After one feverish night with Tyler Evans, Rory is never supposed to see the man draped in enigmas and devilish charms again.
Six months later, she's deep into a summer fling with Chace. As their fling becomes a committed relationship, she's adamant...
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After one day of classes, my brain is fried. Not because the dozens of assignments thrown on my plate are challenging. I can handle homework and projects. I can handle presentations and group assignments. What I can't handle is the Evans brothers throwing me for the biggest loop I've ever been in in my life. Summer break wasa mere tease of a fantasy that quickly turned into something confusing and painful.
This isn't what I wanted when I sought out a distraction from my mama.
I discovered my first love and was beyond myself to find out he loves me back. It brings tears to my eyes just thinking about what our relationship has become as I go over this semester's syllabus for each class. I consider ways to fit Chace into my schedule over the next month, and how our newfound love is going to affect the plans I have for my future.
Then there's Tyler. He confuses and scares me all at once. One second, we're friends. The next, he's passionate and falling for me, kissing me. Then he's angry at me, and I'm not sure why. What I am sure of is that his feelings are wrong. They not only hurt Chace, but they're going to hurt our relationship. All of ours. I didn't like the kiss. No matter what he says, it meant nothing to me. I only reacted the way I did because, in those few seconds, I couldn't control myself. The touch of another human seduced me, and I forgot everything. It meant nothing.
I squeeze my pen and stare at the same line I have been for the past five minutes. Nothing. Yet I don't feel confident in my answer. When I think of Chace, I think of love and tranquility. He's secure, safe, and capable. He's everything I didn't know I needed in a lover. Tyler is brash and chaotic. I never know what he's thinking or feeling. He's fun but dangerous. I don't need dangerous.
"What the hell?" I scrub my hand over my face and lean on the edge of the table. Why am I even comparing them? Chace is my boyfriend and I love him. Tyler was a friend who's now even less. There's nothing else to say. So what if I was sad when I thought we wouldn't be friends? Emotional attachment isn't a romantic one.
I love Chace. I bury my forehead in my hands and hold back a cry. My brain hurts. My heart hurts. Glass has shattered and impaled every vulnerable part of me until every move I make aches in agony. I wasn't thinking about this before. I didn't have to. I was happily thinking of my growing affection for my boyfriend. Chace makes me feel at peace. He makes me happy. I think about him every second of the day and how I want to be the best I can be for him. Tyler annoys me and makes me doubt myself. He angers me until I want to explode.
So why am I even thinking about him?
Daringly, I touch my lips softly and return to the day he kissed me. The look in his eyes...the way his lips felt...for the briefest moment, I wanted to be touched. Just like she wanted to be touched by anything and everyone. The old Rory replaced me. The Rory who would be happy with anyone's affection. She gave in for the briefest moment and desired more. That was the girl Tyler kissed.
