"Okay. I'll be inside.”
"See you soon.” I flipped my phone closed.
"What the hell?” Monica’s tone was squeaky. I knew she was pissed.
"You get to meet Tyler! Then you can see what all the fuss is about."
“This is a bad idea. I don't like this sneaking around. She’s our best friend.”
"But it's for a good cause." I whined on purpose, hoping she'd give in just to shut me up.
"It's not like I can really stop it now.” Monica sighed, shaking her head. “Where are we going?"
"Yay!" I clapped my hands. "The donut shop on Eighth Street."
"So, what have you told him so far?"
"I basically just told him he needs to not scare her off by telling her how he feels. That's where these other guys go wrong.”
"Yeah. What else?” she said.
"He was really curious about Troy. And he asked about all the other guys at the Cellar that day."
"So he's the jealous type?”
"Yeah, it seems that way."
"Isn't that why we didn't like Troy? Or Steve?" Monica turned to me. Damn, I wish she’d look at the road.
"Yes, but he's not like that. He isn't going to hunt Troy down or anything. He was just scoping out the competition, I think. Oh - and the other night he called me from her house before they went out to eat. She had no idea. He sounded like he wanted to declare his undying love for her or something. I told him not to do that."
Monica chuckled. "Wow. Undying love already. How the hell does she do it?"
"I don't know. Should I gain weight or something? Breast implants maybe?" I asked. "She gives me a complex. I hate being her friend sometimes.”
"It's not that. I think she’s just really confident and she makes guys chase her without realizing it."
"Yes. That's exactly what I told Tyler. But still, it makes me question everything about myself."
"I know, believe me." She sighed. "So from the description he doesn't even seem like her type."
"There are always exceptions. Just wait til you see him.”
"You'll have to do the talking. I don't feel comfortable with this." She shook her head.
"That's fine." I was perfectly content to take full credit for making our friend happy.
A few minutes later we walked down Eighth Street to the door of the donut shop. It was so cold, we ran to keep from freezing. I was surprised we had to park so far away on a Saturday morning.
"So, let me see if I can pick him out.” Monica was about to open the door when she stopped to stare through the thick glass. "Whoa. Is it the tall guy at the counter with the broad shoulders and the long hair?"
I didn’t know her eyes could get so big.
"Uh huh.”
"Damn." Monica pulled the door open.
Tyler was over six feet tall. About six four, if I had to guess. His thick, dark brown hair was more than halfway down his back. The top of it was pulled back into a loose ponytail. His height and his hair definitely made him stand out.
He turned to walk away from the counter with his drink as we came through the door. His black leather jacket opened in the front to show the tight gray t-shirt he wore underneath. He wasn't ripped but he was solid and strong. I thought back to Susie telling us how powerful he was during sex.
If I could trade places with her for just five minutes today...
"Hey!" I said.
A warm smile spread across his face. It hit me right then that he probably would have seemed intimidating if he didn’t look so happy. He smiled a lot, at least when he was around Susie.
"Hey Joan. Thanks for coming here." He reached forward to shake Monica's hand. "I'm Tyler. You must be Monica?"
"Yes. Very nice to meet you.” Monica shook his hand then walked to the counter to order while I sat down at a table with Tyler.
"So, how was last night?" He stuck a straw in his plastic cup to drink his frozen coffee. I found it an odd choice on such a cold day.
"Great. Lots of fun. Very interesting," I said.
Tyler smelled really good, like he had skillfully used the perfect combination of shampoo and body wash that morning to get the essence of 'I smell sexy and I'm not even trying'.
"Do you have anything good to tell me?" he asked.
"Yes. I have to be careful though. Monica's pissed at me for talking to you about this.”
"Shit." He winced, then scratched the back of his neck. "I guess I understand though. She won't tell her, will she?"
"No. She can't now. She's an accessory," I said.
He nodded. I noticed Monica walking toward us out of the corner of my eye. She sat down beside me.
"So, you and Susie, huh?" Monica asked. I was surprised at her cheerful tone of voice. I had just told Tyler she was pissed, and suddenly she was enthusiastic. Maybe she changed her mind once she got a look at him...
"Well, I hope so,” he said. “You have anything new for me?”
Monica and I glanced at each other. I didn’t know where to start. I had to figure out a way to hit the high points without completely betraying Susie’s trust.
To my surprise, Monica opened her mouth first. "You mean, did she talk about you last night?"
"Yes,” he said.
"You could say that," I said.
"She would get so mad at us for telling you any of this. We’d better be able to trust you," Monica said.
"Yes. You know she'd get mad at me too, right?" he asked.
"That's true but we have more to lose. Guys come and go. Girlfriends stay around. She'll never trust us again," Monica said.
"No matter what happens, I'll never tell her," he said. "Besides, I plan to stay around, too."
He tone was so serious and determined. I wish there was someone that determined about me...
"From the sound of things last night, I think you have a good chance," Monica said. Where did Little Miss 'I Don't Feel Comfortable About This' go? I couldn't wait to rub it in later.
"Why? What'd she say?” He leaned forward in his chair, his elbows on the table.
"Well," Monica said, "It took us a while to get anything out of her. But when she finally started talking about you, she…." Monica paused. "I don't know how to describe it."
Just then, a guy came out from behind the counter and sat our drinks on the table. I was happy to see my nice hot cup of coffee. I had been shivering ever since walked inside. For a second, I imagined what it might be like if Tyler kept me warm. Mmmm.. crawling onto his lap, his strong, muscular arms wrapping around me...
His gorgeous brown eyes made me kick myself for not paying any attention to him when I was with Caleb. I spent more nights in that house over the summer than I could count. I thought I was falling in love with that jerk. And the whole time, on the other side of that jerk's wall, was this tall, dreamy guy with eyes that could make my panties fall off. That is, if my best friend hadn't already gotten to him.
"She likes you,” Monica said. “She won't admit it, but it's obvious. We all begged her to give you a chance."
"Really? Have you ever begged her to give anyone a chance before?" Tyler asked.
"No." We both answered at the same time.
"I've never heard her talk about anybody the way she did you last night," I said. "Do you realize what a big deal it is she let you drive her car? Or that she took you out in public?" Susie told me one of the biggest mistakes she made with Troy was letting him take her places like they were a couple. I had to agree. No wonder he was upset to find out she wasn't his girlfriend.
"But she took me to some damned truck stop away from town,” he said. “It's not like she was showing me off.”
"It's not that.” Monica shook her head. “Those cars are people to her.”
"You know,” I said, “She could've just ordered pizza if you guys were that hungry. I wonder if she just wanted you to meet Sherry.” I stopped to take a long slurp of my coffee.
"She said something that totally blew me away," Monica said. "She said s
he likes it when you take control. I've never heard her say anything like that before. She's a total control freak about every single thing in her life."
"Hmmm… I like that. I'm glad you told me that.” He slowly nodded.
"Don't get carried away though. Too much might scare her off," I said.
Tyler picked up his coffee and looked thoughtfully out the window as he sipped through his straw. I wondered if he was even going to talk again. He seemed to be lost in thought.
Finally, he took a deep breath. “I can't figure her out. Every time I try to ask her anything she changes the subject. I don't see that as a good sign. She won't let me get to know her.”
Monica smiled. “She does that with everyone. She's the most private person I've ever met in my life.”
“You mean it's not just me?” His eyes perked up.
“Oh no, definitely not.” Monica's head shook. “That's just how she is. We learned to stop asking a long time ago.”
Tyler groaned. “Well, I have to figure out why she doesn't want a boyfriend. She told me no guy would want her if they knew certain things about her.” He stopped to take a drink. “Do you guys know anything about her money? Does that have something to do with it? She has all this nice stuff and she told me she doesn't have any student loans, but she just kind of glosses over everything with no explanation.”
Monica started laughing out loud, really hard.
“Yeah,” I said. “We know exactly what you're talking about.”
Tyler's eyes widened as he looked at Monica. “Why's that so funny?”
She took a deep breath in through her nose. “Sorry.” I could tell she found it hard not to keep laughing. “I was just thinking about her buying that Mercedes. She and I were going to Crescent City for the weekend and she called to tell me she needed to stop at some guy's house on the way. She just said a friend was doing her a favor. It was so vague.”
She started to laugh again but looked at Tyler and calmed down immediately.
“Sorry.” She took a deep breath and wiped her eyes with her hand. “So, I stayed in the car and watched her go inside a garage at this guy's house. I could see her in there talking and looking at a car. All of a sudden, she comes running back out and told me to shield her while she got something out of the trunk. I still had no idea what was going on. So, I happened to glance over my shoulder and she's digging around in one of her overnight bags, counting hundred dollar bills to take back to the guy in the garage. A few minutes later we finally got back on the road and she was like 'I just bought a Mercedes. I'll pick it up next week' - like it happens every day.”
Monica looked at Tyler. “I guess you had to be there. It was just so her. She had this random errand to run and didn't tell me why, and next thing I know she's counting out thousands of dollars in my trunk to buy a used Mercedes from some guy. It was the most random thing.”
“I think I know what you mean,” he said. “Everything's on a 'need-to-know' basis.”
“Yes!” Monica nodded. “For no apparent reason.”
Tyler shook his head, his eyes squinted. “Like, she had me pretend to be her boyfriend because there were some guys at the truck stop she didn't wanna see and she didn't really elaborate about it. But later, Sherry told me they had to call the cops, like it was really kind of a big deal.”
Monica laughed again. I found it hard to laugh. I was with her that night at the truck stop and found it surprising she'd ever go back.
“She did that a few times,” Tyler said. “Once when I asked where she was going over midterm break. And she said something about having a brother and sister, but then was just like 'we haven't spoken in years and we're not close' and she just went on and asked me a question about my family to change the subject.”
“That's just how she is,” I said. “We don't know why.”
“Why would she tell me she can't have a boyfriend?” he asked. “Do you think it's just an excuse?”
“Honestly, I don't know,” I said.
“Me neither,” Monica said.
Tyler inhaled deeply. “Well, she's obviously hiding something. All this money, the weird thing with her siblings.” He shook his head. “I couldn't care less how much money she has. I just wish I knew what she was hiding.”
“Well,” I said, “Is she right? She told you no guy would want her if they knew certain things, right? Is there anything she could tell you that would scare you off?”
"Nothing I can think of, and I've tried to think of everything." He closed his eyes. "I just want her so bad."
"What is it about her?" Monica asked. "Why does this happen to her?"
"Shit, I'm so stupid.” He slumped in his chair and shook his head. "I'm just another loser on a very long list of losers, right?”
"The list isn’t that long," Monica said. "And you're not a loser.”
"But you,” he said, looking at me, "told me it happens all the time."
"Oh, it happens." Monica nodded. "But Joan tends to exaggerate."
How dare she make me look stupid like that! I wanted to smack her.
"Look, you haven't been out with her as much as I have the past couple years,” I said, “You haven’t seen all these guys throw themselves at her! She makes me feel like shit.” I tried not to shout. My eyes darted around to see if I’d caused a scene.
"Joan, it's because of those shirts she wears when she goes clubbing. Haven’t you figured it out yet?" Monica said. "Your tiny ass wiggling out on the dance floor sucks them in, and then they notice the pretty blond girl with the big boobs who suddenly doesn't look so chubby when you get up close to her."
Tyler started laughing really hard. I couldn’t tell if he agreed with Monica or if he just thought we were funny.
"It's more than that,” I said. “What about Troy? And there are, like, four other guys I can think of from the past few years who pretty much stalked her. There might be more we don't even know about.”
Monica leaned forward, looking at Tyler. "It's not, like, fifty guys or anything. It's just that the handful of guys who like her really like her."
"Shit.” Tyler winced; his fingers tapped the table.
"What is it you like about her? Is it the fact that she's so mysterious? Is it the sex?" Monica asked.
Tyler once again looked thoughtfully out the window to my left. Then his eyes focused on the cold drink sitting in front of him. "I liked her before I slept with her or knew she was such a mystery. I was totally hooked that day when I first met her. She was so patient and easy to talk to. The whole day went by too fast. I never wanted it to end.” His eyes widened. “I just love being with her. She experiences life in a way I'd never thought about before. She's humble, and she has this confidence, like she doesn't care what anybody thinks about her, but at the same time she deeply cares about everyone. And she makes me feel like I can really be myself around her and she won't make me feel stupid. I've never met anyone like her before. I don't think I ever will again." He stopped and took another drink.
I melted. He'd noticed some of her best qualities and he'd only known her since Tuesday. I was so jealous of Susie. Monica’s gaze stayed on his face.
He continued, still staring at his coffee. "I've never been like this before. My last girlfriend and I dated for about a year. I didn’t even care when she broke up with me. It was my fault for neglecting her. But I neglected her because I didn't care. I told myself it was because of my family situation but really, I could've made it work if I really wanted to. I've been happy by myself for a long time. And then that woman appeared in front of me last week and wrecked everything." He stopped to glare at his cell phone like he was angry at it for not ringing. "Be honest with me, you two. If you think I’m wasting my time you have to let me know. Don’t let me be like those other guys.”
"We'd tell you the truth.” I said, touching his hand. "She needs to be with someone like you." Fuck. I need to be with someone like you.
He squeezed my hand for a second and let it go. "Thanks.” He si
ghed."I'm such a woman. I can hardly stand myself. Sitting here talking about my feelings to her best friends behind her back. Waiting for her to call." He rolled his eyes and grunted.
"It's okay, Tyler," Monica said. "I've gone through it myself recently. I think that's how it naturally feels to fall in love."
Safe With Me, Special Edition Page 11