by Katie Kyler
He sprayed himself off, taking care to spray his legs, shoes, and shorts. “Here,” he said, “turn around and I’ll get you too.”
I put my hands over my eyes, nose, and mouth, and turned around so he could spray me.
“You’re pretty pale,” he said. “You want sunscreen too?”
I nodded, and he tossed me the bottle. I got my legs, arms, and chest. The cream I had applied before we left had my face covered.
“Lift your hair,” he said.
I lifted my ponytail, and he rubbed the sunscreen on the back of my neck, my upper back, and the backs of my arms.
“Okay, ready?” Tyler threw the sunscreen and our bottled waters into the backpack, along with his keys.
We stopped at the hydration station outside the bathrooms before we headed out on the trail.
“So, hiking, huh?” I asked. “You seem like such a city guy. I’m a little surprised.”
“Oh, I’m full of surprises, Grayce. You’ll see.” He chuckled.
“So, do you always come up here?” I asked.
“Not always, but sometimes. I also go to a park in Queens that has a couple of good two- and three-mile-long trails. This is so much prettier, though.” He took a deep breath. “I mean, our place is pretty peaceful for New York, but this? This is next level.”
“How often do you hike?”
“Well, it depends. When I was a kid, I used to hike with my dad a lot. Now, when I’m feeling stressed or want to get out of my head, I come to the woods.” He stepped off of the trail, striding up to a huge pine tree of some sort.
“Come here, Grayce,” he said, and I stepped over to where he was standing. “Put your hand here.”
He placed my palm against the bark.
“Do you feel that?” He put his palm next to mine and looked down at me.
“I feel…bark,” I replied.
“Yes, bark. But it’s hard, compared to your hand, it feels almost impenetrable. It’s solid. But, in the right hands, this can become almost anything. The wood from this tree could become a porch swing, or a cradle, or become part of someone’s home. Over hundreds of years, people learned to harvest the resources around them, and use them to create something completely new, but just as beautiful.”
He grinned and shrugged. “That’s why I come out here. To remember that.”
He stepped back to the trail, and we continued on.
“So, were you a philosophy major in college?” I chuckled.
“Kinesiology, actually, with a minor in psychology.”
“Really? Wow. The kinesiology makes sense, being a trainer and all, but psychology, huh? What made you choose that?”
“Well.” He shook his head. “Huh.”
“Are you okay?” I asked.
“Yeah, it’s just. I don’t talk about this with people. I mean, my buddies I grew up with, Shane, Jeremy, those guys know. But I want to tell you about it, which is…I don’t know. Different.”
“You don’t have to tell me anything that you don’t want to. I didn’t mean to pry.” I was suddenly concerned I had somehow overstepped.
“No, that’s just it. I want to.” He walked over to a large rock in a small clearing and sat down, patting the surface beside him for me to sit as well. He retrieved our water bottles from the bag and handed over mine.
“I had always wanted to be involved with sports. I loved sports growing up, played football and baseball. I wasn’t a superstar, just loved to play. My dad was a teacher. He taught woodshop at Townsend Harris.” He took a sip from his water.
“So, you grew up in Queens?” I asked.
“Sure did. So, anyway, Dad was a teacher, and Mom was an accountant. He always told me how much he loved teaching. He was a smart guy. He could’ve done anything he wanted, but he loved helping people learn and grow. So, I started looking into training as a way to incorporate sports and fitness with teaching. I know people think it’s a BS gig, but I really do enjoy it.” He gave me a half-shrug. “Anyway, my senior year of high school, I was out one night with some friends. I was out after curfew, like a lot of nights. When I got home, the front door was unlocked. I knew something was wrong.”
My heart sank at the look of pain on Tyler’s face as he told the story, looking off into the distance, as if he could see it unfolding.
“I went in through the front door, and the place was ransacked. Shit knocked all over. I ran upstairs, and into their room. In their room…” He put his face in his hands.
I put my arm around him, rubbing his back with my palms. “Tyler, it’s all right. You don’t have to tell me. It’s okay.”
“No, I – I’m not sure why, but I feel like I need to tell you.” He blew a breath out between his palms and started again.
“They were both in their bedroom. I saw Dad first, and I knew right away he was gone. It—it was so bad. I ran around the bed, hoping that somehow Mom was okay. She was on the floor on her side of the bed, and she was gone too.” His eyes were rimmed with red, spilling forth with pain.
“Oh, Tyler. No.” I began to cry as I looked into his eyes.
He took a deep breath and blew it out. “So, yeah. Seventeen. Both my parents gone, and I hadn’t been there to help them. If only I hadn’t stayed out past curfew, I might’ve been home. I might’ve been able to stop it. But I wasn’t.”
I stood in front of him and pulled him to me, putting my cheek on top of his head. He wrapped his arms around me for a moment, tightly.
I felt like a complete jerk for asking him about things that brought all that up. “Thank you for telling me your story, Tyler. It means a lot that you’d share it with me.”
He lifted his head and looked up at me. “Thanks for letting me share it with you.” He sat upright and sniffed. “Come on, let’s walk some more. I need to get some of this energy out.”
“All right.” I handed him my water bottle and he packed it back up with his own.
We walked in silence for a few minutes.
“I forgot to tell you the rest of the story,” he said.
“It’s okay.”
“Nah, that was the whole point.” He gave me a weak smile. “I moved in with my uncles Billy and Jimmy for the rest of my senior year. I worked construction with them that summer after high school – really every summer during high school. The guy who murdered my parents was caught. He’s doing life upstate, but that’s only because my uncles and I didn’t get to him before the cops did.” He picked up the pace a little as the trail flattened out.
I could understand that pain and rage. If it had been my parents, I’d probably feel the same.
Tyler continued, “The guy was high on bath salts or some shit when he broke in. Thought it was someone else’s house – someone he knew. So yeah, the study of psychology was some vain attempt for my young mind to process and understand how someone can be fucked up enough to take someone’s life – to rip someone’s world apart.”
“I’m sorry you went through all that.”
“Yeah.” He smiled at me again. “I’m glad we talked about it, but can we talk about something else?”
“Sure.” I tried to think of a new topic as we veered off the main trail and over to another one. “You mentioned that you were thinking of going back to school. What are you thinking of doing?”
“Well, I talked to my buddy Shane about it. He’s a teacher, like my dad. His new wife is one, too. Anyway, he thinks I should maybe look into being a counselor. He always sort of thought I was taking the easy path with training anyway – he never thought I was living up to my potential.” He laughed. “Nothing like your friends to tell you you’re a lazy piece of shit, huh?”
“Yeah, no kidding. Always there to give you a reality check – or their version of it – whether you want one or not. Ella’s been all over me for six months about getting out there – starting to date. That’s what last night was all about.” I stopped, remembering what that had led to.
“Does Ella have a boyfriend?” he asked.
> “No, a son-of-a-bitch ex-husband who threw her down the stairs while she was six months pregnant with Noah, her son,” I replied, venom infusing the words.
“Fuck. That’s awful. I’m glad she got out. Any man who hurts a woman doesn’t deserve to breathe in my book.” He shook his head. Suddenly, he chuckled. “So, what’s Ella going to think when you tell her about us?”
Us? What us? I wondered what he meant. I knew last night shouldn’t have happened. I couldn’t help myself. I just wanted him so damn bad. Still, I wasn’t under any delusion we were more than just roommates who accidentally fucked.
“Oh, huh, I don’t know,” I said cautiously. “She’ll ask a lot of details, I guess.”
He must’ve sensed my trepidation. “Grayce, you’re…you’re not like any of the other women I go out with, you know.”
“Well, I’m probably a bit long in the tooth, for a start,” I said with a nervous laugh.
“Hey.” He stopped and turned to me. “That’s not what I meant. I meant that you’re kind of the whole package. Smart, independent – maybe a little too independent at that, and fucking gorgeous. Most girls I go out with…well, they’re just that. Girls.”
We started walking again, and I was grateful so I didn’t have to meet his eyes.
He said, “Of course, I guess most of your lawyer friends don’t exactly date trainers, bouncers, or part-time models either, huh? We do live in pretty different worlds.” He shook his head and looked annoyed.
“Tyler, last night…it was…” I paused, trying to gauge where he stood on our insanely gratifying but poorly considered hookup.
“I was amazing, I know. No need to thank me, Grayce.” He threw his head back laughing, and I rolled my eyes and smirked at him.
“I won’t dignify that with my agreement,” I said.
“So, you do agree I was amazing.” He gave me that look of his when he knew he was right, with one eyebrow arched.
“Look, I shouldn’t have…I mean, we shouldn’t have—”
He stopped mid-trail, then turned to face me. “I know what you’re going to say. It shouldn’t have happened. It was a mistake. Blah, blah, blah. Look, Grayce, I get it. I don’t fit into your neat little buttoned-up world. I work three jobs, one of which involves getting my picture taken half-naked for money. I’ve dated a lot of women. A lot of women. And to top it off, when you met me, I was technically, though temporarily, homeless. You see yourself with some preppy suit, not someone like me. It’s cool, I guess. I get it.”
He turned and kept walking while I felt like the worst person ever. He had given me the best night of my life and opened himself up to me, and I turned him into a one-night stand. I was a total piece of shit.
“That’s not what I’m saying,” I said. “It’s just, I don’t want things to be complicated between us, and you’ve said yourself you’re not a girlfriend kind of guy.”
“No, Grayce, you said that. I told you I had dated lots of women. I never said I wouldn’t date the right one exclusively.” He stopped again and turned to me. “Look, there’s just a few things I want to make clear, okay?”
I nodded.
He continued, “First, you may see what happened last night as a mistake, but I don’t see it that way. It was a great night. I might not ever forget how great it was, and you shouldn’t beat yourself up about letting go and having a good time once in a while.”
I shrugged a nod of agreement.
“And the other thing is that if you want to find some country club guy, if you think that’s what you need to make you happy, that’s fine. But Grayce, so help me, I do not ever want to see you letting some guy treat you like shit again. You’re better than that, and you deserve better than that. Promise me you hear me.” He had his hands on his hips like a frustrated parent.
“You’re right, Tyler, you are. I promise – I hear you.” I felt embarrassed in a different way than I had before.
“So,” he continued, “if you just want to be friends, that’s cool, we can be friends. But I don’t think I deserve to be completely discounted just because I don’t have a Madison Avenue office and bunch of sycophantic assistants following me around all day just waiting to wipe my ass.”
He gave me a serious look, then started to laugh. It put me at ease, and I laughed too.
“Dude, you are going to be hell on your daughters if you ever have any,” I said, and he laughed harder.
“Okay.” I stuck my hand out for him to shake. “Friends, then?”
He shook my hand and we finished our hike.
Chapter 16
Tyler
I had to admit, on the drive home from the Catskills, I felt like kind of a wimp.
First, I had told Grayce about my parents. I had never told anyone I’d met that story – not the detailed version of it anyway, and I’d damn sure never told it to a woman I was fucking. What was it with this woman that made me so fucking weak?
Then, to top it all off, I told her I was okay with being friends. What sort of lame-ass, rom-com bullshit was that? I didn’t want to be friends with her. I wanted to fuck her, and only her. And I sure as hell didn’t want her fucking anyone else. Shit!
At least by the time we finished our hike, the mood was decidedly lighter. I took her to the Pine Needle Café near the park entrance for a bite to eat. It was an old place, a little run down, but the food was great and the people even better.
By the time we got back to the city, Grayce was opening up a little, talking and laughing with me. Her laugh was melodic and throaty. It went straight to my heart.
As we walked down the hall to our apartment, my phone buzzed. It was Steven.
“Hey, man. It’s my night off, remember?” I said as I answered.
“Sorry, Tyler, that’s not what I’m calling about.” His tone was serious. He was never serious.
“Shit dude, what’s wrong?” I asked.
“I’m afraid I have some bad news. That guy you clocked last night? Will Sanderson? He’s jacked up pretty bad. He had a pretty bad concussion, and his jaw is broken.” Steve’s tone was still somber.
“Good. He was a fucking predator, Steve. You don’t put up with that shit in your place.”
“Tyler, he’s a cop. He’s apparently ass-hurt that you took him out so easily, and he’s pressing charges. You probably ought to go down the police station and get it sorted out. Better to go to them than have them have to come to you,” Steve said. “Dude, I’m so sorry. Let me know if I can help you out. Kelly’s pulling the video now to see if there is anything that will help you. I’ll keep you posted.”
“Fuck! Fuck!” I hit my fist against the wall.
“Shit, what happened?” Grayce asked.
“I need to head out again. I’ve gotta take care of something.” I’d take a quick shower and get changed so I didn’t look like a complete thug when I went to the police station.
“Tyler?” she asked, then she put her hand on my arm. “Tyler, talk to me. What happened?”
I blinked and drew a deep sigh. “That asshole from the last night, he’s pressing charges against me for assault.”
Grayce got very quiet for a moment. Then she slowly started to shake her head. “Okay, that asshole wants to press charges? Two can play at that game. Besides, you’re showing up with your lawyer.”
“I don’t have a lawyer,” I replied.
“Of course, you do. My specialty isn’t criminal law, but I have some friends I can call for advice. You were trying to help me, and now you’re on the hook for it. I will not stand for that.”
I couldn’t help but let a little smile break across my lips. First, and most importantly, she wanted to help me. She was looking out for me. Second, she was so damn adorable when she was pissed.
We got showered and changed, then headed down to the police station. Once we arrived, Grayce told me as we walked in to let her do the talking as my legal counsel.
“You do realize how difficult that will be for me, right?” I told her.
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“I do, which is why I’m reminding you now. You’re a professional at what you do. I’m a professional at what I do. Let me do my thing, and we’ll get through this.”
We walked in and she went straight to the officer at the front desk. “Hello, my name is Grayce Gladden. My client, Tyler Bennett, is here with me today. We understand a warrant has been issued in his name.”
“Bennett…Bennett. Yeah, here we go. Hey, Cooper, can you do an intake on Tyler Bennett?” The officer handed the man a folder and he ushered us through the door and into the squad room.
“You are Tyler Bennett,” the officer said, rattling off his birth date and driver’s license number. “That’s you, correct?”
“Yes, that’s me,” I replied. I looked at Grayce, and she shook her head side to side once and made a wiping motion across her lips with her finger, reminding me to keep my mouth shut.
“Tyler Bennett, you are under arrest for the assault of Officer Will Sanderson on the night of…”
My brain stopped working as he continued reading me what cop shows had taught me were my Miranda rights.
“Wait a minute,” Grayce interjected. “Officer Will Sanderson?”
“Yes ma’am. The man your client here assaulted was one of New York’s finest.”
Holy shit, I thought, this is bad.
The officer sat me down at his desk and Grayce sat beside me and gave him all of her information. She knew her stuff—she was a force to be reckoned with.
“Ms. Gladden, your client’s version of events,” the officer started, and she cut him off.
“My version of events, Officer…Cooper, is it? I was a witness. In fact, I am the victim that Will Sanderson was in the process of sexually assaulting when my client intervened. I’ll be filing assault charges of my own as soon as my client goes back for processing.”
The rest of the afternoon was a blur. The cop took my fingerprints and mug shot and put me in a holding cell to await arraignment. Grayce had told me all of this would happen, so it wasn’t as scary as it might have been.