Only Tyler

by Jess Dee

  Steve shook his head. “I don’t know. She outright refused to tell me, even asked me not to push her on the issue. But she was pretty beat up about the whole thing. Spent months putting her life back together afterwards.”

  Tyler went cold. He could sort out Steve’s confusion in a sentence.

  He could tell him the truth, but he didn’t. Steve couldn’t know about his and Katie’s affair. Not yet.

  “She even took up running.”

  “Katie?” His woman despised exercise.

  “I think it was her way of working through her anger. She really dug the guy, Ty. His disappearing act pissed her off, big-time. I’ve never seen her so furious.”

  Jesus. He knew he’d hurt Katie. He had to know he’d experienced the same devastation at losing her. Yet hearing Steve voice it out loud was a knife in his chest. It cut straight through him, bringing back the raw loss he’d lived with as he attempted to rebuild his life in London.

  Steve frowned. “You know what the amazing thing is? No matter how much he hurt her, and no matter how mad she got, she never said one bad thing about him. Ever. If I try to badmouth the dickhead, she cuts me off cold. Refuses to hear it.”

  “Sounds odd,” Tyler said in a gruff voice.

  “Yeah. No matter what he did to her, she has this strong sense of loyalty to him. Doesn’t make sense.”

  Yes, it did. Katie would never let Steve slate his best friend, even if he did so unwittingly. She wouldn’t criticize him either. No matter how much he might have hurt her, the friendships between all three of them would always be more important than anything else.

  Only they weren’t for him, right? If they were, he wouldn’t be here now, preparing to challenge his best friend for his fiancé. Preparing to possibly decimate their circle of three. What the hell kind of friend was he anyway?

  One that knew Steve was with the wrong woman, that’s what kind.

  “That’s when it all began for Kate and me. She was busted up over this guy. I was all fucked up because of” he paused, looked at Tyler and grimaced.

  “Because of Penelope.” He shrugged. “We turned to each other. We got each other through it.”

  Tyler had left, and Steve and Katie had turned to each other.

  Perfect. Just fucking perfect. He’d set the whole thing up. Practically pushed them together. And why? All because he’d believed he had to go. “Steve?”

  “Yeah?” Steve turned to look at him.

  It was all he could do to maintain eye contact. He felt like the lowest form of slime. “What if Katie’s dickhead came back?” He let the Penelope comment slide. For now.

  His friend didn’t hesitate. He stared Tyler straight in the eye and said, “I’d beat the crap out of him.”

  Tyler took in the lean, hard muscle of Steve’s biceps with muted apprehension. Perhaps he deserved the thrashing.

  “No one gets to hurt Kate like that, and get away with it.” Steve’s face reflected the conviction of his words. “No one!”

  No one had gotten away with it. Tyler had spent two years in hell trying to get over her. Having the crap beaten out of him would hurt significantly less than beating himself up about it every day of his life.

  “Did I tell you we’re going to have kids soon?” Steve asked.

  The question slammed him in the solar plexus.

  “I’m not getting any younger, mate,” Steve said. “Kate and I are both thirty-two, and I’d like to have a family someday. I don’t want my kids to have an old man for a dad. Know what I mean?”

  Tyler winced. The words hit him like physical blows.

  “Kate would make a great mom. Don’t you think?”

  How could Tyler discuss Katie and Steve’s children? How?

  “I want two kids. She wants four. Two boys. Two girls. We compromised on three. Either sex, I don’t care, so long as they’re healthy.”

  Healthy kids. Their healthy kids. Tyler swallowed hard on the squall that raged in his chest.

  “How’d ya feel about being a godfather?”

  He made himself answer. “Not as good as you’d feel about being a father, obviously.” Oh Jesus, he hadn’t meant to sound so bitter. It wasn’t Steve’s fault they were in this situation.

  “Yeah, mate.” Steve shot him a boyish grin, missing the acridity of his response. “I can’t wait.”

  Enough. He couldn’t discuss this anymore. Tyler took a deep breath and dug into the recesses of his semi-tortured mind. He pulled out his one seed of hope for all of them. “Steve?”

  “Yeah?”

  “What about Pen?”

  His friend’s smile faltered and disappeared. For a full minute he didn’t respond. The question hung in the air between them. Silence punctuated its brutality.

  Finally, Steve shrugged and said, “Pen who?”

  Crap! What kind of a response was that? It gave him no answers or direction.

  No idea how Steve now felt about the woman he’d once loved so completely.

  Tyler wanted to press him harder, force a proper answer out of him. He didn’t.

  Instead, he shook his head and put the seed back in its warm, dark hiding place. “Can I ask you a favor?”

  “Anything.”

  “You free tomorrow?”

  “Sure am. We’re closing the practice for the weekend.”

  “Good. I could use your help.”

  “With what?”

  “Something I need.”

  “I’ll do my best,” Steve assured him. “Whatever it is, you can rely on me to help you get it.”

  THREE

  “Feeling a little distracted?”

  “Huh?” Katie put down the folder she held and focused on her receptionist, the woman who single-handedly managed her and Steve’s medical practice.

  “You just called me Tyler again.”

  “I did not,” Katie said, aghast.

  “It’s okay. It’s only the third time this afternoon.” The woman gave her a gentle smile.

  “Tina. I am so sorry.” She hadn’t been thinking straight the whole day. When Tyler had walked through customs, her world had moved out of kilter. Even now, she was going through her files making sure she hadn’t made any dumb mistakes. She’d had a devil of a time concentrating, and she owed it to her patients to make doubly sure she’d done right by them. She hadn’t worked her whole life to build this practice just to destroy it in one afternoon.

  “Is there anyone else waiting to see me?” She hoped not. She was anxious to get home and be with Tyler again. To laugh and chat with her old friend.

  After all, long before they were lovers, they’d been friends. They’d shared good times. They’d had picnics in parks and conversations over dinner. They’d watched videos on cold winter nights and taken midnight swims on hot summer ones. If she’d needed a shoulder, Ty always offered her one. “No date for a function?” Tyler stepped in.

  The first flicker of attraction might have flared the night they’d met, but so had a bond of friendship as strong as any she’d ever known.

  The only person she’d been as close to as Tyler was Steve. Steve and Ty. Her best mates. Of course she couldn’t wait to get home and spend some quality time with them.

  Damn. Who was she kidding? She was frigging petrified of going home.

  Petrified of spending time with the man who’d broken her heart so wholly.

  Tina shook her head. “Mrs. Burny was your last patient. You asked me not to book anyone after four p.m.” She checked her watch. It’s already five.

  “Steve’s patients and the few walkins put you off schedule.”

  “Let’s call it a day,” Kate suggested. “Go on home. I’ll lock up.”

  Tina nodded. “Okay. Oh, your mum phoned while you were with Mrs.

  Burny.”

  “Thanks, Tina. I’ll ring back now.”

  While Katie dialed, Tina collected her things and left.

  The minute she answered the phone, Brenda Rosewood launched into a detailed description
of the navy designer suit she’d spotted earlier that day. “Katie, honey, it’s perfect for the wedding. It’s probably a little too expensive but I think you’ll love it. Not one to brag, I have to say, it looks beautiful on me.”

  Katie smiled and let her talk. There was a time when her mum wouldn’t have been able to afford it. A time when money had been scarce, and any extra she had she’d spent on Katie not on designer dresses. After her father died twenty years ago, the Rosewoods had struggled financially. Her mother had no marketable skills, and the only work she could find had barely covered basic costs.

  That was the reason Katie had always been so determined to make a success out of her life. She’d worked her butt off to get through medical school. Opening the practice with Steve had been a dream come true. She finally had a financially viable job that she loved with a partner she adored.

  It was all good. She had enough money to support her mother and herself and she could afford a beautiful new home. After the miserable apartments and council housing she’d grown up in, her semi seemed like a veritable palace.

  Her mother’s unit was pretty cool too.

  “Now, has Joyce picked out her outfit yet?” her mum asked about Steve’s mother. “I know you’re not worried about us being color coordinated, but still, I’d like to discuss it with her.”

  “She mentioned something about seeing a dressmaker next month,”

  Katie said.

  “Hmm, wise choice. She can have something tailor-made. Okay, I’ll give her a call. Now what about you?”

  “Mum, I’ve told you. I’m not ready to find a dress yet. The wedding’s months away.”

  “Nonsense, hon. Time will fly and before you know it you’ll be walking down the aisle. What do you say you and I go look at some bridal boutiques this weekend?”

  Katie grinned. She was going to have to give in sooner or later. Her mother was determined. “I can’t this weekend.”

  “You have plans.”

  “Yep. Guess who came home today?” It had all happened so fast, Katie hadn’t told her mother yet. Tyler had given them no warning. He’d simply called from Heathrow to say he was boarding the next flight.

  “Who?”

  “Tyler.”

  Her announcement was greeted with silence.

  “Mum?”

  “I’m here.”

  “Well, say something.”

  “Sorry, hon. I’m just shocked, that’s all.”

  “You’re shocked?”

  “Katie, he broke your heart.”

  “Two years ago. I’m over that now. I’m marrying someone else.” Was she really over Tyler? Or did she think that by repeatedly telling herself she was, she’d believe it? Would it be possible that in time Tyler would become her best friend again and not just the man who made her knees weak and her heart beat unsteadily?

  Her mother sighed. “Is he staying with Steve?”

  “Uh, no, me actually. There’s no room at Steve’s place.” Sweet Lord, why had she ever agreed to that? Tyler had invaded her perfect home.

  How could she possibly expect to get a decent night’s sleep, knowing a wall was all that separated her from the man who had once been her nightly wet dream?

  She should have insisted he stay with Steve. It didn’t matter that he’d converted his second bedroom into an office. Ty would have been perfectly comfortable on the lumpy old mattress on the floor of the lounge room even if there were no blinds on the windows.

  Nonsense. It would be like old times. Late-night coffees around her kitchen table. A last laugh and then sleepy goodnights before calling it a day.

  “Have you told Steve about you and Tyler yet?”

  “Uh…” Again she stumbled. “No.”

  “Katie-”

  “I promised Tyler, Mum.”

  “I don’t like this, sweetheart. You’re going to get hurt again.”

  “I’ll be fine,” she reassured her mother, but she didn’t really believe it herself.

  “Well, how was it seeing him again?”

  “It was nice.” Nice? Christ, it was pure agony. It had taken Tyler all of an hour to tear her life in two. To rip asunder everything she held so tightly together. He’d made it perfectly clear he hadn’t forgotten a single second of their time together, and he’d reminded her of the highly intimate moments they’d spent in Noosa.

  “So, why did he come home?”

  “For work. And to find a wife.”

  “Are you sure about that?” Her mother sounded dubious.

  “What else would he have come back for?”

  Brenda didn’t answer.

  “Me?” She sighed. “You think he came back for me?” Then why hadn’t he come back months, even years, ago? Hell, he would never have gone in the first place. If Tyler wanted to be with her, he would have stayed in Sydney all along, but he hadn’t. He’d made his choice back then. He’d chosen London.

  “Katie, you loved each other once. It’s quite possible he still loves you.”

  “I’m not even going there, Mum. Tyler’s back for business, and I’m getting married. It doesn’t matter what we were. We aren’t anymore.”

  It still stung to acknowledge, but no they weren’t anymore. The only thing in store for her and Tyler was the renewal of their old friendship. Period.

  Her mother tut-tutted on the other side of the line. “Look, whatever happens, you just be careful. I don’t want you getting hurt again” she paused. “I don’t want Steve getting hurt either. You’ve both endured enough heartbreak.”

  “I’ll be fine, I promise. We both will.” Of course they would. They had each other now. It didn’t matter that Tyler was back.

  Her mother harrumphed.

  “How about two weeks from Saturday we shop for a dress?” Katie asked, placating her mother and changing the subject at the same time.

  Brenda perked up immediately. “White or cream? Have you decided yet?”

  They spoke a couple more minutes before saying goodbye. After she hung up, Katie sat in silent contemplation. Her past and her present had chosen today to collide, and she needed a few minutes to try to make sense of it all.

  Her whole life she’d dreamed of three things: A solid career, a happy family and a secure home a place to call her own. Steve and Tyler were the answer to all her prayers. In Steve she found a friend and colleague. A partner with whom she could build a successful medical practice. In Tyler she found a friend and a lover. A partner with whom she hoped she could build her family home.

  She loved them equally, but very differently. She adored Steve and their easy, happy relationship, but she burned for Tyler. Always had.

  Their short-lived romance had been the culmination of five years of longing, and of waiting, for both of them. After being his friend for so long and getting to know him so intimately, she’d had no doubt he was the one for her.

  He’d given her four weeks to lay the foundation for her dream family before he’d ripped it all out from under her.

  Thank God Steve had been there to pick up the pieces and put them slowly back together. He offered her the security of their practice and the safety of their friendship, and when her heart had finally begun to mend, he’d offered her the rest of her dreams. He’d proposed.

  It didn’t matter that Tyler was back home, or that he still made her heart beat out of time. It didn’t matter that he still fired her imagination and her libido. When it had mattered, he’d left.

  Now Steve was making all of her dreams come true.

  Katie straightened the mess in her office, switched off the lights and locked up. There was no use procrastinating. She couldn’t avoid Tyler any longer even though every instinct told her she should.

  Stopping first to pick up some dinner, she went home.

  The house was silent. Steve’s car was gone. Katie packed the food away with a sigh, both disappointed and relieved to find herself alone.

  She kicked off her shoes and padded barefoot through her house.

  Wh
en she walked into the living room, she froze.

  Her heart plunged into her belly.

  Passed out on the same couch that he’d helped her buy three years ago was the cause of all her grief. He lay on his back with his jean-clad legs stretched out before him. One muscled arm rested across his stomach, the other was sprawled behind his head. A white T-shirt, stretched taut across his chest, accentuated his tanned biceps and wide shoulders. Wide? Hell, they were so broad, they virtually eclipsed the couch beneath them.

  God help her, but he looked for all the world as though he belonged there. As though being asleep in her living room was the most natural thing on earth.

  In repose, his face had relaxed and the stiff lines of his shoulders had eased. Not for the first time, she wondered what he thought about her and Steve. How did he feel, returning home, to face his best friend and his ex-lover’s forthcoming marriage?

  The soft leather of the cushions sagged slightly beneath his weight, cradling his butt, and Katie found herself envious of an inanimate object. Against her better judgment, she wished it was her unclothed body he pressed against. Her pelvis molded to his behind.

  “You need a couch you can sink into. A couch that demands you close your eyes and put your head back. This, my sweet Katie, is the perfect couch.”

  She laughed out loud at his audacity. In the middle of the furniture store, in broad daylight, he’d stretched himself out, laid his head on the armrest, and looked at her from beneath half-lowered eyelids.

  “This is the kind of couch you have to share. He raised a hand to her.”

  “C’mon over here.”

  “She swatted at his hand. You’re nuts if you think I’m going to lie next to you, on that couch, in front of all these people.”

  “You won’t know how comfy it is unless you try it.” Before she had time to move her hand away, he grabbed it.

  “Ty,” she yelped as he gave a little tug, propelling her forward. She giggled and landed on his chest with a thud. “Have you lost your mind?”

  “Go on. Admit it feels great.”