Page 16 of A Constant Love
No. Stop it.
I forced the thoughts of that monster of a man out of my head. He wasn’t going to ruin my good weekend…my weekend of pretending everything would somehow work out okay.
Since I had awoken before Tyler, I threw on his t-shirt from the previous evening and headed to the kitchen to make coffee.
As I waited for it to brew, I walked to the French doors which led out to the back yard. Even though it was cold, it still looked like its own little Eden.
There was a pool complete with a slide and a waterfall. There was ample seating on a large bricked area which housed a nice firepit in the middle and a large grill to one side. Back further in the yard, I could see another seating area with a porch swing.
This place would be Heaven on Earth in the summertime.
As I gazed out the door, I wondered if we’d be able to come back when it got warm…or if my past would finally catch up to me for good. Would it be too late? Would James finally finish what he started?
A small twinge of terror crept over my body, but two large arms wrapped around me, quickly expelling it.
“Morning baby,” I said still looking outside.
“Morning, beautiful. What are you thinking about?” He said stringing kisses along my jaw line.
I turned around in his arms to face him. “Just thinking how I was going to make you promise to bring me here when it gets warm so we can go swimming.”
“You like to swim?” He asked with a smile.
“Well, yeah. I mean I’m used to doing it in a lake, but I guess a pool would be alright too.”
His hearty laugh filled the room. “You’re still just a country girl at heart, aren’t you?”
“What’s that saying? You can take the girl out of the country, but not the country out of the girl?” I grinned. “I’ll never be some city slicker like you, Trust Fund. I’m all for going into the city today, but just know, I don’t think New York City will really ever be my cup of tea.”
He nodded. “I know. Crowds don’t seem to really be your thing. But I just figured I’d take you down and show you a couple places that were important to me growing up.”
I didn’t want him to think I was complaining about anything that he had planned, so I wrapped him in a hug and said, “And I’m so excited to see them.”
An hour later, we were both showered, dressed, and headed to Manhattan, our to-go coffee mugs in hand.
When we finally hit the city, Tyler drove up and down streets pointing things out to me…his old school, the apartment building where his family used to live, and his favorite pizza place.
“By far, they have the best pizza in the city, and I mean the best pizza in New York is pretty much the best pizza in the world,” he said.
“You might just have to prove that to me, Trust Fund,” I quipped.
So, ten minutes later, we were eating pizza, and he was right…it was seriously amazing. The restaurant was just a little hole in the wall, but their pizza was top-notch.
“Okay, Ty, you win. This is awesome pizza.”
“See? I told you. The thing about Manhattan is you have to know where the hidden gems are. Living here, you learn to avoid places like Times Square and the Statue of Liberty because those are the tourist traps. Instead, come to New York, and find a local. They’ll show you all the best spots that tourists don’t know about. So, is there anything you want to see while we are here?”
I shrugged, “Oh you know, thought we’d hit Times Square and the Statue of Liberty.”
“Haha, Miss Sarcastic. You’d freak out at the crowds at those places.”
He had a point.
“But seriously, Kansas, anything you want to do while we are here? Weather says it’s supposed to snow soon, so I didn’t figure we would stay the whole day.”
“Honestly, Ty, like I said, I don’t care about anything in New York unless it has to do with you. Show me your favorite spots and what you love about the city. If you love it, I’ll love it.”
The smile he gave me made me melt. When he grinned at me, genuine joy radiated off him. He was so excited to show me this part of himself, and I was excited to learn every single part of him. Granted, Tyler was always more of an open book than I was, so sharing his life was exciting, whereas me sharing mine was daunting.