Page 5 of His to Love
“Just one. You share one of yours and I’ll share one of mine.”
I suddenly wanted to know every single thing about Tyson that I never knew before.
I grinned. I couldn’t help it.
“Will you tell me the truth?” I asked, and watched something dark flash in his eyes before it disappeared.
“Absolutely.” His fingers clasped together and then his index fingers came together, making a point at the top. His chin rested on them for a second. “Snakes. I hate snakes.”
I scoffed. “That doesn’t count! Everyone hates snakes.”
He shrugged. “There’s my one. Your turn.”
His knee nudged mine and I sighed. I gave in so easily. I had always been weak around him.
“Fine,” I conceded and then muttered, “Flying.”
I looked down at my clasped hands, but I didn’t look away quickly enough before I saw the concern in his eyes. That sparkle of his evaporated and I felt him lean closer. His nose almost brushed my cheek and his breath skirted across my skin.
“You doing okay now, though?”
A shiver rolled through my body. I couldn’t do this. Couldn’t be here, not with him.
Still, I pressed my lips together and nodded. I had only two more hours on this plane. Taking off was always the worst part anyway, and I’d managed that just fine.
“I’ve missed you, Blue.”
A chill cascaded down my spine, and I jerked back, unprepared for the way he assaulted my senses with his light touches, deep voice, and delicious scent.
I couldn’t do this. Not with him. I couldn’t lose myself in the familiarity of Tyson. Not again.
I wasn’t headed home to rekindle a childhood romance. I was going home to spend time with my mom before she died.
Pulling back, I looked at the seat in front of me. My body shifted away from him, and I felt him tense next to me.
“Not going to talk about it?” he asked, and I frowned.
“Talk about what?”
Taking my chances at getting lost in all that sexiness, I slowly turned my head and faced him.
Leaning closer, Tyson said, “Come on, Blue. I’m still freaking out that you’re here next to me. Ten years and you just fall into my lap…I had no idea where you went, and now we’ve got two more hours on a plane together, and we can’t talk about what happened?”
“No.” My shoulders tightened. I bristled at Tyson’s shocked expression and turned back to stare at the seat in front of me.
“You’re serious? Do you have any idea I looked for you? How long I went and pounded on your family’s door so I could see you? And you just left and gave me nothing? And now…still nothing?”
I felt his anger increase with every word and I closed my eyes, inhaling a slow breath.
Through my shock at seeing him again, seeing how handsome he’d become, I had forgotten who he was…what he did to me—but I shouldn’t have.
Everything about the past snapped into my mind like a rubber band. The night my father tossed a file folder onto my bed and forced me to look at photos of the two of us together. And then he proceeded to explain to me how Simon Blackwell, Tyson’s father and a detective for the Detroit PD, had spent the previous four years investigating my father and his business dealings. When he continued to come up short with evidence, he grew desperate, threw a Hail Mary pass, and decided to use his own flesh and blood. Simon forced Tyson to date me just so he could gain any nugget of information about my family that he could get.
My father had proof of Tyson’s betrayal, wrapped up in pretty glossy photos.
That night, as a punishment for dating some boy behind my father’s back, sneaking off and lying for the previous year, and apparently putting my family and my father’s entire organization at risk, I was put on a plane and shipped to Colorado.
“Stop, Tyson.”
