Page 17 of She is the Darke

“Why not?”

“Because…” He frowned, shook his head, and lifted his attention back to the TV.

“Because why?” she asked. She could be a pest, too.

“Because you were my sister’s friend.”

That bit he’d said earlier, about doing research and realizing shifters could sense a lie? It was true. She could do that, and just now, Tyler had lied.

That wasn’t the reason he hadn’t wanted Robert to mention her.

“I only kissed him,” she admitted, and then watched the tension fade from Tyler’s posture.

“Well…good. Not that it’s any of my business.”

“Do you want to go out with Erin? I don’t mind.”

“Piss off,” he grumbled.

“No, I’m serious,” she said. “You’re here for the holiday, right? She could probably use a dick-straction.”

“A dick-straction?” he repeated.

“Yeah, you’ve probably practiced breeding with a million women.”

“Oh God, Demi. Practiced breeding?”

“Well, I don’t know what you humans call it!”

“Not that!” Tyler rubbed his hands over his face and groaned.

“Regretting coming over here?” she asked, finding acute satisfaction with his discomfort.

“No. Just wondering what the hell I did to earn the reputation you’ve made up in your head about me. Doesn’t feel fair.”

“Life isn’t fair, and sometimes reputations aren’t either,” she murmured softly, remembering how damn hard it had beenwhen her Murder had been exposed as shifters to the public. Her face had been splashed all over the media.

Tyler was just watching her, quiet. “I tried to call you when it hit the news, you know.”

“What do you mean?”

“I saw you on the news.”

Pain wrenched through her, and she dropped her gaze. “That was a long time ago.”

“Two years isn’t that long.”

She lifted her gaze to him. “Let’s talk about anything else.”

“Fine. Five fucks, one serious.”

“W-what?”

“I fucked five women, and one stuck. I gave her a ring and everything.”

Demi sat straight up against the arm of the couch. “You were engaged?”

“Yep. For two years.”