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His dark chocolate eyes wandered her face, searching for something. What, exactly? She couldn’t be sure.
A blink later, his expression shifted, a smile brightening up his face. “Then we’re all good, Ry.”
She exhaled and tilted her head back to look at the now-darkening sky, relief flooding her chest. More silence stretched between them, but this time, it felt a little more comfortable. The kind of silence that was easy between two best friends who knew each other inside and out.
“Do you think, if he were here, that my mom would be around more?” Rory asked, her voice soft and vulnerable.
“You mean your dad?”
She nodded. When they were kids, Rory would talk to Tyler about her father—extensively. She shared what she imagined he was like, from the kind of job he had to the personality traits they shared, even down to the kind of food he probably ordered for takeout. Tyler always listened to her, dreamed with her. He knew how much Rory yearned to know the man. One who celebrated a good grade, fixed her beat-up Honda Civic she bought with her Scoops money, scolded her for coming home tipsy, looked uncomfortable when she got her period for the first time. In her head, he was the perfect dad—always attentive, always around.
But besides paying regular child support, he wasn’t in her life. She didn’t even know his name.
“Ry.”
She glanced over at him, noticing the hand he was holding out to her. She smiled, taking it like she always did when they sat on these swings.
He squeezed it tightly. “Just because she takes these jobs does not mean she doesn’t love you or doesn’t want to be around. It’s more like the opposite.”
She nodded, brushing the tears streaming down her cheeks with her free hand.
“And you know you always have us,” Ty said, cocking his head toward his house. “You’re never alone. We are always here. I am always here.”
“Promise?” she whispered.
He dipped his chin, that familiar confidence having returned as he squeezed her hand again. “I promise.”
They swayed lazily, still holding hands. Her eyes seemed to have a mind of their own as they drifted to his chest again. He didn’t seem to notice, his own gaze down at the football near his feet.
She cleared her throat, then pulled her hand away from his. “Practicing for the big game?”
He sighed. “Yes.”
“Need an opponent?”
He looked at her with a menacing grin. “Maybe one who’s a little more challenging—”
Before he could finish, Rory lunged for his football, running to her end of the lawn for a touchdown.
“Oh no you DON’T.”
She heard Tyler sprinting behind her as she charged. He quickly caught up though, wrapping his strong arms around her waist as he lifted her from the ground and threw her over his shoulder, and then turned and ran in the opposite direction.
“Oh my god,” she screamed, kicking her feet in protest as he carried her. “CHEATER!”
Tyler laughed as they reached his end of the lawn, dropping her down on her butt so he could celebrate his victory. He threw out his arms like an airplane and jogged around her in a circle, just like he always did when he scored a touchdown against her.
She chuckled and shook her head, feeling at peace at the sight of having Ty back in her life.
Chapter Two
“You never called last night.”
Rory glanced over at Melanie as she shut her locker tight.
“Yeah, sorry. Tyler came over and within an hour there was no junk food left,” she said. “It was like watching a human garbage disposal at work.”
“Takes a lot of calories to be Haverport High’s star running back,” Melanie replied with a laugh. “Wait”—her eyes went wide and she tilted her head—“you and Tyler are talking to each other?”
