"Popcorn?" he asked and put the bag down between us.
"You're a really good friend, Tyler."
"Yeah I know." He laughed and put his arms behind his head and leaned against the wall.
"No seriously. I've never really had a guy friend that was genuinely nice just because he cared."
"Honestly, I'm just paying my dues." He winked at me. "But I like being friends with you too. And since we're just friends, I can do stuff like this and not get in trouble." He slid over and put his arm around my back.
"Is that right?"
"I'm just here to take care of you." He tapped his shoulder that was closest to me.
"So I guess since we're friends I'm supposed to rest my head on your shoulder?"
"Well, I mean if you want. I just had an itch. But I promise I won't read into it."
I leaned my head on his shoulder. In the movie, Westley was just saying goodbye to Buttercup so he could go off and find a fortune so that they could get married.
"I never understood why she was always so mean to him at first," Tyler said.
"Because she didn't realize that she loved him yet."
"Right," Tyler said. He rested his head on top of mine.
I almost crumpled the paper in my hand. It wasn’t just the keychain he had given her that had made me think I knew about Tyler’s link to The Princess Bride. I had read all about it. I had read about it and forgotten it. All the parts about Tyler in thisbook I had shoved aside. But a lot of them were about him. It wasn’t just Penny and my love story. It was like a twisted love triangle. I had given her this book hoping she’d remember me. And it looked like all she had been doing was remembering him.
“Why does Penny like The Princess Bride?” I asked.
Melissa shrugged. “Something about true love. I don’t know. I never understood the appeal.”
“Does it have anything to do with Tyler?”
“No. She liked it before she met him. Although, he did dress up like Westley for Halloween for her.”
“What? When?”
“When you two were on a break.”
A break. I said I needed time. We weren’t really on a break. But I couldn’t fault Penny for pursuing Tyler during that time.Yet, here I am seething.Why? Because of some stupid film that meant nothing? But that was the problem. It meant something to her. And she never told me. Maybe she liked it before she met Tyler, but it was all intertwined now. They snuggled while they watched it. He dressed up as the main character for her. And he gave her that stupid fucking key chain. I grabbed another paper off the table as my head started to spin.
I listened to his slow, steady heartbeat. I could lay here forever in his embrace. I let my hand wander beneath his shirt and felthis abs. His body seemed to tense from my touch, which made his muscles even more pronounced. He was so sexy.
"Are you feeling any better?" Tyler whispered.
“What the fuck is this?” I stood up. “All the pages on top are about him.”
“Who?” Melissa asked.
“Tyler.”
She leaned forward. “Oh, yikes.” I watched as she bit into her bottom lip. Her eyes scanned more of the pages. She crossed and uncrossed her legs. “I mean…it kind of looks like they were shuffled around or something? But yeah…most of them are about Tyler. Almost like she picked through the book…but why would she do that?” She made a weird face, a combination of a grimace and confusion.
“Where the hell did you say she was?”
“She went for a walk with one of your security guards.”
“Which one?”
