Chapter Twenty-One
Ashley
I couldn’t believe I had actually done that. I smiled with a sense of excitement, but tried not to laugh as I asked Tyler his last name.
Begrudgingly, he spelled it for me. I turned around and raised my eyebrows toward him. “I think we’re done now,” I jeered. “If you need any help, or if you’re looking for a coach, I would be happy to help.”
He narrowed his eyes back at me and I couldn’t quite tell if he was intrigued by my actions, or feeling emasculated, but since I figured that the latter was probably the most opportune for us both, I was inclined to believe it so I kept up with my act.
“Thanks,” he answered inside of a laugh. “I certainly don’t need someone that skinny teaching me anything about a strongest man competition.”
“Well, I am going to start my workout now, but if you need me, you’ll know where to find me.” I flashed him my sexiest smile before I walked by him.
It was all that I could do to not look back and see if his eyes were following me, to gauge his reaction to what I would have considered a crazy stunt. Even though it didn’t bother anyone else but Tyler, it had still taken a lot for me to do something like that, especially when he was dripping with sweat and looking better to me now than any man I had ever seen. There was something about the sweat, or perhaps it was the pheromones that were being released through his workout that made me even more attracted to his delectable body.
Although, it hadn’t started out like this at all. In fact, I hadn’t even known he was going to the gym. Of course, I was curious, seeing as how he was up bright and early at four-thirty in the morning, getting dressed and running out of the house quicker than I could even get my clothes on.
When I finally made it out, I saw that he was running down the street. Of course he runs to wherever he is going.
Lucky for me, I had a car and a fairly good field of vision, since the street that the beach house was at the end of was fairly long. So, I waited to see which way he turned before starting up my car and following him that way.
Since I was sure he had probably paid my car absolutely no mind, I figured he wouldn’t even know to recognize it if I started following him.
I was right. I had kept a safe distance, but still, he seemed to be oblivious to the possibility that he was not traveling alone.
When he got to the gym, which I figured was where he was going, I waited in my car for a little while and tried to close my eyes for a few moments while in the parking lot before I made my way inside to find him.
The building was huge and open twenty-four hours, but by this point, I figured unless he was conducting interesting business inside of the gym, which was unlikely for the amount of people who were there, it would probably be okay to make myself known.
After all, there was nothing juicy, especially for someone like Tyler, to get up at all hours of the night to feed what I was sure by now was an addiction to his own reflection.
When I had made the decision to follow him though, I wasn’t sure what I would find. Part of me hoped that I would catch him doing something really illegal and I could send his pompous ass to jail for a long, long time. But after yesterday, part of me was happy that he was just going to the gym, a place where he would have bragged about going at that time in the morning, if I had only asked.
As much as I hated to admit it, yesterday at the amusement park was just a little bit more special because he was there. I actually felt like we were bonding.
My father and I were able to talk and really become close, like we were before my mother died, but it didn’t take me long to realize that Tyler was also a big part of that. I had a lot of fun with him too and therefore, when I had gone up to him, in all of his virile glory, there was a part of me that was even more content to find out that he wasn’t making any crazy deals or doing anything illegal inside the gym either.
For once in probably the entire span of time that I had known him, immense, slightly unnatural dedication aside, Tyler was being normal to me. It was then that I realized he really did have a hobby that did not include boning anything.
Granted, when I looked at him, with his bulging muscles tensing and flexing as he lifted far too many weights for one human being to be able to stand all by themselves, I was sure that one hobby did quite a bit to help out the pursuit and inspiration for another. But it was nice to see him perusing something that did not directly relate to Tyler eventually getting completely naked.
As I watched him, hopefully unseen for as long as I was standing there, I saw that instead of just talking about his dedication, he was actually showcasing it. Plus, he got extra points in my book for doing it at an ungodly hour.
That’s when I realized, once again, that he wasn’t so bad.
The terrible person that I had experienced, after a lot of drinks that night in the water was completely gone and replaced once again by the debonair man that I thought I truly understood.
Of course, I didn’t do anything dumb, like forget how he made me feel, but I did see a different side to him that I liked.
If nothing else, it made me believe that there truly might be something good lurking in the recesses of this man’s psyche and I wanted to find out more about what exactly was there.
So, that night when he finally arrived home, I made my way over to his room and knocked on his door.
I was sure that he was in there, but my knock was returned with silence at first.
“Come on, Tyler,” I insisted, unable to hide what was on my mind, “I’ve had a pretty crappy day and seeing you was the best part of it.”
“Come the fuck in!” he retorted, seeming as though he was also angry.
When I made my way into the room, he was sitting on his bed with his headphones jammed into his ears.
“Hi,” I said awkwardly, before I shrugged as though I had made my concern for my day a little worse than it really was. Perhaps I had gone a bit overboard, seeing as how nothing really happened, so much as I allowed my own head to take over. Yet, it was this house, more than anything that drove me crazy. I didn’t want to admit it, but I couldn’t seem to resist the idea that this house, for my family, was just bad luck.
He popped the headphones out of his ears and turned off the music that was still blaring through them.
“So, what’s up?” he asked in a slightly angry manner.
I narrowed my eyes and moved closer to him, but did not say a word about how I was feeling. Instead I asked, “I’m sorry, are you okay?”
He narrowed his eyes and spat. “Just because you’re fucking miserable doesn’t mean you have to come in here and pretend I feel just as bad as you.
His words were loud and abrasive, which made me quake with fear and pull back. I bit my lip and tried not to say anything that I first thought of. “I came here for help,” I finally answered. “But I only said something to you, because you seem…” I shrugged before I was able to find the right word, “Tense?”
He barked a laugh before he answered, “Yeah, so, what’s it to ya?”
I smiled, feeling almost like I had won the lottery, getting him to admit that he was feeling like anything less than god of the universe. “I’m concerned.”
“Well, don’t be. I’m fucking wonderful,” he answered, now with an even more abrasive tone.
“I don’t think that’s true…” I answered carefully, stepping towards him.
“What the hell?” he exclaimed. “Get away from me! What is it with you? One minute you’re happy and the next minute, you’re seven days fucking rain.” He glared at me with a serious expression that gave me the impression he actually wanted to know the answer to the question that he was about to ask. “So, why do you hate this place anyway?”
Well, that was definitely an improvement. Even though I wanted to tell him how I felt and what I was feeling, I wasn’t sure if I would really be able to form my concerns into words. There was just so much to explain.
So in lieu of trying to explain a situation and a sense of loss that I still didn’t completely understand, I just shook my head and mumbled, “Never mind,” before I turned to leave the room.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw that he was glaring at me as he huffed, “I’m just trying to be fucking nice.”
The moment I walked out of his door, I lamented it. Maybe I really do need someone to talk to, I thought before I waited a moment.
Should I ask him if I could come back? I wondered, but hated myself for even thinking about it. He doesn’t really care, so why would you want to encourage him? It is only going to make things worse.
Yet, before I could completely convince myself of this, I was making my way back over to the opened door and readying myself to knock.
You’re going to regret this, I told myself, but for whatever reason, I knew that I needed to tell someone what I was going through, or else I would go insane.
Tyler’s not the best option in the world for anything, I thought as I rapped my fist against the door gently and looked over at him, secretly hoping that he wouldn’t just curse me off before telling me that I had to leave. But he is the best chance I’ve got!