Tyler
I FELT SOMETHING nudging me.
Slowly, I blinked my eyes open. My lovely wife was kicking my thigh with her boot.
What the fuck?
I lifted my aching head only to discover I was laying on the floor in my boxers in the entry bathroom.
“Why are you kicking me?” I asked, reaching for the toilet to help pull me to a sitting position.
She made some kind of snarling noise that I think sounded like, “To wake you the hell up?”
Groggy, I leaned against the wall. “Shit, how did I end up in here?”
I thought hard.
Right.
Corky. The need to numb my mind too much to fight, so I left Calistoga.
Drove to the city.
Went out.
Drank.
Forgot.
Fought the memory.
Drank some more.
Forgot even more.
The booze.
All the booze.
Him. Everywhere. Him. Him. Him.
The cold.
The spinning.
The air around Paris crackled dangerously. “I don’t know, but it’s the right place for you.”
She was in a mood.
I humored her. “Why is that?” I managed, running my hand over my jaw, not in any right head space for this back and forth shit today.
“Because dogs sleep on the floor.”
I really couldn’t deal with this today. “Well, I’m not a dog.”
“Right now I’m not sure about that.”
The innuendo was clear as day and I didn’t appreciate it. My nostrils flared with misplaced contempt. “That’s bullshit and you know it.”
She glared at me and I swore those green eyes turned deadly. Yeah, she was pissed as hell at me and I got it. Once again, I’d fucked up. Took a drive and never came home. Yeah, so I took it down a notch and tried to be rational. “Look, don’t be mad. I fucked up. I get it, but I needed to sort things out in my head.”
“You were gone all night. You should have called me.”
“You’re right, I should have and I would have but I lost my phone.”
She clenched her hands into fists like she doubted it. “You want to know what’s bullshit, Tyler?”
Great, we were back to the bullshit.
“The way you’re acting!”
My cool started to fade. I glared up at her. “And how is that?”
“Like a party boy with a huge chip on his shoulder. Grow up, already, will you!”
My laugh was wicked. “You really are the fucking devil.”
Outrage flared in her features. “Don’t you dare speak to me like that. What the hell is wrong with you?”
“Wrong with me?” I sneered. “You don’t seem to think there’s a problem here, so what’s wrong with you?”
Her eyes turned into two flaming balls of green. “Well excuse me for wanting to leave the past where it belongs—in the past.”
There was no controlling my ire. “I don’t think you want to, sweetheart, I think you have.”
She gritted her teeth. “Don’t act like this, Tyler. Just don’t. Nothing good is going to come of it.”
Fuck, she was right. I brought my palms to my eyes and rubbed. “Yeah, you don’t think I know that, Paris. But this is Corky we’re talking about. Fucking Corky. And I can’t let any of it go.”
She put her hands on her hips. “And just what the hell do you think it is?”
I got to my feet, the heat between us too much. “I have no fucking clue,” I hissed, “but there’s a reason no one ever bothered to mention any of this shit. You know it and I know it.”
She took a step back. “Then try talking it out with me instead of drinking it away. How’s that for an idea?”
I drew in a breath. “Yeah, I probably didn’t handle things in the best way.”
She turned on her heels. I grabbed her wrist, fury sparking around us. “Don’t walk away.”
“You’re such a hypocrite!” she shouted, losing all her cool.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” I growled, yanking her to me.
“The only thing you know how to do is run.”
“Screw you,” I spat, and I could feel the muscles in my jaw flex.
She got right up on me and jabbed her finger into my bare chest. “No, Tyler, screw you.”
I’m not sure I ever heard her swear like that and remorse flicked in my veins.
I had taken things too far.
This wasn’t her fault.
Or mine for that matter.
This was the fucking past back to haunt us.