Chasing Danger

31- Adam Montgomery

Soon after I took in the dimensions of our temporary home, I was suddenly reminded of New York. I took one look at the king bed, with it's white sheets and gold trimmed comforter, and flashed back to the night I tried so hard to forget. The night Tyler and I confessed our feelings to each other without words, which somehow felt even more powerful. I felt my cheeks get hot as my eyes drifted over to look at Tyler, who just so happened to be looking at me, too. Judging by the temporary flash of lust in his eyes, I knew his mind had been in the same place as mine.

"Should I leave or..." Cam stood between us, his head turning back and forth to look at us tauntingly. "Seems like you guys are having a moment."

I watched as Tyler's cheeks turned a slight shade of pink before he slunked into the kitchenette to start unloading some groceries. "Cam, help me put this away."

"Yes, dad."

It was in that moment that I realized how awesome it was to have Tyler's brother with us. Nothing could happen so long as he was there, acting as the greatest buffer known to man.

"I bought painkillers if you want them." Tyler offered from behind the counter.

"I hate pills." I muttered as I walked over to the bed. After dropping my stuff on the floor and laying on the mattress, I closed my eyes and tried to clear my mind.

The sound of a phone ringing five minutes later was enough to finally get me to open my eyes. I recognized the ringtone as my own and sat up to look for it. My eyes shot over to look at Tyler, who pulled my phone out of his pocket and handed it to me. 

"Hello?" 

"Aly? Jesus, what happened?" I immediately recognized the voice on the other end as my mother's. I quickly took the phone away from my ear to look at the number, a sense of relief washing through me when I realized she was still abroad.

"Mom, I'm okay. It's no big deal." I stalled as I scrambled to come up with a story.  

"I just got off the phone with the hospital and they said you got cut with a knife, Aly. A freaking knife!" Her voice was high with panic, causing my chest to tighten with guilt. "And then, you just leave. You didn't even check out, just upped and left?"

"I got mugged, that's all. They stole my wallet and I stupidly put up a fight. I'm fine now."

I heard a heavy sigh on the other line before she spoke again. "So I don't have to fly out there to kill whoever did this?"

"No. They're in even worse shape than I'm in."

"Good." She said, though I still sensed the worry in her voice.

"I'm really okay, mom. Don't worry about me."

"I do worry. Every damn day." She sighed, making my heart clench.

There was a moment of silence before my mother spoke up again, and before she even said it, I knew what was coming. Conversations with her never lasted long when she was deployed. "I've got to go now, you rest up ok?"

"Of course." I replied. "I love you, mom."

"Love you too."

I hit the red button on the cellphone before putting it down on the bed beside me. Taking a deep breath, I focused my attention on the conversation happening in the kitchen, the brothers completely oblivious to me.

I smiled as I listened to Cam talking Tyler's ear off about the latest Star Wars movie, Cam's face lit up with animation as Tyler just stood there listening. It made me smile to know that even with everything he'd been through, Cam was still innocent and content. He seemed to be over the moon at not being with his aunts anymore, something I had indirectly caused by temporarily trapping the bosses.

Then there was Tyler. Cold, serious, dangerous Tyler. The stark contrast between the bothers made me frown because at one point, the two were probably much more similar. 

A couple of minutes later, my thoughts were interrupted when Tyler started doing something in the kitchen. Before I could figure out what it was, he was walking over to me with a plastic container in his hands.

Once he was close enough, I peered into it and quickly realized it was Pad Thai, one of my favorite meals.

Hesitantly, I grabbed the plastic container from him as well as the fork. I regarded him with curiosity as I tried to figure out how he knew to buy me this until finally, realization struck. "My roommates."

"Yep." Tyler replied. Then he pulled out a chocolate bar from his pocket and set it next to me. I suppressed a smile, weary of his intentions.

"You're still in the dog house, ya know." 

"For now. Tonight, I'm answering all of your questions. You deserve to know everything. And I want you to." Tyler told me. "No more secrets." 

Finally we'll hear the whole story!

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