*FLASHBACK.Catherine - 8 years oldTyler, Jace, Austin - 10 years old CATHERINE. I wore a light purple t-shirt that I tucked inside my white shorts. I had already slipped on my running shoes, and my hair was pulled up into a ponytail to make sure it wouldn’t go to my face. I was all geared up for play. I just needed to wait. I sat at the end of my bed, hands clasped together, watching the clock intently. When the big hand pointed to the number 9, I jumped up and ran out of my bedroom. It was fifteen minutes before four in the afternoon. I heard Jace telling Tyler and Austin they would go to the clearing inside the forest at this time. I ran down the stairs and out of the front door. I was right. They were already walking away with the other boys around their age. I stopped at the top of the steps and counted how many there were. One, two, three, …. seven, eight, nine. Yes! There were only nine! They would need one more! I skipped the stairs and ran fast to follow them, b
CATHERINE. “Why are you smiling?” Tyler asked and it snapped me away from the memory playing in my head. We were driving toward the restaurant of my choice so we could eat something as we were both hungry. I smiled at him as I contemplated telling him my thoughts. Because before that, I was thinking of the words I told him — that I was the only one protecting his heart and that he never did it for me. But then, so many memories of our childhood came flooding back, where Tyler had never let me down. Jace had always been a good brother, but Tyler was more protective when it came to me. It was why Mom would always ask him to watch me as well, in case Jace might not. Because between the three of them — Tyler, Austin, and Jace — Tyler was the most responsible one. “You’re not sharing, and yet you keep smiling. It makes me curious.” He said, a broad smile on his lips, and I wished I hadn’t glanced in his direction because he looked too sexy from this angle. Oh, damn this. He looked
TYLER. “I missed you...” I whispered, hoping she would say those words back, but there was just silence, and it hurt. “Please, let me make it up to you. Let’s start over again.” Catherine sighed deeply before pulling away from my arms, but she didn’t move too far. Our faces were so close that her breath was fanning against my skin. “I’m not sure I understand what you are expecting when you say start over again.” She said “Pick up where we left off before you went to Australia.” “I’m not the same person anymore, Tyler. If you think I’m still the same girl who’s head over heels for you….” “I never meant that way.” But that truth hurts. It was a confirmation that I was not the center of her universe anymore. “Can we go back to being friends, and will you allow me to pursue you this time?” She was just looking at me, and I was having a hard time reading her thoughts. Was that a no? “I can wait too. If you don’t want me pushing myself on you, I can wait. But I mean, can we still be
CATHERINE.The late dinner with Tyler was awesome. In fact, the whole night with him was perfect. He had always been great company, but tonight was special. Whether there were people around us or just us in the car, he would look at me as if I were the only one he was seeing. His eyes would always search for mine, and his hands would always brush the stray hair away from my face like he didn’t want even a single strand to block his view of me. Tyler had always been attentive to me, but not this focused that I couldn’t help but revel in it.After dinner, we walked around the city, just checking out the crowd and the places that were still open. I showed him the direction that would lead to my university, and although he wanted me to take him there tonight, I told him I could do it some other day. And I thought that made him happy. “So that means I get to take you out again so we can go around the city and the places around here. Right?” He asked. We were already on our way back to w
TYLER. I was lying in bed, looking up at the ceiling, still thinking about how the night turned out perfectly. Before I met Zoey, Catherine and I would spend most of our time together whenever I was not overloaded with work. She would even sometimes hole up in the office with me, doing her schoolwork while I finished my task. And yes, she would flirt with me, but I had learned to mask my emotions from her and simply ignore her at times. But tonight, it was refreshing to let my guard down around her. I always liked when she flirted with me way back then. Even though she wasn’t doing it at this point, she was starting to loosen up, and seeing her cheeks turn scarlet red when I complimented her warmed my heart. “Oh, fuck!” I grunted as I got up from bed. I grabbed my shirt, pulled it on my head, and put on sweatpants before leaving the bedroom. I headed for her room, and after three soft knocks, she opened it. I almost choked when I saw her in her satin short pajamas with her nipples
CATHERINE. My phone pinged. I used to dread that sound, but not anymore. Ever since Tyler was here last week, he has been messaging me nonstop, which has always been the highlight of my days. The only time I would not receive anything from him would be when he had things to do, but he would inform me beforehand. Tyler was giving me the dream that I always dreamed of — his attention. And despite the distance between us, he was making sure I felt that he was interested in me. I walked to the living room from the kitchen, as I wanted the phone away from me so I wouldn’t get tempted to message him, as he said he would be in a meeting. My face lit up when I saw Tyler’s name pop up and his message on the home screen. Tyler: How are you? Catherine: Fixing dinner. Your meeting took so long to finish. What did Jace want this time? T: The meeting was over hours ago. C: *rolling eyes emoji* T: Did you miss me? C: My ears missed the sound of my phone pinging. T: No one is texting you
TYLER. “Sleep with me, Tyler.” She said it in a low voice without looking at me. I swallowed hard, my jaw tightening at her words. “Are you sure?”“Not sex, just sleep beside me. Or otherwise, I would spend the rest of the night thinking about you. I want to sleep.”Black whimpered in my head, disappointed, as he had begun flashing images of Catherine and me in bed the moment she asked me to sleep with her. But the last part made him whimper again and pranced around in my head excitedly at her explanation. A smile tugged at my mouth, but I swiped it off before I responded. I didn’t want her to see that she made me fucking melt inside. “I can do that.” I hooked my arm under her knee, and with the other still snaking around her back, I scooped her off the floor before I managed to stand up. She didn’t say anything but just clutched my t-shirt tightly with her eyes still closed. I walked us to the main light, switching it off and leaving just one lamp on before going to the stairs. “
CATHERINE. Time stopped, and all rationality went out the window when his lips met mine. I kissed Tyler hungrily, pouring into the kiss everything I was not been able to tell him yet. I loved him, but I was scared I might change my mind the moment I smelled my mate. But I prayed to the Goddess that I wouldn’t because my heart knew who it belonged to. Tyler flipped us over, and I was on my back. But in just a few seconds, he moved us again. He was turning me around as if I weighed nothing. And the next thing I knew, we were already seated, with me sitting on his lap and my back against his torso. His lips were still on mine, and although tilting my head to the side to kiss him was uncomfortable, I was not complaining. I wanted more of his lips. I had dreamed of this for a long time. His hand clamped on my stomach, holding me in place while his other hand trailed along my exposed inner thigh. He parted one leg, and I voluntarily opened both. I had no idea what I was doing. All I