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Tyler’s eyes stay focused on the road in front of him as his lips twist. He appears to be worried and lost in deep thought and that scares me a bit. Whatever he wants to show me must be something that’s upsetting and I’m not sure how much more I can handle tonight.
Then it hits me. I bet he forgot to bring condoms. That’s why he looks upset and said that we couldn’t have sex. Now for his comment about not being the kind of girl he thought. He probably didn’t think I’d go for him so quickly and that’s really sweet, but he should’ve known better. He’s hot and I wouldn’t be out on this date if I weren’t into him.
All of this makes sense now, and it won’t surprise me if he pulls into the next convenience store we see to buy condoms.
About the time I start feeling secure with my internal rationalizations, he makes a left into Pleasant Hill Cemetery.
This doesn’t exactly look like a gas station.
My eyebrow arches and I bite my bottom lip. “Um . . . what are we doing here?”
“I’m going to try to explain to you why I couldn’t—can’t . . . you know,” he says.
Right. How is taking me to a creepy cemetery close to dusk going to explain anything—other than maybe he’s a freak? I hate being isolated in the country, let alone this place, and to top it all off, it’s going to be dark soon. It’s so scary. What in the hell does he need to show me in here?
He parks the truck under a huge maple tree and cuts the engine. He licks his lips and lets out a huge sigh before he turns toward me. “Come on. I want you to meet my dad,” he says.
Wait. What? His dad is dead, from what I had gathered the other night when Granny mentioned his family at dinner. It’s kind of morbid he brought me out here on a date. This guy clearly has issues and it makes me begin to worry about my safety.
“Um . . .” I say hesitantly.
He holds his hands up, palms out. “It’s okay, Avery. I know this is weird, but I want to tell you about him, so you’ll understand me, and why I . . . can’t have sex with you no matter how much I like you.”
He’s obviously still dealing with his dad’s death or whatever, so I’ll go along. Maybe it’ll help with closure.
“Okay.”
I follow his lead as he gets out of the truck. He stops beside me and reaches his hand out to me. I grip it tight, because honestly I’m a big chickenshit when it comes to spooky places. Haunted houses even scare the crap out of me. I know it’s all fake and everyone’s an actor, but the last time I went I got so freaked out I almost peed my pants, so it’s nice that he wants to stay close to me out here.
We walk down the hillside and stop at a grave that looks much fresher than the others. No wonder he’s still weirded out about his dad. It doesn’t look like he’s been dead all that long. I glance at the tombstone that reflects in the twilight. It says he d
ied a little over six months ago.
I can’t imagine what it’s like to lose someone you love so much. Sure, my mom’s not around anymore, but she’s still alive and I can call her whenever I want—if I wanted to, that is. I mean, I know she’s a bitch and that she sucks royally for what she did to Dad, but she’s not out of my life for forever like Tyler’s dad is out of his.
“I’m sorry about your dad,” I say and give his hand a little squeeze.
He doesn’t really say anything, just stares at the big slate rock at the end of the newly sprouted grass. It must be hard, knowing your dad’s under all that dirt—not being able to touch him, hug him, or hear his voice.
I wipe a tear from my eye and choke back the lump in my throat. What would I do if that was my dad? I would probably break down, crawl into a hole somewhere and completely shut down, not wanting to live anymore without him.
Tyler drapes his arm around my shoulders and rubs my arm and I find his gesture sweet. What kind of guy comforts a girl who’s crying in front of his dad’s gravesite when she should be the one comforting him? I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I’m not sure why I feel this way about a man I’ve never even met, but I think it has a lot to do with the fact that I can empathize with what Tyler’s going through.
“I don’t mean to freak you out or upset you by bringing you here, but I felt like it was something that I needed to do so you’d understand,” he says, then pauses, taking in a shaky breath, and continues, “My dad was everything to me. My hero. The man I looked up to and wanted to model my life after. He and Mom always seemed so happy, and that’s all I ever wanted in life—to find the kind of happiness they had. It wasn’t until Dad got diagnosed with cancer that he began talking to me seriously about my getting out of this town and making something of myself. On his deathbed—the last words he spoke I took to heart. He asked me to do something—something that may sound a little strange.”
“What?” I whisper and my heart thumps hard in my chest. “What did he want you to do?”
“He told me to stop screwing my life up and to take things more serious. He told me to stop messing around with random girls, to just focus on my music dream, and to get the hell out of this town,” he says with a sighing breath. “Dad always thought I would fall in love like he did and never leave this town because that’s what happened to him. He and Mom got pregnant with me right after they got together, and getting a job to take care of his new family took precedence over going after a dream. He wanted to see me give my dream of doing music for a living a real shot before I settled down—to go after my dream before anything else got in the way so I wouldn’t live a life of wondering what if, like he did.”
“That sounds like pretty solid advice, if you ask me.”
He smiles. “Yeah, it was. That’s why I can’t sleep with you. My plan is to get out of here as soon as I save up enough money. I’m going to Nashville. You know, give this music thing a try, and I don’t plan on coming back here if that happens. It wouldn’t be fair to start a relationship with you knowing that I’m going to be leaving.”
I nod. “I can understand that. How close are you to saving enough money?”
“I’ve been on track to do exactly what Dad asked me to do, so I’m pretty close to making my goal.”
My mind processes everything he’s just said and it makes me curious about something else. “So you’ve not slept with anyone since you made that promise to your Dad?”
