Everything Changes

by R F Greenwood

  I’m brought out of my book by my phone ringing; I frown when I see its Tyler.

  “Hello?”

  “Hey babe, I was just wondering if you were going to text me back”

  My eyebrows pull together; I pull my phone away from my ear and look at the time. My eyes widen when I see an hour and a half has passed.

  “Shit, sorry. I started reading my kindle and must have zoned out”

  He chuckles.

  “What are you reading? Never saw you as a bookworm. Normally they are quiet and not very outgoing”

  I’m shocked he even asked, normally no one wants to talk about books with me; I try and tell them when I have to let off some frustration. But Iliterally see it coming out the other ear.

  “I’m reading Biker Bait by Ellie R Hunter”

  I smile, I only have 10% left, and it’s getting to a really good bit.

  “Bikers, huh? Not to brag or anything but I have a bike. Wanna ride with me? I mean it”

  I literally squeal and laugh.

  “Are we talking about a push bike or a vroom vroom bike?”

  I hear him boom out his laughter down the phone, its full belly laughter.

  “A vroom vroom bike? Oh God, Cass!”

  He starts laughing all over again, I smile.

  “I’m so glad you find me amusing, mister”

  Once he gets himself back to normal, it’s been at least five minutes. We carry on our conversation.

  “Are you going to answer me now that you’ve stopped laughing at me?”

  “You brought it on yourself babe. A vroom vroom bike”

  I hear the smile in his voice, picturing him straddling a bike does things to my insides.

  “You’re going to hold this over my head aren’t you?” I sigh.

  “Of course babe you’ve made my day, again”

  I smile; he really is a born charmer.

  “So when can I see you again?”

  “Eagar beaver, aren’t you?”

  He chuckles again.

  “Not my fault I can’t wait to see you again”

  “You only met me tonight, don’t tell me you’re missing me already?”

  He sighs.

  “I am, I’m dying to see my beautiful lady again. So when can I?”

  I roll my eyes.

  “I don’t know yet, but I’m going to sleep now. Bye Tyler”

  “Fine, but I will get to see you again. Bye babe”

  I hang up and put my phone on the side on charge, picking up my kindle again, I start to read. I don’t even get to read the first sentence when my phone goes off again; alerting me I have a text.

  Tyler: sweet dreams, beautiful. Dream of me ;)

  I smile and put my phone back on the side.

  I finish my book and put my kindle down, well I wasn’t expecting that. Turning off my bedside light and laying down, my thoughts start rushing through my head. Does Tate really have feelings for me? Why didn’t he say anything? When did he start seeing me as more than a friend? Does he feel threatened by Tyler? I sigh and turn over to my side. I’ll figure it all out in the morning.

  ****

  I wake up at 9.30 in the morning, I yawn and put my arms above my head to stretch, blinking away the sleep in my eyes, and I pick up my phone and see I have a message from Tate.

  Tate: Sorry for acting like an arse last night babe, please say you’ll forgive me?

  He’s sorry? Rolling my eyes, I come out of his message, seeing I have one from Tyler too, I open that as well.

  Tyler: Morning sleeping beauty, how did you sleep? Did you dream of me? I sure dreamt about you ;)

  I laugh and sit up, I reply to him.

  Me: Morning Ty, I slept fine thank you, you? And that would be telling wouldn’t it ;) was I nice in your dream? Lol

  I put my phone back on the bedside table and walk in the bathroom so I can take care of business.

  When I’m finished, I walk out the bathroom and back over to my bed and get my phone and taking it off charge, I see Tyler has texted me back and smile.

  Tyler: Best night’s sleep I’ve had in weeks, you did dream about me didn’t you... Was it naughty ;) and you were really really nice in my dream.

  Smiling, I walk out of my bedroom and make my way to the kitchen. I know my brother’s won’t be up until at least 11, I sigh. These are the moments I love in my house, when it’s all quiet.

  Grabbing some cereal from the top of the fridge, I pour myself a bowl. I sit down at the table with my breakfast and my phone, and reply back to Tyler.

  Me: You’re a perv, aren’t you? Lol

  I place my phone down and continue eating my breakfast, when I’m nearly finished he replies back. I finish my cereal then reply.

  Tyler: Me? A perv? Never! I’m the perfect gentleman, remember?

  I laugh out loud with that.

  Me: And if I remember rightly, you said you were struggling to stay a gentleman, I felt how hard it was for you to stay being a gentleman ;)

  I put my bowl in the sink and walk back to my bedroom. I sit down on the bed and look for new books on my phone. It’s not like I need more, but authors should really stop making great books.

  I pick up my phone and see its 10 o clock, I decide to get dressed.

  Leaving my phone on my bed, I walk over to my wardrobe and look for something to wear, I pick out a pair of black leggings and a nice grey flowing top, I grab my matching bra and knickers.

  I finish getting dressed and put on a pair of socks and sit back on my bed; I check my phone and see Tyler has messaged me back again. I love the flirty banter we have going on, he’s just so easy to talk too.

  Tyler: Damn your memory! So can I see you today?

  Rolling my eyes, persistent isn’t he?

  Me: Where would you take me if we did go out today?

  I should text back Tate. I pull up his last message and see he sent that at 2 o clock this morning.

  Me: I really don’t understand why you went like that Tate? You invited me out, and then basically drag me home, with only being there just over an hour. And with the whole possessive thing, what the fuck was that? You’re my best friend. Not my body guard. You might as well of pissed on my leg to mark your territory!

  I can feel myself getting angry again.I decided to ring Tyler. Hopefully he can take my mind off it, just so I don’t go and suffocate my best friend in his sleep.

  “Yellow... Tyler the sexy hunk speaking” I laugh and play along.

  “Oh this is Tyler the sexy hunk? Must have dialled the wrong number then”

  He scoffs then chuckles.

  “Ha! Like you know more than one sexy hunk, Tyler, I’m a rare species I’ll have you know” That causes the laugh I’ve been trying to hold in, to come bursting out.

  “All joking aside, what can I do for you babe? Finally going to take me up on my offer to see this gorgeous face again?” I sigh, fuck it. Why not, I haven’t got to do dinner till 3.

  “I am. Where do you want to meet?”

  “I’ll pick you up, but not on my vroom vroom bike” I roll my eyes and tell him my address. He agrees to pick me up in 20 minutes.

  Grabbing my leather jacket, that is hanging off my desk chair and put on my boots from last night. I walk in my bathroom and put on a few sweeps of mascara and some eyeliner. I brush my teeth and my hair.

  I spray myself with a little perfume and leave my bedroom. Walking in the kitchen, I find a post it note so I can tell my brother’s that I’ve gone out but I’ll be back for the film and dinner.

  I just finish writing the note, when I hear Tyler beep to announce his arrival. I smile, leave the note on the fridge and walk out the front door.

  I climb in his car and buckle up.

  “Hey there, pretty lady. I’m here to take you for a good time. Then go to the park and shit”, he winks at me and I laugh.

  “Good time huh? Better go back inside then” I go to grab the door handle but he puts his hand on my thigh to stop me.

 
“You and that smart mouth of yours will get you in trouble one day, it’s a good thing I’ve got something to fill it” I turn and stare at him in shock. Did he really just say that?

  “Get your mind out of the gutter, gorgeous. I was talking about chewing gum… mostly” I smack his arm playfully and accept the chewing gum.

  He takes his hand off my thigh; the disappearance of the warmth of his hand makes me cold.

  He reverses out the drive way and we set off to wherever he is taking me.

  “So where are we going?” I ask a couple of minutes into the journey.

  “Star bucks first babe, got to have my morning coffee”

  “Coffee, a man after my own heart” I sigh dramatically and clutch my chest, he looks over and we start laughing.

  “I just knew you were my sort of woman”, he winks and then turns his attention back on the road.

  Spotting his iPod on the dashboard, I clear my throat to get his attention.

  “May I have the honours?” I ask, pointing to the iPod. He smiles and nods.

  I scroll through his playlists, not bad. There are quite a lot of songs I like on here.

  I pick out a song and start nodding my head slightly to the song.

  We both sit in silence, nodding our heads slightly to the music, it’s not an awkward silence, and it’s just a mutual appreciation of the song.

  A couple of minutes later, we pull up to the side of the road to park. We climb out; I check my phone and see Tate hasn’t replied yet. Shrugging my shoulders I put my phone back in my pocket.

  We walk side by side to star bucks; he opens the door for me and puts his hand on the bottom of my back to guide me in.

  “Such a gentleman” I laugh and look at him. He smirks.

  “Told you I was, babe”

  We walk over to the counter to place our orders.

  “Mocha, with cream, please” I ask.

  “Black, please.” The barrister nods and walks away to do our drinks. I scrunch my nose up. He turns and looks at me.

  “What’s that face for?”

  “You drink your coffee, with no sugar or milk?”

  “Your drink sounds girly, so I’m not going to drink that and it’s nice, you should try it” I shake my head. I think I’ll stick with my drink.

  I walk over to the back and find a table. Tyler brings our drinks over and sits down.

  “What is it with you and choosing the table at the back of the room?” he asks and shrugs off his jacket. I sigh in pure male appreciation, his white T shirt is stretched over his muscles, he’s tattoos are out on show. I would love to trace his tattoos with my tongue.

  A clearing of his throat brings me out of my staring.

  “That’s twice I’ve caught you staring at me”, he smirks. “I’m starting to think you actually like me, babe” I scoff and pick up my coffee and take a sip. I take off my jacket too and I see his eyes drop to my chest. And he said I was staring.

  I clear my throat and he smiles and his dimples pop out.

  “So, I want to know more about this ‘sexy hunk Tyler’” I say, he leans back in his chair and laughs.

  “What do you want to know? I have 3 brothers; Jaime is the oldest by a year, Sam and Mickey are younger than me by two years, their twins. I’m 23. Never went to college, and I work at a local pub as a bouncer. It isn’t the best job, but I like it”, he says. “What about you?”

  “Well, I live with my two older brothers, Jack and Justin. Jack is 24 like your brother and Justin is 23. They are both very over protective when they want to be. We live together in a house my nan and granddad left us, after they died two years ago. My nan and granddad basically raised us; mum and dad both ran out on us at different times. I was only 5 when my mum left, I don’t remember my dad, but my brothers do. I work in a library, I’m a bookworm; we like to stay in our natural habitats” He laughs at that. “Oh and I’m 21”

  “I’m sorry about your grandparents” I sigh.

  “It’s ok, my nan died first of cancer, but my granddad was so lost without her. They were married 55 years. My granddad died 10 days later in his sleep by natural causes” Tyler leans over and swipes his thumb across my cheek. I didn’t even realise I was crying.

  “Sorry for crying. I’m not normally a crier” He smiles sadly.

  He’s just about to say something when a beautiful woman stops at our table.

  “Can I help you, love?” I look over at Tyler, where the woman is smirking. I see all the blood drain out of his face.

  “Maybe you can. I just wanted to know why my fiancé is off having coffee with some tart”, she sneers. I’m the tart? Staring at Tyler, I clear my throat and arch my eyebrow. He turns to me and says the classic line.

  “It’s not what it looks like”

  I feel like a complete idiot! ‘It’s not what it looks like’ you’ve got to be shitting me. I stand up from the table and put my jacket on. I give Tyler a glare and then turn to the woman.

  “Sorry, I didn’t realise he was engaged, and you ever call me a tart again I will rip your fake hair out” I walk away from the table.

  I hear Tyler curse and his chair scrape back.

  “Cassie! Wait!” he shouts.

  “Nope, fuck you” I don’t stop; I just flip him the bird and walk out the shop.

  Chapter Three

  Cassie

  I’ve managed to avoid Tyler for three whole days, fourth day, not so lucky. On Sunday after I left star bucks I rang Jack for him to come and get me. I hid in a charity shop until it was all clear. Cowardly I know. But my ego had taken a hit; I wasn’t ready for the shit to come out of his mouth.

  I walk to work and see Tyler leaning up against the doors; I wanted to turn and walk away but it had to be my turn to open up didn’t it.

  “What can I do for you Tyler?” I ask, crossing my arms and glaring at him from the bottom of the stairs that lead to the main doors.

  “I’ve come to explain, considering you won’t answer your phone!” he runs his hand through his hair.

  “You don’t need to explain anything to me. We were just friends hanging out” I walk up the steps towards him. The height difference between us is big normally. But me standing on the bottom of 4 steps and him standing on top of them, sort of has the ‘I’m the king of the castle’ feel to it.

  He looks at me, when I stop about a foot from him.

  “If it wasn’t such a big deal to you, why did you storm out of Star Bucks?” he arches his pierced eyebrow. His dark hair looks messy from running his hand through it too much. He looks tired; obviously he hasn’t been sleeping well.

  Don’t get distracted by his looks Cassie!

  “I stormed out, because I don’t like to be made to look like an idiot”

  He sighs. He looks a little lost for words. I walk towards him and he tenses slightly. I touch his arm and push.

  He frowns but moves out of my way. I walk up to the door and unlock it, walk in and turn on the lights.

  I just love the smell of the library, the old leather covers on some and the dust. I know I shouldn’t probably like that smell but it’s comforting.

  Tyler followed me in here, I can feel him watching me as I disable the alarm and turn on more of the lights.

  I walk into the kitchen off to the side and put the kettle on.

  “Are you going to talk? Or just follow me round like a lost sheep” I say over my shoulder to him.

  He has arms over his head, holding onto the door frame. It pulls his top up a little. I see a sliver of tanned skin, and a little of his happy trail. I see a glimpse of a tattoo too.

  “Are you actually going to listen to me?” he asks.

  “I can certainly try” Why am I being such a bitch to him? I’m not doing so well in making him believe I don’t care. When the kettle is boiled I pour myself a cup of tea.

  “Want a cup of coffee?”

  “Please” I nod and stretch to get another cup from the cupboard above. I’m sensing today wasn’t the best d
ay for me to wear a tight fitting pencil skirt and heels.

  I pour him his coffee, like he has it. I bend and get the milk from the fridge under the counter. I hear a soft moan. The last thing I need is for either of us to get horny and fuck’ like rabbits’ in the kitchen of my work place.

  I take our coffee over to the table in the corner of the small kitchen. I sit and cross my legs. Tyler sits down and looks at my legs.

  I look down and see my skirt has risen a little. I’m glad I didn’t wear the skirt with the slit running up my leg. He would have a nice view of the top of my stockings by now if I was.

  I take a sip of my tea and place it back on the table. Turning and looking at him.

  “So start explaining yourself, your words. Not mine” I try and look like I’m not anxious of what he has to say.

  “Ok, but no butting in until I’m finished” I motion my fingers like I’ve locked my mouth up and threw away the key. When he’s satisfied he starts.

  “Right, I’ll start from the beginning” I have to bite my tongue from saying a smart remark. This keeping quiet sounds like hard work.

  “Georgina and I met when I was 20. I hadn’t long started working at the pub I’m working at now. She came in with a group of friends and me being me, walked over to her and started talking. We hit it off straight away” I roll my eyes. He gives me a stern look but carries on. “She would come in the pub often and we would talk. Well one day, I plucked up the nerve to ask her out. She agreed. We started going out and everything was fine for the first couple of months, but then she starts going all weird, saying we need to take our relationship to the next level. I’m not a commitment dodger or anything; I just didn’t feel like we were ready. So I tried to do it gently and break it off with her, but it blew up in my face. She has a dad, high up in the ranks, nothing to do with police” I nod; we have some dodgy people around Colchester. “I get a visit from her dad and his ‘friends’ giving me a ‘nice’ warning that I get engaged to his daughter or Sam wouldn’t walk. At the time Sam was working behind the bar, so Georgina met him a couple of times. So I agreed to get engaged”

  “I have no intentions in marry the crazy bitch. We don’t live together or anything, I try and separate my life from hers but she pops up. I get reminders that I can’t back out. They send me up to date photos of my brother’s and parents from afar, so I know they are watching them” He sighs; well this situation just got a whole lot more complicated.