“I CAN DO THIS!” I finally stand on the ice, extending my arms for balance. My knees wobble as Artic air whips against my face.
“Come on, Bambi. You can do it.” Tyler skates backwards, playfully creating more distance between us.
“It’s freezing out here! I hate this!” I yell as my back arches and my legs end up by my ears.
Within seconds, Tyler comes to an abrupt stop after racing over to me. A spray of snow and ice shoot in every direction.
“Are you ready to give up?” he asks, extending a thick black glove.
I set my hand in his and he pulls me up.
“I can skate. It’s just been a long time.” I pout, hoping a little mercy will be tossed my way. I thought I was off the hook after the first time he mentioned ice skating, but no, Pam had to bring it up last week in front of him. So much for confiding in her!
Tyler wraps his arms around my waist and pulls me flush with his body covered in full winter apparel.
“You don’t need to prove anything to me.”
I huff. “I’m not trying to prove anything. I just want to enjoy the things you do.”
A wry smile spreads across his rosy cheeks.
“There are plenty of things I love to do that you enjoy…” He leans down and whispers in my ear. “And we both get satisfaction.”
I shiver.
“You cold?”
I shake my head no.
“That’s too bad. I was going to warm you up in our bed.”
I howl with laughter as I repeat, “Okay! Okay! I’m freezing!”
Back in his truck, he cranks the heat and snuggles close to me.
“I love that you’re willing to try new things.”
I stare at him, my cheeks flushing a deep crimson thinking about how comfortable we are with each other’s bodies.
“I wasn’t referring to that, but that’s good, too.”
I offer a long sensual kiss.
“This summer, I’m going to teach you how to water ski.”
“Great,” I murmur sarcastically.
“You’ll be great and you’ll get your tan at the same time.”
“I’ll get that at the track.” I stare pointedly.
He gasps and asks, “You’re going to come with me?”
Insecurity and doubt creep in.
For so many years I stayed away from the track. Watching those men, one in particular, transform into arrogant assholes was something I didn’t want to witness; I had been living with the transformation on a daily basis.
“Unless you don’t want me there.”
“Are you kidding? I can’t wait!” he yells, his excitement nearly uncontainable.
He smacks my mouth with a hard kiss.
“I want you with me at every race. Every test and tune. Everything. Everywhere. Every time.”
A little voice in my head whispers, “This man loves you.”
***
EACH DAY OF the following week, we spend it with Tre, making the most of the time before he leaves for Atlanta with his mom and Jack. Stacy joins us for dinner several times that week when she’s not working.
“You got him a dirt bike?” Jill queries, turning a shocked expression in Tyler’s direction with raised eyebrows.
I smirk and suppress the comment, “I told you so.”
A slight moment of panic flashes across Tyler’s face.
“Jill, can I talk to you over here?”
Jill looks at her son then nods and follows.
Watching Tre jump on the bike, roaring and pretending to race makes me smile. He looks so much like Tyler with his light brown hair and bluish-green eyes.
“Don’t forget this, buddy.” Jack, Jill’s fiancé, says, fitting the helmet on Tre’s head.
I remember laughing out loud the first time I met them. I thought for sure they were joking with names like that.
“Tre, will you come see Uncle T race?”
The little boy glances up to his soon-to-be stepdad with hope in his eyes.
“We’ll see, buddy. That’s up to your mom.”
Tyler and Jill rejoin us and he drapes his arm over my shoulder, adding a kiss to my head.
I toss him a questioning look, but he just smiles.
“Mom, can we go see Uncle T race?”
Jill laughs. “Maybe for April vacation or over the summer.”
Tre jumps off the dirt bike and runs over, wrapping his arms around Tyler’s legs.
“I’m going to miss you Uncle T!”
I disengage myself from Tyler’s hold and give them a moment of privacy, stepping closer to the boy’s mom.
“You sure you’re not too upset?” I ask Jill. “He couldn’t resist. He loves that boy so much.”
“Nah, it’ll be okay. Jack can teach him after he teaches him to ride his bicycle.” She smiles at the man she plans on marrying.
I liked Jill instantly when we met her at Tre’s hockey game. We laughed about the number of injuries kids sustained during the last Field Day she coordinated at her school. She doesn’t harbor any ill feelings toward Thomas; they had never been serious and she knew exactly who he was.
“I had wanted to hump a hottie,” she said with humor in her voice. “And I did.”
I comfort Tyler that night after he offers his nephew the usual mantra of “See you later,” rather than a goodbye. I didn’t realize how affected he would be until he tells me it hurts almost as much as the day he buried his brother.
***
WEEKS LATER WITH Valentine’s Day just around the corner, an offer is finally made on the house and we eagerly accept it. Although Tyler refuses to give me a specific answer as to why he doesn’t want us to move back to his apartment, I know deep down it has something to do with him.
Like me, Tyler wants to distance himself, free himself from all things A.P. We’ve moved forward and everyone else needs to do the same. No one says anything, but we notice the snickering and side glances when we go out or I stop by the job site to bring him lunch. We quickly got over the initial awkwardness of it all especially when the guys on the crew looked on and then swiftly turned away.
Part of me is looking forward to race season; part of me is not.
Our search for a new home continues, we rent a three-bedroom home on the other side of town. It’s a modest place, but the huge garage was the selling point. The bike Tyler’s been rebuilding is almost complete; a few more adjustments and minor changes will hopefully make it one of the fastest grudge bikes on the East Coast.
Sitting on the top step that leads from the garage into the house, I watch with awe as he weaves an intricate web of wires, connecting them to different parts. The stretched cotton T-shirt over the curve of his back, the flexing of his tattooed biceps, the thickness of his thighs all drive me insane.
“What are you thinking about?” Tyler asks knowingly, his eyes matching the lust in mine.
“Nothing,” I reply coyly. If I answer honestly, he’ll devour me here and now.
“I was just thinking about how smart you are.” I smile and continue. “How do you know all this stuff?” I ask, motioning with my hands.
“I don’t know.” He shrugs, tilting his head sideways to look underneath the motor.
“Come on. You didn’t go to school for this so how’d you learn?”
His arms flex again as he tightens a bolt.
“I watched. I listened. I learned.”
“So you just walked up to some random guy at the track, stood behind him and took notes with a pen and a paper?” I ask, chuckling at the mental image.
“Actually, I took notes on my phone.” He grins playfully.
“Haha. Aren’t you a funny guy!”
When his chuckle finally subsides, he looks me at me seriously.
“I paid attention. I observed. I learned what to do and what not to do.”
“Ahh…so you were a creepy stalker then.”
Oil-slicked hands fly in my direction, mere inches away from my face and I flinch, my head hitting the door as I jump back in defense. My heart nearly stops with the moment of déjà vu, but the quick flash of memory vanishes the instant Tyler reaches out and cups my jaw carefully, pulling my mouth to his.
“Come here. I’ll give you a creepy stalker.”
He kisses me long and hard, his tongue slips into my mouth and swirls around, dancing, tasting, loving me.
“I watched from afar and then moved closer until I was in the thick of things.”
A shiver runs through my body at his words; I know he’s not just referring to building motorcycles. My belly flutters as butterflies take flight.
“From a distance.” My eyes close as I sigh, understanding his words. “You loved me from a distance for so long.”
My chin quivers over the wasted years of loving another man.
His thumbs sweep over my closed eyelids and reopen at his tender words.
“I did and I always will.”
One tender kiss is followed by another until we give in to desire and satisfy our desperate need for each other. Whispers of intimacy fall from Tyler’s lips and waft into my ears as I climax, followed by his own release.
I press my lips to his neck, leaving a trail of kisses until I reach his chest and turn my ear to listen to his beating heart. It beats hard and strong. My hands slide around his back and find their way beneath his T-shirt where my fingernails scratch lightly.
He hums in response.
“Feels so good.”
“You like that?”
Tyler lowers his face to mine, pinning me with those soulful eyes I love so much.
“I love it. I love everything you do.”
“Even this?” I lower my hand and squeeze his ass and swirl my hips, feeling him harden.
“If you keep doing that, I’ll never get this bike ready. I’ve only got three weeks to finish.”
I sigh dramatically and sing song, drawing out a single word. “Okay.”
Tyler pushes up and adjusts his clothing while I do the same. He turns his attention to the sleek motorcycle and continues the task at hand.
“Did you put in those vacation days at work?”
My eyes brighten as I nod eagerly.
“I hope you don’t mind, but I actually looked at your schedule for the entire season and requested those days off, too. Hopefully, I’ll get them approved. If not, I’ll see if someone can switch with me.”
A genuine smile stretches across his face.
“Thank you.” His face lights up like a Christmas tree. “And why would I mind? I want you to be there so you can give me a good luck kiss.”
I bite down on my lip and grin.
“Not that I need luck, but I would love the kiss.”
I roll my eyes and toss a dirty rag in his direction.
“Don’t be arrogant!”
“I’m not!” He chuckles, adding a quick shrug of his shoulders. “I just know I’m good.”
“I believe that’s called arrogance.”
He smirks and shakes his head.
“In my book, it’s called confidence.”
“Whatever,” I retort.
“You’ll see.”
Another hour slips by as I sit there, watching him. I text with Pam who’s giving me a hard time about spending all my spare time with Tyler. She thinks I’m falling into an old habit of letting a guy dictate what I do and don’t do. I think I eventually convince her that Tyler isn’t like anyone I’ve been with. Aside from my father, he’s the most considerate and loving man I’ve ever met.
I stand and stretch, announcing that I’m tired and am going to take a shower and possibly read.
“I won’t be much longer.”
My face distorts and my stomach rolls when the smell of race fuel infiltrates my nose.
“Ugh! How can you stand that?” I wave my hand in the air, clearing the air in front of my face.
Closing his eyes momentarily, Tyler inhales deeply as if he were savoring it.
“I love the smell of MR12.”
“Why?” I ask incredulously, placing a hand over my mouth.
“It’s the scent of victory.”
I laugh, moving in to kiss him.
“Hah! Do you know what I just realized?” I raise my eyebrows and wait until I have his full attention. “A doesn’t stand for Anthony. It’s for Arrogant. Tyler Arrogant Strong.”
Turning on my heels, I climb the three steps, enter the house and close the door behind me. With my hand still on the handle, my back sags against the door as a sigh releases.
I love Tyler Strong.