is Kelsi here yet?” Bryce butted in.
“No, not yet, but she’s coming and, damn, you’re going to die when you see what a knockout she is. Seriously, Tyler, she’s going to blow your socks off. I’m going to go catch up with Mila; I’ll talk you all later. Enjoy your night.”
“Kelsi is smoking hot?” I asked Bryce.
“Nah, she’s the same as high school. Okay, maybe a little hotter, but she’s always out at the ranch with the horses, so I don’t really know.”
“She’s not going to talk to you. Kelsi was always too stuck up for you. You can do better,” Mike added.
“What are you talking about, Mike? She wasn’t stuck up.”
“Sure she was. Kelsi never wanted to talk to me and always gave me those dirty looks when I tried talking to her. She definitely didn’t have a sense of humor at all.”
“That’s because you saw her naked and made fun of her body,” I replied. “I can’t blame her for not liking you. I’m not sure I even liked you much back then.”
“This whole conversation is a moot point. She’s not going to talk to any of us tonight, so let’s just see who else is here,” Bryce said as he grabbed a drink and started to walk away. “Um, wow.”
Bryce had stopped dead in his tracks and was looking at the doorway we had just come through. There was Kelsi. I knew it was her without a second thought. I had fantasized about her body for my entire teenage years. I had every curve of hers memorized, and seeing her in that low-cut gown instantly reminded me of how much I had wanted her in high school.
“Now that’s a dress,” Mike said as he sucked down almost an entire beer.
“You really should have warned me that she looked that good,” I said to Bryce. “I would have come to see her years ago.”
“She sure does clean up nice,” Bryce said. “But again, it’s pointless. Remember, she stopped talking to you like six months before graduation. From what I’ve heard from her sister, she doesn’t have fond memories of you at all.”
“What? Why?”
“We went over this. Teasing, insensitivity, remember?”
“Oh, come on, I could still have her if I wanted her,” I joked.
“Let’s make it a bet,” Mike spoke up and joined our conversation.
“A bet that I can sleep with her? Oh, come on, I’m a grown man, I’m not going to make a bet like that.”
Bryce laughed and nudged Mike. The two of them seemed to have some sort of secret that they weren’t letting me in on. It was like they didn’t think I could have Kelsi. I was Tyler Pace and I could have any woman I wanted. This wasn’t a question at all for me; I knew if I wanted Kelsi, she would be mine. It didn’t matter what had gone on in high school; she would melt at my charms if I wanted to charm her.
“Yeah, keep thinking that.” Bryce laughed. “Robert and Kendall talk, and I know Kelsi has dated some crap guys; she’s a ball-breaker now.”
“This is ridiculous. She loved me in high school. I could have her if I wanted.”
“Then take the bet,” Mike said. “I’ll bet you my two tickets to the ESPYs.”
“No!” Bryce yelled. “You’ve got tickets to the ESPYs?”
“Yeah, and they will be all Tyler’s if he can actually land Kelsi tonight.”
“It has to be while I’m back home, not just tonight.”
“Fine.”
“What does Mike get if you don’t land Kelsi?” Bryce added.
“How about a trip anywhere on my jet?” I asked. “But I could get ESPY tickets; I don’t think this bet is fair enough.”
It was the truth. If I wanted to go to the ESPN ESPY awards, I just had to pay for some tickets. Money talked, no matter what awards show you were trying to go to. I needed something more if I was going to put my ego on the line.
“How about a walk on role with the new Bond movie?” Mike asked.
“Sure, yeah, that would be worth it. But how can you get that for me?”
“I’m dating the casting director. I could get you into the role without a problem,” he s
aid confidently.
“Now this is sounding like a deal. ESPY tickets and a role in the next Bond movie for Tyler and a round trip flight anywhere with as many people as Mike wants for him?” Bryce confirmed our bet.
“Okay, so what’s the agreed upon winning action?” Mike started. “Are we talking total submission, oral, kissing? What’s the goal?”
“Total submission. I’ll have her in my bed, and I’ll make sweet, sweet love to her,” I said dramatically.
The truth was that I wasn’t the kind of guy who made bets like this at all. Being around Mike just brought me back to a place where I wanted to prove myself. Maybe the bet would give me the motivation to actually go talk to Kelsi though, and that would be worth it. The idea that she really didn’t like me had my stomach in knots.
“So, it’s a bet. Should I let you know where I want to fly to right now, or wait until she totally blows you off?” Mike laughed.
“Hey, I’m one of the most eligible bachelors under forty,” I joked. “I think you should start calling that girlfriend of yours and lining up my part in the movie,” I continued.
“Yeah, we will see. You’ve got a couple weeks in town; maybe you can pull a miracle out of your ass, or maybe I’ll be flying private for my trip to Spain this summer with a plane full of hot girls.”
“My money is on Mike with this one,” Bryce said. “Kelsi isn’t even going to give you the time of day. You won’t be able to charm your way into this girl’s bed.
Chapter Four
Kelsi
I’m a vixen. I’m a vixen. I’m a vixen.
The more I repeated the phrase in my head, the more I believed it. The dress fit every curve perfectly, and I had to admit the boob tape had my girls looking absolutely incredible. As I stood in the doorway to the convention center, I relished all the men’s eyes on me. In high school, I had attached myself to Tyler and hadn’t even noticed the other boys at school, but as my eyes scanned the room, I noticed a lot of very handsome men. This was going to be one hell of a night. Maybe this wasn’t going to be that bad of an evening after all.