How To Love (Tyler Seguin)

Chapter 44

Tyler's POV

I step out of the locker room shower, going back to my stall to get redressed. Practice was tiring, and I just want to go home and take a nap. My feet could really use a massage.

I pack up my stuff, and say goodbye to the remaining guys in the locker room. As soon as I step outside, I see Drea leaning against the wall down the hallway. She's on her phone, passing time while she waits for Jamie.

I sigh, putting my snapback on my head. I walk down the hall, hoping that Drea won't see me. But as soon as I pass by her, she looks up from her phone.

"Hey Ty," she says.

I ignore her, hiking my bag up higher on my shoulder. Drea lets out a frustrated groan. She follows after me, and puts her hand on my shoulder. She pulls me back, getting me to turn around to face her.

"You can't keep being mad at me," Drea says.

"You can't tell me what to do," I remark.

"I've apologized a million times. You're not mad at Amy anymore, so why are you still mad at me?"

"Because you're supposed to be my friend. You're supposed to look out for me," I tell her. "You didn't tell me about Amy and Terrance. I don't care if you were being loyal to Amy. You know that I love her, so you should've told me that she has feelings for him. I deserved to know that, and you betrayed me by not telling me."

"If you were me, you would've done the same thing," she says.

"Ya, maybe I would've stayed loyal and kept her secret, but you did even more than that. You encouraged her to be with him. You're supposed to be on my side. You should've been telling her to just be with me, and to forget about Terrance. But you were a shitty friend, and you told the girl I love to explore her options even if I wasn't going to be the option she chose."

"Tyler, I want Amy to be happy just like you do," Drea tells me. "And I think she deserves the chance to figure out what it is that she wants, and what makes her happy. She's never had feelings for anyone. This is new to her. You might be sure that Amy is the one for you, but how can she be sure that you're the one for her if she's never been with anyone?"

"You just should've helped me. You should've guided her in the direction where she ends up with me, but you didn't," I say.

"Helping her figure out her feelings is unfair to her," Drea says. "It's not my place to tell her who she should be with. If she's going to fall in love with you, it has to come from her and only her. I can't be influencing her."

"And why not?," I ask.

"Because what if Amy does choose you because that's what I helped her decide? And then she wakes up one day, and realizes that she made a mistake. That you're not the guy for her. I would've helped her make the wrong choice for herself. A choice that she's not happy with. So it's better that she figures everything out on her own. Then in the future she'll be truly happy with making the right decision."

"But if she doesn't choose me, I don't know what I'll do," I say. "I mean, sure she'd be happy, and that's all I want for her. But she'd be happy without me. And I couldn't live with that."

"So then make her fall so head over heels in love with you that there could be no other right choice, but you," Drea tells me.

I sigh. "I just wish I could have what you and Jamie have."

"And you will have it some day. Whether it's with Amy or not, you'll have someone there who loves you unconditionally for everything that you are," she says.