The Thief Who Saved My Life

Chapter 28

"How does it feel?" Tyler asked and I could hear his smile through the phone.

"Well," I said through a chuckle, "like nothing. I just have a packet of work to send in by the end of the year and they'll mail me my degree."

"You're basically a graduate."

"Only because no one wants to go to school with the tragedy girl."

When I'd informed the headmaster of what happened, he'd been understanding. Honestly, he was a little too eager to give me an alternative way to get my diploma. I hadn't really wanted to go back. I didn't really want to be in this town anymore, but I wasn't sure how to bring it up to Tyler. I'd realized how little I wanted to stay here when we dropped Julia and her friends off at the airport and I realized how badly I wanted to be on one of those planes. Since that moment, I hadn't been able to get the idea out of my head.

Tyler ignored my comment, because he was really good at forgiving my sarcasm and he wasn't going to try to convince me, again that that wasn't exactly what I was.

"Are you headed back to the hotel?"

"Yeah," I said. I'd been living in the suite for since my dad died. I thought about searching for an apartment but when I realized I didn't want to stay here, I just kept renting the same room. Tyler and Talon were staying with me so I was never really alone and Brandon had come over a couple times. He was the other reason I was nervous to ask Tyler about leaving. He looked after Brandon like a brother and Talon was so close to him as well. They wouldn't want to leave him and he couldn't leave his family.

"Hey, me too," Tyler said. "I'm ten minutes away."

"I'm walking through the lobby," I said grinning. Beat you. "You wanna swing through a drive-thru?"

He laughed. "We are not eating Taco Bell, Evie. I've already got it covered, I picked up some groceries."

"Ohh," I drawled out teasing. We were getting good at this, pretending that we weren't waist deep in shit. Finding a way to enjoy each other despite that. "Are you cooking for me tonight?"

"That's the plan.Tal is going to be out for a while, so I get you all to myself," he said and I couldn't stop the grin on my face.

It was darn close to the first time we'd really had alone since... well, since our date. The room at the hotel was a suite and there were separate rooms but they shared a wall. I'd been able to spend every night in Tyler's arms, whispering and snuggling and occasionally stealing kisses but nothing more. The walls were thin. But we'd been reluctant to really do anything. All of us. So it was a lot of hanging out in the hotel suite. I don't know if Brandon stepped up or if Talon was going as stir crazy as the rest of us, but he'd decided to take her out tonight. They were heading to some indie music show, away from anywhere Brandon or Tyler might normally hang out. Tyler had agreed to it after we started a group chat to check in every hour.

"I'm stepping on to the elevator so I'm about to lose you," I said.

"Okay, I'll see you in a few."

"I love you," I said as I stepped into the elevator and ended the call. An older couple and a man dressed in business attire joined me on the elevator with curious eyes. They weren't sure why a kid was here without any adult supervision. Or maybe they recognized me, some had. Since I'm an adult, technically, there wasn't anything protecting my name or face from being in the news related to my fathers death. The day I'd been escorted into the house to rummage through for any belongings, a couple news vans had been waiting outside to catch a glimpse of the walking tragedy. They'd found the hotel too, but it was secure enough to dodge them here.