Chapter 30

Amber

I was ecstatic to have my phone back. I was able to do research on it in my spare time and communicate with the outside world like I was used to. I was saving all the files I could onto my laptop just in case something happened again, and in the process, I kept sending Tyler all these cute little messages. I kept telling him I was thinking of him and that I couldn’t wait for him to get back. However, when he walked through the doors of the apartment yesterday, I could tell something was wrong. He fell asleep beside me without so much as touching me, and the next morning I woke up to find him on the couch.

He was holding a cup of coffee, and I could tell he was deep in thought.

I knew he was acting weird because of the conversation with my father. I knew my father would’ve probably shut him down, especially with the conversation I’d just had with him. I knew he probably didn’t feel good about it, especially since he had such success with my mother and brother.

But, I needed him to understand that none of that mattered. Everyone else was on his side.

“Morning, handsome,” I said.

“Morning. How’d you sleep?” he asked.

“Rough. I missed the warmth of your body.”

“I’m sorry,” he said.

“I know you’re worried about my father,” I said.

“He’s just—”

“A stubborn, hard-headed asshole?” I asked. “Look, you’ve got Luke and my mother in your corner. My father will eventually come around. It’s just going to take time for him to adjust. You know, like with my business.”

“I’m not going to wait over a decade for him to come around to us, Amber,” he said.

“What I meant is, it took him seeing my business plan physically before he got how serious I was about it. He could still put down the registering of a name, but he couldn’t ignore a sprawling business plan. When he sees how well the two of us work, how we support each other and care for one another, he’s going to come around.”

“I’m not so sure about that,” he said.

“Look, my father’s always been a stubborn and proud man. It probably has something to do with the rocky relationship he had with my grandfather, but that’s a story for another day. The point is, you need to give it time with him. Don’t stop coming around. I won’t. And as he watches us interact, he’ll see. I promise,” I said.

He sat silently on the couch while I made us each a cup of coffee. His eyes were far off in the distance, and his legs were spread, and there was a part of me that knew how to distract him. I could sink to my knees right in between his legs and take his mind off everything that’s happened in the past week. I’d wrap my lips around that sleeping cock and bring it to life with my warmth. His moaning and groaning would turn to whimpers and grunts.

I could melt him into the couch and show him one of the reasons why he was with me.

“I don’t know if I can handle him not approving of us, Amber,” he said as I handed him his coffee. “I can’t handle being the reason you and your father have a rifted relationship.”

“You aren’t, Tyler. He’s the one that’s being stubborn. He’s refusing to come around. Trying to hang on to some semblance of control,” I said.

“Christmas won’t be the same for you this year. I wanted it to be special, and instead, it’s going to be filled with tension and anger.”

“Christmas will be special because you’re here, Tyler.” I put my hand on his knee, and he finally turned to look at me. The hurt behind his eyes crushed my soul, and I took his hand in mine before I brought it to my lips. I planted a small, sleepy kiss on top of his skin before I smiled up at him, and for a split second, I saw a grin twitch his cheek.

And that’s when it hit me. I hadn’t bought him his Christmas gift yet.

“You have any plans for the day?” he asked.

“I’m heading back over to Kelly’s. She’s already got ideas for how to potentially decorate the dance studio, and she wants my input.”

“Sounds like fun. Want some company?” he asked.

“I was actually going to bring back the ones I like to get your final opinion,” I said.

“Sounds like a plan.”

We drank our coffee together on the couch while our legs slowly intertwined with one another’s. I was enjoying my mornings with him. Mornings where we sipped coffee together in silence while the sun drifting lazily through the curtains. Sure, it wasn’t much, but what we had I felt was ours. It was unique to us and defined us in a way I’d never experienced with another man before.

I realized, for the first time, that I wanted to do this every single morning with him.

I finished my coffee before I started to get ready, and all the while he sat on the couch thinking. It killed me that this was taking up so much time in his brain, but I knew there was also nothing I could do about it. Tyler was more like my father than I think he wanted to admit. Tyler loved being in control, and when he got an idea in his head, he just couldn’t let it go until he’d seen it through. I had no idea what he was going to do today or what he had planned, but I kissed his cheek before I left for Kelly’s.

I zoomed into Kelly’s driveway and started banging on her door. She threw it open, her eyes wide with fear, and I threw my arms around her before I started begging.

“Holy hell I don’t know what to get Tyler for Christmas please come out and help me please, please!”

“Is that why you’re banging down my door? I wasn’t even fucking up yet, Amber,” she said.

“Please help me!” I exclaimed.

“Can you give me, like, fifteen minutes to get ready?” she asked.

“I’ll even get you coffee while we’re out,” I said.

“With what money?”

“I’ve got change in my car. Come on, hurry up!”

Fifteen minutes and a cup of coffee later, Kelly and I were at the mall. We talked from store to store while Kelly made suggestions, but none of them really seemed like us. I didn’t want to get Tyler a present that anyone could get him, I wanted to get him something that was special to us. Sure, a new leather jacket or his first decoration for his new office were nice things, and I’m sure they were things he would enjoy. But, I wanted it to be something special.

Something memorable.

Something that symbolized us somehow that would make him smile not with gratitude, but with love.

Holy shit, Tyler Raymond was in love with me.

“Amber, you alright?” Kelly asked.

“Yeah. Just thinking. A bit overwhelmed.”

“Want to talk about it?” she asked.

“Kelly, Tyler told me he loved me.”

She stopped me in my tracks in the middle of the mall while her jaw unhinged to the floor. She let out a deafening squeal that had people staring at us, and by the time I could get her under control her face was flushed red with excitement.

“Oh, my shit! He told you that? When? Where? What did you say?” she asked.

“Wednesday morning in my apartment. It was after he went to talk sense into my brother. He told me he loved me.”

“Did you say it back!?” she asked.

“I told him I loved him for going and talking to my brother,” I said, groaning.

“You didn’t say it back?” she asked. “Do you not love Tyler?”

“That’s not it.”

It was the first time I’d really thought about what he’d told me. This entire week had been such a whirlwind that I hadn’t taken the time to really process what he’d done. He admitted to me that he loved me, and that was a very serious thing. It deserved a proper answer when the time was right.

“I just want it to be special when I say it back.”

“So, you do love him,” she said.

“I care about him. A lot. I like waking up to him in the mornings and sharing coffee with him on my couch,” I said.

“But, do you love him?” she prodded.

“Kelly, can we just focus on the task at hand?” I asked.

“Sure, but I’m coming back around to this. So, you shot down all my ideas. What is it you’re looking for?” she asked.

“Something that represents us. Maybe something cheesy-cute or whatever.”

“Well, that’s specific. Alright, well, is there anything that reminds you of him back from his college days?”

I started running through ideas while we continued walking through the mall. Honestly, I didn’t really know if there was. There were a lot of classes and books and random hookups in bathrooms and my dorm room. There were a few movies that droned in the background and CDs that played while we were having sex.

Wait. That was it.

I grabbed Kelly’s hand and ducked into an electronics store. I pulled her down aisles looking around to see if they had a movie section. My eyes were darting along the shelves, praying to heaven they would have the one I was looking for.

“You’re getting him a DVD?” she asked. “You know you can stream all these movies, right?”

“Shut up, Kelly.” I scanned the shelves, and I felt my stomach fall. I knew it was the perfect gift to get him. The right amount of memory and cheese that would make him blush, smile, then smirk, and in that order, too. I wanted him to know that I remembered. I remembered what it felt like when his hands were first on me. What it felt like to lose my virginity to him.

What it felt like to cum for the first time in my life.

Then finally, my eyes found it. The case was shining, and the name was right on the spine, and I plucked it from the shelf before I turned it over to look at the cover.

“Never Been Kissed?” Kelly asked. “You’re getting him a Drew Barrymore movie?”

“This was the movie we first had sex to in my dorm room,” I said.

“Oh, my gosh. This was your virginity DVD,” Kelly said.

“He brought it over as a joke, at first. You know, because I was a virgin. But, we started watching it, and he held me. Really close. It was the first time I’d ever been held by someone I considered a man, and I felt so safe.”

“Did he kiss you at the end of the movie when she gets her kiss?” she asked.

“Oh, no. We made it about thirty minutes in before he made his move. Thanks for spoiling it for me, Kelly.”

“So, you’re getting this for him?” she asked.

“Yeah. Yeah, I am.” I smiled down at the movie as I took it to the counter. The cashier rang it up before he handed it back to me in a plastic bag, and all the memories from our first encounter came flooding back to my mind. The way his lips were so warm, and the way his touch was so electrifying. The way he was gentle pressing into me for the first time, and the way his tongue threw me over the edge. He cradled me closely to him, snapping his hips against mine while peppering my face with calming kisses.

I felt my skin pucker at the memory of all the sensations while we walked out of the store.

“You are so in love with Tyler,” Kelly said, smirking.

“Shut up,” I said.

“You might not want to admit it now because of the uproar your life is in, but trust me. I know that look. You totally love him,” she said.

I turned the reality over in my head as we ducked back into my car. Tyler’s present taunted me from the backseat as I took Kelly home, and she told me to come up to her apartment so I could get it wrapped quickly. She handed me a little gift bag with some tissue paper to cover it up, and all the while I couldn’t get her statement out of my head.

She was right. I was in love with Tyler.

Now, it was a matter of letting him know that.

“Thanks for your help today, Kelly,” I said.

“Anytime. Let me know how he likes he gift.”

“Oh, I will,” I said.

“And Amber?”

“Yeah?”

“Don’t wait too long. Moments are never going to be perfect. If you love him, tell him. That’s what will make the moment perfect. If you wait too long, you might risk losing him.” she said.

I turned her words over in my head as I headed back to my apartment, and yet again, she was right. I had to tell Tyler how I felt before he left. Before he convinced himself I didn’t feel the same way. Before he got too lost in his thoughts.

I had to tell him I loved him before I lost him for good.