“You mean your ex-boyfriend,” he corrects. “I can tell by the way he was looking at you. Why was he here?”
My eyebrows pull together as I grab my notebook and pull out the notes from class I had taken yesterday. I shove the papers into his hands and then rush for the door. I don’t have to explain myself to him. “You need to leave.”
“Why?” he chuckles. “I thought we were studying.”
“We’re not, Tyler. Leave.”
Tyler’s smile fades as he looks me over. He then folds the sheets of paper I’d shoved at him and slides them into his back pocket. “I’m sorry I’ve upset you, Natalie, but I think you deserve better than a guy like him.”
“You know nothing about him,” I hiss. He steps forward slowly and my heart pounds. What is he going to do? From what Brittany told me earlier, I’m paranoid to be alone with him now. He finally meets up to me but I grip onto the doorknob, pulling the door open. “I think it’d be best for you to leave.”
“I’m sorry, Natalie,” he whispers, placing his palms flat on the door to shut it. He cages me in with his arms and I stare up into his soft hazel eyes. “I guess I tried too hard. I know he hurt you and I know you deserve better than a guy like him. Let me take you out to make up for my reckless behavior.”
I force myself to swallow the heavy brick in my throat, staring at the blood that’s on his nose. He brings his hand up to run the back of it across my cheek. As he strokes it, I feel my cheeks heating up. My belly is brewing with a feeling I’ve never felt before. I can’t believe it. I’m enjoying how much he intimidates me.
“I’m sorry,” Tyler murmurs again, leaning back a little. “Let me make it up to you.”
“How?” I whisper
He smirks and then pulls his keys out of his pocket. “Let’s get ice-cream. It’s pretty warm today.”
I debate in my mind on whether I should or not. Nolan appears in my thoughts rapidly and I feel guilty but then again I don’t because what Sharon told me earlier has gotten to me. I don’t want to believe anything she’s said but why would she go out of her way and find me just to lie? She was talking about it too casually and for her to know who I am has me curious. Maybe there’s more to it than I know. I can’t continue to reminisce and worry myself about it. My motto for the past forty-eight hours has been “fuck it and get over it” and I’ll be doing just that. I can’t let it get to me.
“Alright. Let me grab my bag. You can clean the blood from your face in my bathroom,” I finally say. He smiles broadly and then leans in to kiss my cheek.
“I have a lot to learn about you,” he murmurs. “I don’t mind it, though.”
“Yeah,” I breathe, forcing a smile. Whatever that means.
****
“I’m serious,” Tyler says as he grabs a napkin from the table. “Professor Doran is wild. He told me once before that he makes his son audition in plays. His son wants to play basketball but Doran wants him to be an actor. The guy is insane.”
I giggle before taking a lick of my ice-cream. “I love Professor Doran. He teaches differently and I love how I can actually learn with him.”
“You’re huge on writing and reading, huh?”
“Very huge.”
Tyler nods before taking a lick of his strawberry ice-cream. He stares at me and his eyes soften a bit as he rests his elbows on the table. “I’m sorry about . . . earlier. It wasn’t right of me. I just—” He runs a hand through his hair, taking a deep breath. “I could just tell he was someone who used to be close to your heart.”
I bite on my lower lip as I look away. He has no clue how close Nolan still is to my heart. Tyler stands and tosses his strawberry ice-cream into the trash can behind him. I look at him, dumb-founded, because I still have a ton of cold vanilla left on my cone. “Why did you throw your ice-cream away?”
“I want to talk.”
“About?”
“You. What is it that you find interesting in a guy—I mean what was it in him that you fell so hard for? Not trying to be