Tyed Read online

  I hope Shane doesn't notice the money in there for a while. Luckily, he is busy with his assignment. The assignment I pretty much worked my ass off on, because he’s transmitted all of his interview questions to Izzy through me. I guided her, pressed and pestered her until she came up with the good stuff. I also took it upon myself to gather all the phone numbers and e-mails for the PR agents, lingerie designers and other key players he wanted to interview.

  In short, after giving him the money and doing his assignment for him, my conscience should be clear. And by clear, I mean spotless.

  "Want some pot?" Shane enquires with a sinister grin as he hands me my coffee.

  We sit on our red bench. It's a hectic day, full of classes, an exam, a study group and on top of things, a shift at Ned's.

  I shake my head firmly. "No, dude, thanks. I'm done with that stuff. I started working out and I think the pot really messed with my body. I'm in bad shape."

  Plus, Ty loathes the fact that I smoke, and as much as I'd hate to admit it, his opinion matters to me.

  Shane almost chokes on his laughter, but he still tucks the blunt back into his special cigarette pack. Good, he's put off too.

  "Sure, okay. Don't want to be a bad influence."

  "I take it Gemma doesn't mind?" I bump my thigh into his.

  Shane wrinkles his nose, like he is trying to remember who the hell Gemma is. "She knows the score." He lifts his gaze back to my face. "What's up with you, B? Seeing anyone?"

  This subject is explosive, but I don't want to lie to Shane. Whether he still wants me or not, lying will only make matters worse.

  "I'm kind of dating someone, but I still don't know where it's going." Maybe I'm downplaying it, and maybe it's the truth. After all, Ty and I are not officially together. We haven't discussed it yet.

  "Do I know him?"

  I take a big gulp of my tasteless coffee, then clear my throat. "The MMA guy." I reduce Ty to what he does, and hate myself for it.

  He is not the MMA guy. He's the guy who makes me laugh and giggle and see the world with more vivid colors. Oh, yeah, and come twice in twenty minutes, which no one has ever done before.

  "Wilder?" Shane’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise. Dawson is married and Jesse has a girlfriend, and Shane is freaking good at math, so he gets it quickly. He snorts. "Well, that's a random hookup."

  Okay, that's good. He is taking it like it's a joke, not like he wants to kill me, or unfriend me, for that matter.

  "I get what you're saying,” I say. “We're pretty different."

  Shane offers a grim smile. "Ain't that the fucking truth. So you chose him over me?"

  I shake my head. "No. Never. You're my best friend." My voice is high-pitched as I hide behind my coffee cup.

  There's an awkward silence before he gets to his feet, offering me his hand, which I take and jump up beside him.

  "I don't like what I'm hearing here, at all. This conversation isn't over, Blaire. When is Izzy coming back?" he asks out of nowhere, his voice still laced with annoyance.

  "Next Sunday. Why?"

  Shane takes a few long strides, walking ahead of me. "Just wanna make sure I never bump into her when we hang out. Thanks for the heads up."

  ***

  It’s five weeks into my relationship with Ty, and Izzy is due to come back from her world tour as an Elizabeth’s Passion Fairy. She’s even gotten her wings and is now one of the signature models of the lingerie label. She’s as proud of her new wings as if she had won a Nobel Peace Prize.

  I arrange to pick her up from the airport with Ty, because the drive into SFA is a bitch. I text her a few hours beforehand, warning her not to bring the volatile subject of Shane up.

  Hey. So, just so you know, Ty has a weird thing with Shane. He thinks he’s hitting on me, and with Shane's weird-ass behavior lately, he’s probably right too. So please don't mention Shane when we pick you up. It's bad enough to get groped by your BFF out of nowhere. Don't need to deal with more mess than necessary. Thanks, scrawny ass. x.

  Ty double-parks outside baggage claim and yanks me by the collar into an eager make-out session. Ever since we had sex, we've been going at it like bunnies. Sex is a new world to me, and I'm eager to explore it from all angles (and positions). It's epic, it's soothing, and it's absolutely mind-blowing. Ty must share my feelings about our sex life, because I almost lose my top, and only come to my senses when I realize his hand is rubbing my sweet spots and I’m about to climax.

  “We need to stop before we get arrested.” I let out a moan.

  “Tinted windows.” He raps one finger on his side window, his tongue swirling on my earlobe. “Remember?”

  How can I forget? It’s so mafia I feel like dying every time I drive in this shiny toy.

  My phone rings, and I peel Ty off reluctantly. “Izzy.”

  “Babe!”

  “Where’s your skinny ass today?”

  My sister’s voice pipes triumphantly. “Home.”

  I bite back a smile.

  “So where the hell are you?” Izzy brings me back to planet earth, showering me with a stream of shouts. “I’m freezing this ass in here! You know I’m too skinny to handle San Fran's summer drizzle!”

  “Huh?” I guess my hearing is impaired since all my blood went straight to my crotch from that earlier make-out session. “What do you mean you can’t see me? I’m right here.”

  Ty, who is sitting in the driver’s seat, lifts one eyebrow, as if to say Well, she is a model, so she ought to be dumb as dirt, right?

  “Hey Blaire, I’m pretty sure I would have seen you if you were out here. Our pink car stands out like a liberal in Mississippi.”

  I smack my forehead. “Sorry, Izz. Ty's ride is a black Hummer.” I cringe as I give her further description. "With...skulls and flames and stuff."

  “What the…” Her voice trails off. I spot my thinner, taller look-alike twin from the rearview mirror. She is wearing black leggings, an oversized gray sweater and a hat she stole either from Blake Lively or a seventeenth-century widow. She pushes her luggage fast, waving frantically at the car.

  I flash her my widest smile, while wondering if I possess the same eccentric qualities that make her so quirky. Ty unlatches his seatbelt and reads my mind instantaneously.

  “Clearly, I chose the hotter twin.” He leans in to steal one last kiss before we have company, swirling his tongue seductively in my mouth and releasing my lower lip from his bite.

  My mouth remains wide open and my horniness level is sky high as Ty gets out of the car nonchalantly and heads toward Izzy. He takes the mountain-sized suitcase from her hand and shoves it into the trunk. I catch a glimpse of her from the mirror watching his veiny, muscular arm as he flings the suitcase into the car like it’s nothing more than a shoebox.

  “Pleasure to meet you.” She hurls herself at him and hooks her arms around his neck. My blood boils to an unhealthy temperature when I watch Ty returning the gesture and hugging my twin sister awkwardly, like a child posing with a giant snake in the zoo. He just wants out of the situation as fast as he can.

  “God, Blaire wasn’t kidding. Anyone told you you’re yummy?” my sister purrs.

  Can’t blame her. From experience, I know seeing Ty for the first time is a groin-tickling experience.

  “Missed you, sissy!" she squeals as I get out of the car to hug and kiss her. She pinches my ass, not in a friendly way but in a lay-off-the-mac-and-cheese way. "So, is he your boyfriend or can your cute sister have a go, too?"

  "Yeah, this one is not for sharing, I guess.” I try to keep it light, sliding back into my seat. I love my sister dearly, but I'm also self-conscious as hell around her. She's the successful, gorgeous one. I've had trouble believing Ty thinks I'm special in the first place, and the idea of a lust triangle with Isabelle is my biggest, scariest nightmare.

  Izzy's eyes are glued to her cell phone, her face glowing from its screen. "Haven't seen your text yet, sissy. Reading it now."

  Ty pulls away
from the curb like a maniac, picking up speed and driving in his usual, guy-way. Elbow slung out the window, head against the headrest, he holds the steering wheel in one hand and distractingly runs his other hand over his head.

  I watch Izzy intently from the rearview mirror. Her face falls when she reads my text, and when she lifts her face, her eyes meet mine in the reflection. My blood freezes. I don't know what those blue eyes say, but whatever it is, she's screaming it like a wounded animal.

  "Everything okay?" I fish for a bottle of water and hand it to her. She reluctantly accepts, taking off her hat and tossing it angrily next to her.

  "A lot has changed while I was gone," she spits. I'm not even sure why she's mad. Because I asked her not to talk about Shane? She's been avoiding him like the plague. I didn't think it'd be a problem.

  "Not a lot," I correct her. "Maybe a little."

  "Sucks to stay out of the loop. Right, Ty?" Izzy snaps.

  “Sure.” He puts his forefinger to his temple and pretends to shoot himself, eyes rolling.

  Izzy can’t see it, but I can, and it’s making me wince. He doesn't get her bitchy attitude. Frankly, neither do I. It's unlike her.

  I fist my shirt’s fabric into a ball, biting my lower lip so hard the salty taste of blood fills my mouth. Izzy and Ty are engaged in a semi-civil conversation, but I’m nowhere near focused enough to listen to what they’re saying.

  I hear Izzy’s dangerously high-pitched voice slicing the air again. “So, Ty, have you noticed how Blaire looks a little like me?”

  “That tends to happen when you’re twins.” Ty arches one eyebrow and, very casually, illegally passes the five cars ahead of us in a speed that would smoke a fighter jet. I need to kill this conversation before Ty kills us all. He is obviously struggling with my sister.

  I steer the conversation to Nana Marty's wedding. That's when I discover that the owner of the venue they had booked cancelled their reservation at the last minute and refunded their deposit, after he realized the renovations on the venue wouldn’t be completed in time for their wedding. This means a June 13th wedding is pretty much impossible and that we’ll have to call everyone who received an invitation to notify them of the change of plans.

  Only, there is no plan.

  "I feel bad for Nana," I tell Izzy.

  "I feel bad for me!" she retorts. She's not even slightly apologetic about her little, uncalled for tantrum. Though I have a strange feeling it has to do with my message about Shane.

  I take a deep breath and let her pout. My only solace is that we are nearing our apartment complex and about to get rid of her ass faster than a dead body in a bad detective movie.

  Other than hurling Izzy out of the tinted windows, Ty is doing everything he can to get rid of her. He drives so fast my eyeballs roll into my throat. The wheels squeal like Izzy as he comes to a full stop in front of our underground parking lot. He quickly darts out of the car to get her suitcase.

  Izzy gets out of the car too, sulking into the night with her pissed-off face in full display.

  "Dude," I say, pulling her into a forced hug, "are you okay? What happened in the car?"

  She waves her hand dismissively, refusing to make eye contact. "Nothing. It's just...has Shane really tried to hook up with you?"

  My eyes widen in disbelief. Christ on a cracker, that's the one subject I asked her not to bring up in front of Ty...and sure enough, there he is, about two feet away from us, holding Izzy's suitcase and looking just about ready to destroy it.

  "The fucking asshole." I hear his gruff voice behind me.

  I shake my head. "He didn't try..."

  "But you said so yourself." Izzy's voice sounds desperate and...is she crying? It's hard to tell in the dark, but she seems genuinely upset. All thoughts of Ty are thrown out the window once I realize that my sister is hurt.

  "I said he groped me. Once!" Yup, that doesn't sound any better. "It was weeks ago. And I made it clear that I have no interest in him whatsoever. Anyway, he is dating a girl named Gemma nowadays, so..."

  Oh. Oh shit. The writing was on the wall, but I refused to see it. Izzy and Shane. Shane and Izzy. Something happened between these two...a date? A kiss? A one-night stand? An affair?! Brain is just about ready to explode.

  Wide eyed, I rush to my sister, who has already taken the suitcase from Ty and is now making her way to the entrance of the apartment complex.

  "Izz, I didn't know..."

  But she pivots on her heel and rests one flattened palm on my ribcage. "Sorry for doing this in front of Ty. I couldn't help it, sissy." She maintains the space between us like it would kill her if I got any closer, and hell if I even care anymore. She's so hurt, the only thing I care about is her.

  "Let's go upstairs and talk about it."

  She shakes her head violently. Ty's done being the good guy, obviously, since I can hear him behind me climbing back into the Hummer and slamming the door with force. I don't even blame him this time. Dude, I lied.

  "Go with your boyfriend."

  "No way, Izzy. I'm coming with. Come on, let's—"

  "No." She practically pushes me in the car's direction. "I haven't been home in weeks. I want to take a bath, I want to have a glass of wine, I want to walk around naked and have my me-time. Shane's an old story. Go with your boyfriend. Have fun. I'll still be here when you get back."

  I search her face to see if it's really okay. Izzy sees the doubt in my eyes and almost throws her suitcase at me.

  "Oh my God, just go, sissy. Go!"

  ***

  We drive silently. After we roll onto the highway to Concord , Ty turns down the volume of the music playing out of the speakers. It's my playlist, and I bet you anything it's also one helluva statement.

  "I'm sorry," I blurt into the deafening silence. I wish he'd say something, anything. "I didn't mean to lie to you. I thought Shane was just trying his luck with me. But now I see that he was just trying to hook up with me to get back at Izzy for whatever it is between them."

  Ty arches one eyebrow, looking thoroughly pissed off. "You think your best friend is trying to tap you to get back at your sister?" He scowls.

  “Yeah. Not that I'm mad or anything. I mean, she's gorgeous and successful and..."

  “And lonely and detached and no matter what, she’ll always be the less cool, less independent— and if you ask anyone with a dick—less sexy sister.”

  “Come on, Ty.”

  “Coming on, Blaire. You don’t need an army of PR people coming out of your ass and million-dollar contracts to be awesome. Izzy can spread her legs in every magazine under the sun and she still won’t be half the woman you are. The worst part is you have no clue. You really think you don't matter, that Izzy is better. But I see you.” He parks in front of his place.

  I rest my head on his shoulder and close my eyes.

  "I see you," he repeats, whispering. "I see what you don't see about yourself, and it pisses me off that Shane sees it too."

  I can't believe he doesn't give me shit for not telling him about Shane. Unless... is he is planning on paying another visit to Shane's place? No. That was a one off, I tell myself. And besides, there's still a chance it wasn't Ty.

  I listen to his heartbeat, slow and steady, and snuggle into his delicious, singular scent. No one else smells like him. I kind of like that.

  "Whatever this thing between us is, I won't tolerate any lies." He growls.

  "I swear to God," I answer, and I mean it.

  But when the words come out, I realize that I don't actually believe that what we have is secrets-free. I may have nothing to hide, but Ty is full of mystery. He has a pretty bad reputation, judging from the Internet and The Grind, and he's never even mentioned his family around me. I have a nagging feeling his whole life is pretty much his work and teammates.

  "This is the only tiny secret I had,” I say. “Hey, question—you think your mom will like me?” It may sound random, but I hate that he already knows so much about my family, and I still
don't know anything about his.

  The only thing I do know is that Ty’s dad isn’t in the picture and that he has no siblings. I stumbled upon an interview of his a few years back and found out he was raised solely by his mother.

  “I don’t think my mom likes anyone, including me.” He laughs bitterly. “Na, you got lucky. I have no family that you need to suck up to. Just Dawson and his wife and kids. Maybe Jesse, but that’s it.”

  My mouth curves downwards as I run my index finger over his lips. If I show him pity, he’ll hate me. Forever. “Thank you for not giving me shit about Shane. You're awesome.”

  He presses his warm, moist lips into my finger, staring into my eyes. “You bet your hot ass I am.”

  Heart’s throbs are piercing my ears, Brain swirls in a pool of sticky goo, and Hormones are dry-humping Ty’s leg. I take a deep breath and get out of the car, walking toward his house and stopping just as I reach his fence. One, new pair of underwear is tucked in the links. Oddly, I don't go ballistic this time. I placed my trust in his hands a few weeks ago, and he's yet to let me down.

  Ty is by my side, and the next thing I know he’s slamming his body into mine and his hands are roaming my waist and thighs. It’s late at night, but people are still walking past us, cars passing by. Ty doesn’t care. He nudges my thighs apart, grabs my ass forcefully and raises me up. I knot my legs around his tight abdomen and we mold into each other.

  My fingers curl into the holes of the fence when he fists my top into a ball behind my back. His warm tongue finds mine. Ty tastes good. Fresh and sweet and manly. He sends his free hand behind one of my knees, caressing the spot through my jeans. I didn’t even know I was sensitive there. I’m about to explode into a loud scream, my core quivering against his body, and I dig my nails into his back to signal I’m ready for the homerun. He bites my neck, his teeth sending a shiver down my spine.