“I’ll try. I’m saying no more than that.” I pull my eyes away from the screen and pick at some lint on my joggers.
“What’s eating you beautiful?”
I look back at the screen to find him studying me.
“Nothing. Just bored and got things on my mind.”
He nods as he sits down on a bench. “Talk to me. I’m a good listener.”
I chuckle. Tyler did not strike me as the type to listen to people’s problems. “It’s nothing. I’m just being pathetic and insecure.”
“In what way?”
I sigh. “My boyfriends at some business event and there’s this gorgeous girl that attends them and she is posting photos of the two of them.”
Tyler frowns. “Why aren’t you at the event with him?”
“His dad doesn’t like me. He even tried to bribe me with money to break up with his son.”
Tyler reels in surprise. “That’s fucked up Ev. If you were mine, I’d take you with me whether or not my dad liked it. If you were mine, Taylor, I’d show you off at every opportunity I got.”
I roll my eyes again. “Quit it, Ty.”
He grins knowingly at the screen. “What, I’m being honest. Being serious though, do you trust him?”
I pause before I answer. “Yeah, I trust him. It’s her I don’t trust.”
Tyler shrugs. “You don’t need to trust her. If you trust him, that’s all that matters.”
“Who’d have thought Tyler the player giving out relationship advice.” I chuckle.
He grins and winks at me. “Maybe I’m not so much of a player anymore.”
I scoff, and he holds his hand over his heart and pouts. “You wound me, Taylor. You think I can’t do serious?”
“Nope,” I answer, laughing.
“Who’s the girl, anyway?”
“Imogen Hilton. You should see her, insta.” I groan.
Tyler lift his own phone out of his pocket and start typing with his other hand on his screen.
“Wow!” he exclaims.
“See?” I groan.“Now do you see why I’m worried?”
Tyler shakes his head. “She’s no more stunning than you are, Taylor. I prefer brunettes myself.”
I give him a pointed look.
“I’m serious,” he protests. “She just owns her beauty whereas you shy away from yours. Trust me, a girl who ain’t full of herself is far more attractive to a guy.”
“I suppose,” I reply.
“Evy, can I say hello.” Olly leans over my shoulder, moseying at whom I am talking to.
“Tyler meet my little brother, Olly.”
“Hey kid,” Tyler says with a smile and a salute.
“Who are you?” Olly asks, scrunching up his face when he realises it’s a stranger.
“I’m an old friend of your sisters. I’m trying to convince her to come to my birthday party.”
“Will there be cake?” Olly asks, his eyes widening with interest.
Tyler nods. “A big cake.”
“Evy likes cake,” Olly tells him. “She had three pieces of the cake mum made yesterday.”
I cover his mouth with my hand. “Little grass,” I joke. “What happened to the code?”
He giggles. “I forgot. Can I come to your party?” he asks Tyler.
“Ah, I’m sorry kid, but my parties are for grown-ups.”
Ollie sighs, disappointed. “Can Evy bring me some cake home then?”
“For sure,” Tyler says, grinning.
“Then she’s coming to your party,” he tells Tyler firmly.
I prod Olly playfully in the arm. “Err, excuse me, mister. I’ll decide if I go or not.”
Olly giggles, his tight dark curls bouncing as he laughs. “Come on, Evy, I want to build a police bike next.”
I shake my head, smiling. “Okay, okay, I’m coming.” I turn my attention back to Tyler who is watching us, smiling. “I got to go. Make sure you give my friend her phone back.”
Tyler grins. “I’ll make a deal. I’ll give her, her phone back if you promise to come to my party.”
I shake my head with a smile. He is relentless. “Okay, Okay. What weekend is it?”
“The weekend before Good Friday. I’ll text you the deets.”
“Sure. I can’t believe your blackmailing me into coming.”
He grins and shrugs. “A guys got to do what a guys got to do. See you soon, Taylor.”
“See ya, Ty.” I grin at the phone and shake my head. I’d not expected to talk with Ty and certainly not to talk to him about my relationship issues. I am suddenly feeling a bit homesick. I miss the old and the familiar; it is like a blanket around my insecurities. I move back to sit with Olly and we start to build more police vehicles and somehow I manage to keep myself distracted for the rest of the day and evening.
BY TWO O’CLOCK SUNDAY I haven’t heard from Grayson and it is increasing my paranoia and anxiety. Why hasn’t he text me yet? He said he would head home first thing Sunday morning. I have gone to call his number three times already and then stopped myself. I don’t want to come across as needy. He will call me when he can. Maybe he was busy, or maybe he had a lie-in this morning. Or maybe he’d been up all night with a leggy blonde. Jesus, I have to stop these constant thoughts. I hate that I am being so insecure. Is this what loving someone turned you into?
I head down to the den and find Dom playing Mario Kart with Olly. Olly is giggling excitedly as he overtakes Dom and I sit down beside him and cheer him on.
“Have you heard from Grayson?” I ask Dom.
He shakes his head, keeping his eyes on the screen. “Not since last night.”
‘He texted you last night?” I ask, trying to sound casual.
“Yeah, he was pissed off as Paige was all over his dad again.”
“Oh.” I nod. So he had time to text Dom, but I got nothing.
“Everything okay?” he asks me, noticing my silence.
I plaster on a smile. “All good.”
“Evy’s going to a boy’s party and she’s going to bring me cake back.” Olly tells Dom excitedly as their game ends and Olly wins. He jumps up on the sofa and pulls his tongue out at Dom. “I’m the winner!”
Dom chuckles. “You’re just too good at
