LAUREN

 

 

The thing that struck me most in our first few weeks of living together was Tyler’s routine. I had no idea what time he actually rose in the morning as I was sound asleep, but he greeted me with a kiss and smelled faintly of sweat before the shower was turned on. He had the same thing for breakfast every morning. He ordered from the same place for lunch. He often worked late and I wouldn’t see him until he rolled into bed, fumbling under the covers until he pressed against my back, spooning me until I woke with his hands exploring my body.

After the seventh day of my new job, I rode the elevator up to the top level, expecting Tyler to still be at work. So I was surprised when I opened the clunky metal door and found Tyler, Jake, Sadie and three other people I didn’t recognise, sitting around a large table that hadn't been there previously, glasses swirling with dark liquid and lazily staring at cards in their hands.

“You’re home.” Tyler pulled out the seat beside him and I flopped into it, letting my bag drop to the floor. My day of intense boredom had drained me of energy. All I did was trail after the event organisers, taking images of them studying marketing brochures and online adverts until the colours started to blur in my mind. Tyler pulled my chair closer to his so I could lean back, my head nestling into the curve of his shoulder. He introduced me to the two men I didn’t know. One was a colleague from the office, the other a friend of his and Sadie’s from their University days.

“So, how’s it going?” Sadie inquired.

“Some days are great.”

She laughed. “Not today?”

“Not so much.”

“You play?” she nodded to the cards splayed in her hand. “Five hundred.”

“We used to play poker,” Jake said. “But someone,” he glared at Tyler, “kept getting a little too competitive and we got sick of losing money.”

“Now we mix it up with pairs to keep it interesting.” Sadie glanced at me over her cards.

“It’s not my fault if you guys can’t remember what has been played.” Tyler placed a card on the pile in the centre. “Trumps.”

“You don’t have any spades?” Sadie threw her cards face down on the table before picking them back up and rearranging them in her hand. “Thought I had that trick.”

I glanced at Tyler’s cards. “Dad taught me years ago when Mother was away. Dad, Morgan and I spent the entire weekend eating pizza, playing cards, watching telly and listening to all the music Dad wasn’t allowed to listen to when Mother was home. Oh, and Dad almost constantly had a beer in his hand. It was like being on vacation.”

“What has your mother got against cards?” Jake asked before tossing a card to the centre of the table.

“She thinks they are of the devil.”

“Cards?” Jake asked.

I nodded. “Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world.”

Jake’s eyebrow’s furrowed together. “What?”

“It’s from the Bible,” Tyler’s school friend said. Early was his name. I had never heard of someone called Early before and asked about the idea behind it. He explained that his parents had taken a long time to name him, and people used to quote the saying, ‘you can call him anything just don’t call him late for dinner.’ His parents decided to call him Early.

I laughed at his explanation as Tyler rose to get me a glass of wine. “Don’t believe a word he says.” Tyler shook his head.

“So you’re name isn’t Early?” I asked.

“His name is Early, alright,” Tyler replied for him. “But don’t believe anything else. He’s got a reputation for exaggeration.”

“Hey,” Early said, feigning offence. “It’s not exaggeration. It’s fabrication.” He winked and took a sip of his drink.

Tyler was still dressed in a suit, though his jacket and tie had been discarded, his shoes were tossed to the floor, and the top buttons of his shirt were undone. I drained the glass of wine as soon as he placed it in my hand and lifted it back for a refill.

Laughing, Tyler took the glass from me and pulled me to my feet. “Excuse me for a moment,” he said. “Quick break? Early, you may as well head downstairs to indulge in that filthy habit of yours. Won’t be long.”

“I quit!” Early called out.

“Sure you did,” Tyler replied as he pulled me into the bedroom and closed the door.

I sat down heavily on the edge of the bed.

“What’s the matter?” he asked, crossing to sit beside me.

“You host a cards night?” I asked, not really wanting to bore him with the details of my day.

“It’s as close as I get to a social life. Now, tell me, what’s the matter?”

I let out a sigh. “It’s nothing. It was just one intensely boring day and then Morgan called. Mother hounded her about her time down staying with me until she relented and she now knows that we’re together. She went on and on about my reputation and what people will think of me moving from one man to the next.” I sat up and mocked her voice. “Do you not care what people think, Lauren? First, you break it off with that lovely fiancé of yours, then you insist on dating a teenager, and now you are embarrassing our family by flaunting your relationship with his brother in my face.”

Tyler inched closer and drew back the hair from my shoulder, exposing my neck. “Flaunting it in her face?” he repeated, before placing a kiss right on the spot that he knew made me melt.

I sighed and tilted my head, allowing him better access. “I haven’t seen her in months. There has been zero flaunting. I just don’t understand her sometimes. She goes on about how I need to settle down, and even though she knows the truth about Derek and what he did, in her mind, I still belong with him.”

“You don’t belong with him,” he said, his voice less playful than it was before.

“Sometimes I just wish she would leave me alone. She has an opinion on everything. Even my photography of the casino. She says it’s a sin.” I knew I was rambling.

“A sin?” he mumbled. His mouth had found its way across my collarbone and was starting to dip between my breasts.

“Not the photography, the actual casino because of the gambling.”

Tyler lifted his head. “Are you done yet?”

I smiled. “Maybe.”

“There’s something extremely appealing when you get all flustered and annoyed like this.”

“There is?”

Tyler kissed my mouth, blocking the words that were about to fall. “Extremely,” he said. “But it’s time to kiss me now.”

Pushing me back onto the bed, he leaned over me and claimed my mouth as his own. His hand slid up the inside of my shirt, running over my flesh until he cupped my breast, massaging the soft flesh through the lace of my bra. My nipple hardened and his fingers toyed with the buttons of my shirt until it fell open, and his mouth dipped to take me. His tongue felt like velvet and the lace felt rough. When he lifted his head the white lace had turned translucent with moisture and Tyler groaned, reaching down to adjust the hardness straining against the material of his pants.

“We need to stop,” I said, even as I arched my chest towards his mouth again.

Tyler dipped his head to the other breast. “Ah, huh,” he agreed. “But I can’t leave you uneven. It would be unfair.” He sucked my flesh, eliciting a sharp breath of air that filled my lungs.

“There are people waiting for you to return to the card game.”

Tyler rolled away, throwing his arm over his eyes. “But I don’t want to. I’m all worked up now. Tell them to leave.”

“I can’t.” I whacked his arm playfully. “It’s rude.”

“I don’t care.” Tyler stretched into the air and then pulled himself off the bed. “No, you’re right. It’s rude getting you to tell them to leave. I will.”

“Tyler!” I dove after him, gripping onto the material of his shirt to hold him back. He swung the door open and poked his head into the lounge. “Game’s over,” he said. “Go home.”

I poked my head around the edge of the door. “He’s only joking.”

“I’m not. Go.”

Jake stretched into the air. “Anyone care to retire this to my level? It’s not quite at the same stage as this, yet, but at least we can play a few hands of poker without the fear of losing everything to Ty.”

Sadie pushed out her chair and stood. “I’m keen.”

“Seriously, you guys don’t have to leave,” I told them.

Sadie winked. “I think Tyler has other ideas.”

Tyler smirked. “I do.”

My phone started ringing in my bag and I hurriedly did up the buttons of my shirt before running to grab it. I stupidly pressed accept before checking who was calling.

“Hi Dad,” I said, rolling my eyes. Tyler shook his head, slicing across his throat—cut the line—as the others gathered their stuff and headed out the door with a wave.

“Your mother is rather upset,” Dad began.

“She told you, did she?”

“You know how she is. She’s certain that she’s losing you. She says you’ve been dating this man for a while now. We want to know why you didn’t tell us earlier.”

“We want to know, or she wants to know?”

Tyler came up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist, his hands massaging my flesh, moving further and further up me until they pressed against my breasts. I gave him a playful, warning look and pulled away.

Dad sighed. “Does it matter?”

“I’m thirty now, Dad, a little past the age where I need to call my parents if I date someone.” Tyler leaned against the wall, arms crossed over his chest and a playful pout on his mouth. Once my gaze was directed his way, he uncrossed his arms and began to unbutton his shirt, moving his hips to unheard music and wiggling his brows in a comically sexy way. Even though he was just teasing, a wave of desire shot through me as his shirt fell to the floor. I shook my head and turned away, determined not to be distracted by him, and tuned back into my father’s voice.

“But not past the age of keeping your parents informed concerning your life. How did you think we felt after assuming you were still with that young man—” Dad paused, searching for his name.

“Gabe,” I said.

“Yes, Gabe,” Dad repeated. “And yet your sister informs us you’ve been with his brother for months. We need to meet him, Lauren. If he’s part of your life, he’s part of ours too.”

I sat down on the couch. Tyler had dropped to all fours, playfully crawling across the ground until he was so close, I had to stop him with my foot pressed against his shoulder.

“I know, Dad,” I said, though I was a little unsure of what I was admitting. “And you will get the chance to meet him, I promise.” Tyler grabbed my foot and tossed my shoe away, running his hands up my leg. 

“When?” Dad asked.

As Tyler’s hand ran up the inside of my thigh, I let out a hiss of air. “Shit,” I panted down the phone.

“Lauren!” Dad exclaimed. I never swore in front of my parents.

“Sorry, Dad.” I widened my eyes and shook my head at Tyler. “That wasn’t meant for you.” I inwardly cursed as Tyler’s attention to the inside of my thigh continued. I placed my foot back on his shoulder and pushed him away. Tyler chuckled silently as he got to his feet, arms held up in surrender, and walked to the bedroom.

Mother’s voice sounded in the background and Dad spoke again. “So when are we going to get to meet this man?”

“Soon,” I replied.

Dad sighed and repeated my answer to Mother. I could hear her asking for the phone and Dad held it away as he answered but I still heard him. “I’m dealing with it, just like you asked, Clementine. She said soon.”

Tyler appeared back out of the bedroom dressed in the grey sweatpants I was such a fan of, and shirtless. Another thing I was a fan of. He flopped down on the couch beside me, lifted his laptop to his lap and placed his glasses over his nose. He was gorgeous all the time but I loved him most like this. Academia and sex. He winked at me before giving his attention to the screen.

“Look, Dad, I’ve got to go now, okay. But I’ll call again soon and arrange for us to get together.”

“We care about you, Lauren. We want to know what’s going on in your life.” His voice was weary.

“I know, Dad.”

I sighed deeply when I hung up. Talking to my parents drained me in a way that talking with no one else did. Needing to get out of my work clothes, I lifted myself from the couch and headed towards the bedroom. I needed a hot shower, clean pyjamas and a good TV show.

Tyler caught my wrist as I walked past, the pressure of my skin between his thumb and forefinger once again sending shivers through me. It scared me how easily Tyler turned me on. I was hungry for his touch. My body cried out for him and melted to a liquid when it got what it wanted. I felt vulnerable around him, knowing that I would succumb to his every whim.

“Come back here.” Tyler placed his laptop on the ground and sat up a little on the couch, creating more space for me to sit between his legs. His hands wrapped over my shoulders and his thumbs dug into my skin, creating circles as he massaged. The pent up anxiety began to seep from me, allowing me to sag against him as his fingers worked magic on my neck, shoulders and back.

“Would it help if we went down for a visit?” Tyler asked.

Distracted by the movement of his hands, I barely heard what he said but I mumbled some sort of approval.

“Do you want to go this weekend? I’ve got a few meetings but I’ll see if I can get Sadie to reschedule them.”

Suddenly aware of what he said, I shook my head. “No,” I said quickly.

“You don’t want me to meet them?” He sounded a little surprised, and his voice tightened.

“Yes, of course,” I said, straightening my back and leaning forward as his hands massaged the lower portion. “I’m just not ready for it yet. I like where we are now. Meeting my parents would only ruin it.”

Tyler laughed. “I highly doubt that. Meeting the people that created you would be wonderful.”

I looked over my shoulder, smirking and lifting my eyebrows. “I bet you won’t say that after you meet them. Dad’s great, but Mother…” I let the words trail off, partly because there was no real way to finish the sentence and partly because I just wanted to get lost in what his hands were doing.

“Well, I would like to meet them at some stage,” Tyler said.

“Same,” I replied.

“You already have.”

“Not your mother. What’s she like?” The first wife of Hamish Thornton was rarely mentioned. “Does she live nearby?”

Tyler froze for an instant. He was silent, then his hands moved over my back once again, but his voice was robotic. “She lives over on the West Coast.”

I twisted around to look at him. “So I will get to meet her soon?”

Tyler’s hands kept moving but his voice was dead. “There are some issues we need to work through.”

“Issues?”

Tyler nodded, his attention firmly fixed on the knot he had suddenly found in my shoulder. I squirmed as his fingers dug in deeply, enjoying the painful pleasure.

“Issues,” he repeated.

“Hers or ours?”

“Mine,” Tyler said. The way he said it left no room for questions. I wasn’t ready for Tyler to meet my parents so I could understand why he might be hesitant for me to meet his mother. From what Jake had told me, I knew the woman had battled some demons in her life.