So I think I’m safe, huddled in my seat as she parks her Jeep and switches off the engine.
A mistake. I obviously have trouble written all over my face.
“Okay, girl, fess up.” Tessa’s gaze nails me, shrewd and worried. “What happened to you today?”
I shrug and undo my seat belt. “Nothing.”
“Yeah, right.” She sighs. “What did Zane tell you? He’s been in a strange mood lately.”
“It wasn’t Zane.”
“Then who was it?”
Crap. Fell right into that one. “No one you know.”
She waits when I don’t elaborate, when all I want is to open the car door and escape, run until my legs give out. “Man trouble?” she finally asks. “This Jax you always go on about? The super-secret hot boyfriend?”
I shake my head. “It’s not Jax, chica.”
Then she licks her lips and leans back in her seat. “You told me there was a guy once. A boyfriend who left.”
Now I want to bang my head against the car window. I did tell her that once, when she plied me with coffee liqueur one night I was feeling down. Stupid move, Erin.
“Tyler,” I whisper.
She frowns. “Like Asher’s brother?”
Oh God. “Just like Asher’s brother.”
Tessa’s eyes go round. “He was your boyfriend? The long-lost brother?”
“You knew he was back?” Did everyone know he’d reappeared but me?
“You mean, now? No, but I knew he was here around Christmas.”
Buried in my routine, busy with Jax who’d been sick, I’d been left out of the welcome party. And with my permanent black mood when it came to the Devlin family, it’s no wonder nobody told me. Besides, the only one who knew about me and Tyler is Asher, and Asher doesn’t owe me anything.
God, he doesn’t owe me anything at all, and why would he tell me Tyler’s back? It’s not as if we have any contact now that he doesn’t crash at the apartment Zane and I share.
I suck in a deep breath. “Tyler and I haven’t seen each other since he left. He appeared today, out of the blue, at Damage Control, and I got a bit of a shock. That’s all.”
“That’s all, huh?” Again that speculative look. “Didn’t you tell me he up and left without a word? That he’s a bastard, and you’re glad he’s gone ’cause you don’t wanna see him ever again?”
I chew on my lower lip, then make myself stop. “Yep. That’s the one.”
“Then why are you so upset now that you saw him?”
“I’m not upset.”
“Uh-huh. Could have fooled me.” Tessa snickers. “Your eyes are red, you know. And I can see some eyeliner smudged around them.”
Shit. Hurriedly, I wipe my fingers under my eyes. “I thought I’d never see him again. I didn’t even know whether he was alive or dead. He surprised me.”
“And why would you think he was dead?” She leans forward, pale brows knitting. “You said you were together for a year. Did you lie to me?”
“What? No.”
“So you were with this guy for a year, then he left, and you’ve been pining over him for four years now.” She tsked. “Honestly?”