Page 84 of Tell Me I'm Enough

His jaw ticks, but he drops it.

Lani meets us at the front and runs ahead to unlock the car. Mason helps me lower Lydia into the back seat, and her head falls right into my lap.

She’s already half asleep, mumbling nonsense.

“Thank you,” I tell Mason quietly.

He nods, brushing some of Lydia’s hair off her face before stepping back.

“Text me if you need anything.”

“I will.”

He taps the roof lightly and walks away.

Tyler gets in beside me, and Lani starts the car.

For a second, it’s quiet.

Then Tyler finally speaks. “You text with him a lot?”

The implication and tone in his voice piss me off. The jealousy was cute for a minute, but not trusting me five yearsinto a relationship when I’ve never done anything wrong gets under my skin. It’s not like he hasn’t had friends who were girls, and I haven’t had guy friends before. It’s never been an issue. Why now?

“We don’t…have conversations over text. I just have his number for emergencies.”

He lets out a low hum. “Why didn’t you ask me to help?” he repeats, quieter this time, but harder.

I rub Lydia’s back absently.

“Tyler, she was about to fall. Mason was right next to us.”

“So what? You couldn’t call for me?”

“You were across the room, on your phone. I didn’t think you’d mind.”

He doesn’t respond right away. He just stares out the window, jaw clenched.

Then, low and quiet, he tells me, “You’re too close with him.”

I blink. “…I’m close with a lot of the Sig guys. You know that.”

“You sure it’s not more than that?” His eyes flick to mine.

My annoyance starts to grow. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“I just—” He rubs the back of his neck. “I just see the way he looks at you.”

I look over at him blankly. “What way is that?”

Tyler looks at me and says without even thinking, “The way I used to.”

It feels like someone dropped a weight on my stomach.

He swallows, then quickly corrects himself. “I mean—the way I do. The wayIlook at you.”

But we both know that he was right the first time.

The way I used to…when I cared, when I was in love with you.