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“You have Physics first, don’t you? Here. I’ll see you after.”
I blinked at him. Just how well did he know my schedule? I didn’t get to ask him, though, as he was already turning and walking away, taking my bag with him.
Lily
“Lily,just for you, I’m taking tails tonight,” Tyler said as we let ourselves into the small animal recovery room at the vet clinic.
“Really? To what do I owe that honor?”
“I don’t know, I’m just feeling generous, I guess, considering what you have to put up with at home, living with a maniac and all.”
“He’s not a maniac.”
“But he is an arsonist, at the very least. I mean, that much is proven.”
“I don’t think you understand what proven means. A shocking headline in a local rag and no police charges doesn’t mean something is true.”
Tyler studied me, slipping on gloves and assembling the cleaning products for the cages.
“If I didn’t know better…I’d say you have a soft spot for the guy.”
“A soft spot? Me? For him?” I sounded like a cartoon character right now, but I couldn’t find a way to make myself stop.
“Yes, a soft spot, you, for him,” Tyler parroted and laughed. “I’ve seen it all now. The ultimate good girl falls for the quintessential bad boy, and to be clear, in this case, bad boy means murderer.”
“He didn’t murder anyone…” I trailed off, Jack’s face flashing through my mind. “You don’t know him.”
“And you do?”
Yes. Absolutely.
I shrugged. “We understand each other, sometimes…the parts no one else sees.”
Tyler was quiet a moment, cleaning a litter tray, and then he sighed. “Well, shit. I was just teasing you, and you go and get real about it. Okay, I don’t know the guy, but I know you – the common, public basic bits, that is – and I know…” He pointed at me. “You deserve the best.”
“Don’t say that. You sound like my dad.”
“Huh, triggered the Daddy issues, eh?”
“More like ‘failed parental hopes and dreams’ issues, with a side of ‘only child pressure to please’ syndrome, if that’s a thing.”
I divided cat food into bowls and avoided Tyler’s eyes.
“It’s definitely a thing. I might know a little something about it, too,” he admitted.
I raised an eyebrow at him. “Is that right?”
Tyler smiled. “I mean, I haven’t found my own arsonist to fall in love with, but yeah, I can relate a little, I guess.”
Love. Fall in love with.
I scoffed, and Tyler grinned at me.
“Mark my words, Williams, HHU next year this time. I bet you and Cayden are a thing, and I’ll have to tease him mercilessly for it when we’re on the same team.”
“You want to be a Hellion?”
“Hells yes, I have a brain, of course I want to be a Hellion, but a green-and-black Hellion, not a purple one.”
