Page 51 of Unbearable
Me: I have to ACTUALLY watch her. Not just bumping uglies.
Tyler: My dick is NOT ugly.
Me: meh.
Tyler: what the fuck does that mean?
I don’t reply. Mostly because I think it’s funny and I know what he’s going to do with that. He’s gonna show up.
Sure enough, thirty minutes into watching Nova, Tyler’s knocking at the door.
“Uncle Ty, what are you doing here?” Nova opens the door, motioning him inside.
He looks at me, then Nova, smiling. “I heard there’s a party here.”
I snort from my place in the kitchen where I’m cutting another slice of pizza for Nova. I don’t say anything until he’s in the kitchen and Nova’s asking him to stay the night with us in the fort she’s planning on building in the living room.
He glances around, wearing jeans and a T-shirt that clings to his massive biceps I want to run over and touch. “I’ve always wanted to sleep in a fort.” He waggles his eyebrows at me. “Can’t wait.”
See, this is the problem with Tyler and me. He won’t give me what I want but I enjoy his friendship so much I constantly set myself up to be hurt by him.
Standing next to me in the kitchen now, so close his warmth surrounds me, he whispers in my ear. “Is this okay? Or should I go?”
“I’m not having sex with you,” I tell him, rolling the pizza cutter through the slice of cheese pizza.
He chuckles and it’s low, the sound flowing through me because the soft chuckle gives my stomach a flip every damn time. “Who said I was asking?”
Sure he’s not. I remember the bathroom and by the look in his eyes when our gaze meets, he remembers too. It’s why he’s here, I think.
“I came to see about a text message,” he whispers, his voice so dangerously low goose bumps form.
I roll my eyes. “Jesus, I was kidding.”
“Damn right you were.” Tyler grins and it looks good on him. I miss his smiles. “How’s school, Nova?” His stare sweeps to hers. She’s in the fridge digging out the root beer I brought over for her.
“Not awesome.” She sets the soda on the table next to our plates and then grabs another paper plate for Tyler. “I want to talk about just getting a job or maybe being a stay at home kid but Red says no.”
Tyler chuckles, the corners of his eyes crinkling with humor. “Why don’t you like it?”
“School just isn’t for me.” She leaves it at that and smacks the table with her hand. “Sit next to me, Ty. We can eat pizza together.”
It’s amazing how much I miss Nova and her quirky behavior when I’m away at school and don’t see her during the week. I swear she gets bigger every time I see her and her attitude is more like Red every day. She’s got his dry sense of humor.
We’re at the table, eating pizza and Nova’s telling us everything she doesn’t particularly like about school. Tyler’s attention is fully on her, listening to her every word.
Lost in my head, the night flies by with the three of us playing Monopoly for what seems like hours. Naturally, I win. No one can manage money down to the very last cent like me. Hell, Nova bought everything she came across and Tyler was more into being ahead of everyone on the board than actually playing the game. His car always had to be in front of my thimble.
Nova decides after Monopoly that she wants to have ice-cream sundaes so Tyler takes her, hand in hand, to the kitchen. She stands on a chair, watching his every move and asks, “Uncle Ty, are you afraid of anything?”
He shrugs and takes the lid off the ice cream. “Spiders. I don’t like them.”
“Daddy hates snakes.”
“I know. It’s the only time I’ve seen him scream like a little girl.” Scooping a large chunk of ice cream into her bowl, he waits for her to say if she wants more. She nods so he gives her one more scoop. “Are you afraid of anything?”
She shrugs. “Not really. My daddy is a super hero so I don’t have to be afraid of anything.”
Tyler grins and taps her nose with his finger leaving a dot of chocolate ice cream on her nose. “I wouldn’t be afraid of anything if my dad was a super hero either.” Taking two more bowls from the cupboard, he scoops ice cream into them while Nova watches intently. “So he’s like Batman?”
