Page 3 of Redemption Ridge Vol II

For once, Hope’s colorful commentary made things better, and he sputtered through a laugh. “Never change,” he rasped. Tyler sucked in a lungful of air, and the tension eased as his lungs expanded. He repeated the process until the band around his chest disappeared.

The front door opened, and feet crunched in the snow as someone approached. Tyler didn’t need to look to know it wasn’t Owen. Why had he never questioned that phenomenon before now?

“There you are.” Gary’s booming voice reached them before he did. “I’ve been looking all over for you.”

Kindness and possibly regret shimmered in Hope’s eyes. Tyler didn’t want her to feel bad, so he removed his hands from his pockets and hugged her. “I’m okay,” he whispered.

Hope squeezed him tightly before stepping back and letting go.

“Umm,” Gary said. “Did I interrupt something?”

Hope turned to face her husband, but Tyler couldn’t do it yet. Not with so much emotion simmering just beneath the surface. He needed to be in better control of his expressions before interacting with anyone, so he kept his gaze locked on Hope’s profile.

“Not at all,” Hope said. “Your timing is impeccable. I’m in the mood to dance with my husband.” She smiled at Tyler and patted his arm. “I’ll see you back inside.”

He lifted his head and stared at the diamond-studded sky after they left. I can’t be in love with Owen, can I? Tears filled his eyes, turning the sparkling stars into blurry dots. The surrounding forest was usually quiet, but the muffling snow made it eerily so. His pounding heart was the only sound Tyler heard, and it almost felt like the organ was mocking him, like Tyler was the last to get the punchline of a joke. The urge to retreat to his cabin hit him full force, and he might have given in if a fat snowflake hadn’t splatted against his forehead like a wake-up call.

If he wanted more time with Owen, then he needed to stop retreating and moping. Not that he wanted to challenge Keegan or anything. He just needed to quit fading into the background like boring drapes and give Owen incentive to seek him out. An unbidden image of Tyler’s tongue circling Owen’s nipple came to mind, and he shook his head to erase it. He couldn’t be sure what drove him into the house faster—the cold or his sudden need to see Owen.

Tyler hung up his coat and stomped off his shoes on the rug before returning to the great room. He slammed to a stop at the end of the hallway, and his heart fell to the floor when he spotted Owen and Keegan slow dancing together. Keegan’s hands rested on the back of Owen’s neck, and it looked like a possessive hold. He half expected Keegan’s fingers to slide into Owen’s golden hair, and Tyler wondered if the strands would feel as silky as they looked. Owen’s hands rested low on Keegan’s back, but a few inches lower and they’d be on the guy’s ass. The pair looked so comfortable together as they danced and talked.

Tyler didn’t want to contemplate the reasons for the dread in his stomach, so he pivoted and headed toward the kitchen to make himself useful instead of staring at Owen and Keegan. He snagged some empty platters off the table and noticed there were only a few pumpkin spice whoopie pies left, so he grabbed that plate too. Owen adored those things, so he wrapped them in aluminum foil and set them aside for him. Tyler loaded the dishwasher and ran a sink full of soapy water to wash the bigger items. He’d made a big dent in the wreckage when someone approached him.

“Why are you hiding in here?” Nick asked. He picked up a towel and started drying the clean pots and pans Tyler had set aside.

He didn’t trust himself to speak, so he shrugged, but Nick’s gaze felt unyielding and…safe. “Just kind of feel like a third wheel sometimes, I guess. Then I feel like an awful person for thinking that way. Keegan has been through so much, and Owen brings him peace. I’d have to be a real jerk to make things harder for them to be together.” The emphasis he’d put on the last word exposed too much, but he couldn’t take it back.

“They’re not together romantically,” Nick said in a tone reserved for wounded animals and scared kids.

Tyler should’ve felt offended, but the confusing hope unfurling in his chest made that impossible. He tried to play it cool with another shrug before shoving his hands back in the water to scrub another pot.

“That isn’t what romantic love looks like,” Nick insisted with a doggedness that had likely served him well in the FBI.

Something warm and effervescent bubbled inside him. Hope’s words echoed in Tyler’s head, and his hands stilled in the water. Tears stung the back of his nose and filled his eyes. Was it true? Was he in love with Owen? Tyler turned his watery gaze to Nick. “When did you know you were in love with your best friend?”

Nick set the towel down, crossed his arms over his chest, and considered Tyler for a few moments. “I didn’t have a big aha moment,” he said. “It happened slowly. I noticed little things at first. Catching guys checking Cash out made me jealous. Thinking of him falling in love with someone else and being intimate with them drove me mad. Not being with him became a bone-deep ache.”

He knew exactly the pain Nick described. Tyler emitted a feral little growl that caught him by surprise and made Nick smile. He rubbed a hand over his sternum, but that didn’t make the ache go away.

“You’ll miss a hundred percent of the shots you don’t take,” Nick told him. “I wasted so much time pining after something that was mine for the taking all along. Swing for the fences, Ty.”

“What if he doesn’t feel the same way?”

“But what if he does?” Nick patted him on the shoulder. “Don’t wait too long.” Nick headed to the refrigerator, removed two water bottles, and headed back to the great room.

But what if he does? Tyler had so many thoughts echoing in his head, but those five words were the loudest. He felt a familiar electric charge in the air that announced Owen’s arrival.

“Ty, I want to get pictures with you in the booth.” Owen’s voice was soft, but his suggestion landed like a bomb. That tiny, cramped space wasn’t big enough. One would have to practically sit on the other’s lap. Tyler’s mind didn’t need additional encouragement to replay the earlier fantasy.

“Ty.” Owen’s voice was more urgent as he stepped beside him. “Are you okay?”

No, he wasn’t, but an honest answer would only invite additional questions he wanted to avoid. Tyler forced a smile and said, “Yeah. I’m great. Let’s go take pictures.”

Owen responded with an excited whoop before he bounded out of the kitchen. Tyler dried his hands and trailed behind him at a more sedate space so he could coach his body and brain into remaining calm. It felt like every pair of eyes was on them as they made their way toward the booth, which looked even smaller up close. Owen reached for the door just as it swung open. Finley and Kieran stumbled out with mussed hair, swollen lips, and strips of photos in their hands. Clearly, the couples used the cramped space to suck face instead of smiling for the camera. Tyler’s heart skipped a beat before galloping like a racehorse.

“It’s all yours, fellas,” Fin said with a sweeping gesture.

Kieran winked at them as they passed by, and Tyler reexperienced the sensation he was the last to figure things out. Mistress Divine’s and Hope’s words tangled in his brain. Major crossroads in life. Dawn of awareness. You’re in love with him.