tear them away from the perfect man in front of me.
It was Sunday—usually the only day I saw Ty in sweats, relaxing—but clearly, he had to do some work. He was in gray slacks, and the rolled-up sleeves of his crisp white shirt cut into his defined forearms. Despite his neat clothing, his messy brown hair stuck up all over the place, that pesky wayward bit hanging over his forehead, and his gray eyes watched me with so much affection, so much . . .
“Mmmm, I love you.” Was I talking to the perfect coffee or the perfect man? My brain was still struggling to keep up. He just kept watching me, his face the picture of patience even though he clearly had somewhere to be.
I took another sip, but it wasn’t the amazing coffee spreading warmth through my chest. I set the cup down and leaned my hip on the bench, mirroring his posture.
He tilted his head and smiled. “How are you feeling after—”
“Shh.” I cut him off with a hand over his perfect mouth. His eyes widened, then crinkled in amusement. He kept one hand flat on the bench next to his hip, but the other went to my waist.
I removed my hand from his mouth and trailed my fingers over his freshly shaved jaw, coming to rest at his neck, just under the crisp collar of his shirt.
“Ask me what I’m thinking about, Ty.” I held his gaze, steady and sure as I let my Light flow into him unobstructed.
I love you.
I love you.
I love you.
I repeated the words over and over in my head, waiting for him to ask the question.
“What are you thinking about, Eve?” His voice was low but playful, his eyes still amused.
I watched, mesmerized and awed, as his ability filled him in. I was thinking the words so hard, with so much intention, it must have sounded like someone shouting in his head.
The playfulness left his expression, replaced by something . . . more, deeper. He smiled and licked his lips as he pulled me against his chest.
“Wait!” I stopped him before he could speak. “I want to say it.” A thrilling, light giddiness bubbled up in my chest and burst out of my lips. “I love you, Tyler Gabriel.”
He grinned, his whole face lighting up. “I love you, Evelyn Maynard.”
I returned his grin and leaned up to kiss him. We held each other close, our kisses messy and erratic, punctuated by laughter and broken by toothy smiles.
By the time we pulled out of each other’s arms, my latte was going cold.
He made me a fresh one, pouring coffee into his travel mug as he went. Ethan and Josh came into the kitchen, laden with grocery bags, as Tyler slid my second latte over to me.
“Did you two go grocery shopping?” I frowned as they each gave me a kiss on the cheek and deposited the bags on the island. “Don’t you have, like . . . people for that?”
“Yes.” Josh chuckled. “But we wanted to get out of the house for a bit, and Kid started getting ideas for dinner and . . .” He gestured to the food.
“But how about some breakfast first?” Ethan flashed me his dimples, twirling a pan in his big hand before setting it on the stove to heat.
“I have to head into the city for a meeting. I may need to stay the night, depending on how late it goes.” Tyler gave me a kiss on the top of my head and turned to leave. “Love you.”
“Love you.” It was amazing how easy it was to fall into those words, how effortlessly they came tumbling out considering we’d only said them for the first time a few moments ago.
As Tyler left, Alec came around the other side of the island in sweats and a hoodie.
My heart sank even as it started to hammer in my chest.
Ethan cracked an egg into the pan, the oil sizzling.
Alec pulled his hood up over his head, avoiding eye contact.
He’d heard. He must have. He was too close not to have heard me tell Tyler I loved him as if I’d been saying it my whole life, as if it were just part of our daily repertoire.
I watched him, chewing on my lip, horrified and feeling like shit.
He collected a bottle of mineral water from the fridge and walked out, not saying anything or looking at anyone. I couldn’t see the look on his face, but his unhappiness was clear