Picture Perfect

Chapter Twenty-One - Tyler

Colin groaned and said, "No, sorry, you're right - I'm jumping to conclusions. I - I just didn't expect it. It's fast." He seemed to realise what he'd said and looked justifiably mortified. "Not that I have a leg to stand on - oh God, this is all going terribly, I told myself I'd be great when you started dating again. I'm messing this up."

"It's not like I've started this well," I muttered, putting my head in my hands.

Andrew stood up and left the room.

I blinked at his sudden absence, but then he opened the door and walked in as though we'd just returned from our outing. "Hey, Tyler, swimming was really fun today, thank you for including me. Anything you want to talk to us about while Saskie's in the bath?"

I took the chance, giving him a weak smile of gratitude. I could do this. I could get it right a second time. "Oh, right, well, now you mention it, yes there is something. I went on a date the other day, with Saskie's teacher, Elliot. I've spoken to her about it as a possibility and she's okay with it, so I thought I'd let you know. We've been on a couple of dates since."

"Oh, that's nice, I'm glad you had a nice date," Andrew replied easily. "He seems like a really nice guy, and he clearly likes Saskie a lot. I take it you've checked with the school that it's okay?"

"Yes, he checked," I nodded. "And he does like Saskie a lot. She likes him, too, although that may be mostly due to his three cats."

There were a few beats of silence, and then Colin took a deep breath and said, "Okay, well, I'm glad Saskie is okay with it. And I'm happy for you. Do you... is this a long-term sort of thing, do you think?"

"I'm certainly not entering it with the intention of anything casual," I replied. "Especially with him being Saskie's teacher. He's... he wants to be involved. With her life, I mean."

"Good," Andrew replied. "I'd like to think that anyone who gets involved with you would want to be part of her life. Right, Colin?"

"Right," Colin still sounded a bit dazed, but he quickly added, "He does seem really nice. And he's, uh-"

"Very fit," Andrew supplied helpfully. "Top tier boyfriend material."

If someone had told me six months prior that I'd be sat discussing how fit my date was with my ex-husband's boyfriend, I'd have laughed hard enough to pull a muscle.

"Thank you," I replied faintly, and some dickhead who turned out to be me added, "He did look good in the gym gear, didn't he?"

"Oh, yeah," Andrew confirmed, picking up his bottle of water and sipping at it. "Dude's got great legs."

"He does have great legs," I nodded, and then, because this was already the most ridiculous conversation, I asked, with the grace of a teenage boy, "Was he really staring at my chest?"

"Barely dragged his eyes away," Andrew confirmed, grinning. "Honestly, I'm kind of relieved you are dating, because if not, I'd have had to give you a heads-up that he had a mega crush on you, and I don't know if we're close enough for that."

"I hope I didn't look like a dishevelled mess," I examined myself quickly. "Sorcha said I looked like a drowned rat."

"No, don't worry," Andrew reassured me. "You've got like an artfully messy thing going on. It suits you."

Colin looked at us both as though he couldn't believe what he was witnessing, which was fair because the conversation was categorically bonkers, and said, "This was not the sort of bonding I had in mind for this week."

"Oh, hey," Andrew clicked his fingers suddenly. "How about Colin and I take Saskie out for dinner and a movie tomorrow after school gets out? We'd love some time with her by ourselves, and you could spend some time with Elliot."