I text Tyson to see what he’s up to. The second I send the text, my phone rings. His name appears on the screen. I can always count on him. Time and time again.
“Babe, you okay?” are the first words out of his mouth. I should tell him not to call me that, but I find myself liking it a little more each time he says it.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” He lets out a long breath.
“You scared me. You never text.”
“Oh.” Guilt fills me. Right, the one time I text him it’s because I’m about to ask a favor.
“You need something? You know I got you.” He fills the silence that I let hang for too long.
“I’m worried about the boys after last night. I’m at the diner working now, and then I’ve got some deliveries. Is there any way you’d be able to check in on them for me?”
“I’m with them now.”
“Oh,” I say again.
“I picked them up from the bus stop. You cool with me getting a tree? Logan keeps talking about it. I might have promised them already. Sorry. Next time I’ll ask you first.”
“I suppose that would be fine.” I give. The thought of Tyson trying to give them some sort of normalcy has another little crack forming in that wall of mine.
“We’ll wait for you to get home to decorate it.” Relief fills me that Tyson is planning on staying with them until I get home.
“Then who is going to follow me around when I make deliveries?” I tease.
“I’ve got that handled,” he teases right back. At least I think he is.
“Ty! We have some decorations in the basement!” I hear Logan shout in the background.
“I’ll leave you to it. You sound busy,” I say, smiling. Tyson has no idea how much weight he’s taken off my shoulders. I tell myself not to get used to it.
“Never too busy for you, babe.”
“Ty.” I sigh, enjoying his words far too much. I hear the boys calling him again in the background.
“I’ll let you get back to your tables. Love you, babe,” he says before ending the call. I stand there shocked for a minute. Tyson has been telling his followers online he’s in love with me. Hell, he’s even told me he’ll always love me and only me, but he’s never flat-out said the words to me before.
I tuck my phone away before I get back to work. Whenever I get a few seconds, I check my emails to see what deliveries I have lined up after work. I’m kind of hoping I don’t have a ton. I want to get home and maybe help with the tree. It’s the first time I’ve been excited for something in a while.
“What the hell?” I say when I see I have triple the amount than normal. The program is supposed to cap them at so many. It must be broken or something. I groan, knowing I can never do all these without working through the night. How did this happen? It even lets some people book at the same time, making it all but impossible.
“I sat someone in your section. It’s your last table for tonight,” Carol says, walking past me to drop some dishes into the sink.
“Thanks.” I head back out into the diner to see my brothers and Tyson all sitting at one of my booths. All of them smile when they see me. I don’t miss the thick winter coats they both have behind them.
“Hey.” I walk over to the table. I lean down and drop a kiss on Logan’s head. Dean is far too cool for me to do that in public, so I withhold from doing it.
“We came for burgers and milkshakes,” Dean informs me. “I kicked Tyson’s ass in Elite Showdown, so he had to buy us dinner.” I’d bet my tips that Tyson lost on purpose.
“Mouth,” Tyson and I say at the same time. Dean rolls his eyes.
“Dean is the best. Told you not to take the bet,” Logan tells Tyson.
“He is the best,” Tyson agrees, making Dean smile even more.
“You all want your normals?” I ask. The boys both nod.
“I’ll have whatever they are,” Tyson says.