Eighty Seven

Thank God he had the massaging machine, or his shoulders would have been killing him right now. Thankfully, he had listened to Alex and bought it when she suggested it. 

It was almost eleven thirty, and he was still awake, but that didn’t matter. He was relaxed and freshly showered. He adjusted the waistband of his pajamas bottom, the only thing he wore to sleep on his own bed when it wasn’t too cold, looked at himself in the mirror, before he stepped out of the bathroom. 

“What are you doing here, Rain?” he asked, his voice low and sharp.

“Huh?” she still wasn’t looking at him, but that was because she couldn’t. Damn, she was scared, and it had nothing to do with what she thought he might do to her because of the message, it was what he thought he might say, and think. 

What would he say and think? 

Probably that she had sent it on purpose to tease him? Or probably said that she was silly for thinking it might work. “I'm asking you what you're doing here.” He asked again. 

“I… I was just… I came to… I think I came to… to ask you something.” she said, stammering so bad. 

Tyler scrunched up his face. “You think?” he asked. 

“I mean, I came to...” she corrected herself then trailed off. 

Tilting his head, Tyler looked at her with his brows furrowed. “Hmm, I see. So ask me the question, Rain. What’s this about?” he asked. “I don’t like people creeping around in my room,” he added, meaning to just get the words out of her mouth, whatever it was. But he could see it got to her. 

“So he thinks I’m a creep.” She said to herself mentally. Well, that was good to know then. She definitely couldn’t wait u til he saw the message she had sent by mistake to him then. 

This was going to be so much fun. Okay, that was just sarcasm. 

Raina swallowed hard, her mind scrambling for something… anything actually, that would get her out of this. Her eyes darted around the room, as if the answer might be written on the walls. Finally, she blurted out the first thing that came to mind.  

“I came to ask if you… uh… if you still have that, um, book Alex lent you last month. You know, the one about... business strategy?” Her voice wavered, and she winced internally at how ridiculous she sounded.  

Tyler raised an eyebrow, his expression blank for a moment before one corner of his mouth lifted in a faint smirk. “The book about business strategy,” he repeated, dragging the words out as if tasting them.  

“Y-yeah,” she stammered, nodding a little too enthusiastically. “I, uh, thought maybe I would borrow it... if you’re done with it.” She said. 

Oh goodness. Maybe it was time for someone to shoot her now. This sounded ridiculous, and she just couldn’t stand how even more dreadful it must look.  

His grey eyes narrowed slightly, his smirk growing into something closer to a knowing grin. He leaned back against the doorframe, crossing his arms over his chest. “Rain, you know I don’t read books about business strategy, right?”  he asked. 

Her stomach dropped. Of course, he didn’t. She should have thought this through better. What was she thinking saying shit like that? 

“But sure,” he continued casually, his voice dripping with amusement. “Let’s say I do. Why are you asking about it now, at almost midnight, sneaking into my room instead of just texting me?” he asked.

At the mention of texting him, she just about died and went to heaven. She knew the phrase was used for good things, but this wasn’t. She had died and gone to heaven like the saying, but died in a bad way.  

Her mouth opened and closed like a fish out of water. “I… I thought you might already be asleep, and I didn’t want to wake you,” she tried, though her voice lacked conviction.  

She could tell that she was just babbling at this point, but she didn’t even know what to do. 

Tyler let out a low chuckle, shaking his head. “Uh-huh. Sure. That certainly makes perfect sense,” he said, pushing off the doorframe and walking toward her.  

Raina instinctively took a small step back. “I just wanted to…”  

“Relax, Rain,” he interrupted, his voice softer but it was still teasing. “I’ll check for your imaginary book tomorrow. But something tells me that’s not why you’re really here.”  He said. 

Her face flushed red, and she fidgeted nervously under his steady gaze. “It is,” she insisted weakly, her words barely above a whisper.  

Tyler tilted his head slightly, studying her as if she were an unsolvable puzzle. “If you say so,” he said with a shrug, though his tone told her he didn’t believe her for a second. He stepped past her to grab something from his dresser, his back now to her.  

“Now, unless there’s something else, you should probably head back to your room,” he added casually, though she could still hear the faint edge of amusement in his voice.  

Raina’s heart raced as she hesitated, unsure whether to make a run for it or try to come up with another excuse. As she started to walk out, grimacing as she went, his voice stopped her. “Wait, Rain.” He said. 

She stopped in her tracks, waiting for him to say something… anything. 

“Don’t you think it’s about time you leveled with me?” he asked, walking towards her but she couldn’t take a step from there. Instead, she stayed stationed, waiting for him to say something else or figure it out. 

“What are you really doing in my room, creeping around?” he asked, pushing up his brows. 

Raina thought about what to say, realizing she couldn’t lie again about it, because if after that, he found the text, he wouldn’t be pleased she had lied through her teeth. 

She sighed, gesturing towards his bed as she turned to face him. He was damn close, and she didn’t know why but he looked uncomfortable. 

That must be because she was in his room. 

“I came in to delete a text I sent to your phone by mistake, but I couldn’t get in your phone.” She said. Well, it definitely felt better just saying the truth, than when she lied. 

“A text?” he asked, walking back to his bed to grab the phone there. Slowly, he started to read, and as he did, all Raina could do was close her eyes with a grimace. 

By the time he was done, there was a grin on his face. “Raina… this is…” he trailed off, taking a step towards her. “Who was this meant for, your sister?” he asked and she nodded. “And this is about me?” he was now standing in front of her, too close.

“No way!” she said, her voice coming out too sharp than she intended and that told Tyler she was lying. He turned up the corners of his mouth in a smile, then he grabbed her shoulders. 

He knew what he was doing was dangerous, standing this close to her, touching her, but he just couldn’t help it. “You’re lying, and we both know it.” He said, his voice dangerously low.