Where We Belong (A Touch of Fate #1)(2)

Don't go.

Stay.

Don't do this.

“Of course,” I whisper, my heart breaking at the lie. Unable to hold back the tears, I let them fall silently down my cheeks while my mind yells at me to say or do something to make him stay.

"Earth to Harley," Quinn says, jolting me out of my trip across the minefield I walked through today.

I glance over at the pool table again. Tyson's arm hangs loosely around Brit's neck. Her arms are wrapped tightly around his body. Me. That should be me.

I watch as he wraps her perfectly straight, blond hair around his hand and tugs her beautifully sculpted face to his. He leans down, placing a gentle kiss on her pouty lips, and when she smiles, I swear, I'm blinded by her sparkling blue eyes. I, on the other hand, was gifted with an unruly brown rat's nest on top of my head and a pair of mossy green eyes with a tiny button nose. Side by side, we are the princess and the frog.

Okay, I may be exaggerating a bit. I'm cute, or so I've been told. But Brit is every man's dream. She can have any guy she wants, but she wants Tyson—my Tyson.

I sigh as he pulls her in closer. The worst part is that he wants her, too.

I hate her.

They began dating our sophomore year in college, and my relationship with Brit has been rocky at best. She's frequently upset with the amount of time that Ty and I spend together. Despite our reassurances that we're just friends, she doesn't buy it. On more than one occasion, she has tried to convince Ty that I've been harboring secret feelings for him. She even went so far as to accuse me of using our friendship as an excuse to spend extra time with him.

And although Tyson never believed her, she was right. I do have feelings for Ty. I’ve loved that boy since I was nine years old. The minute he punched Jimmy Tallen in the nose for calling me ugly, my heart belonged to him.

Telling him about my feelings just didn't seem like an option. He never seemed to be into me, and I wasn't willing to risk losing our friendship. So I sat back, watching quietly as he dated girl after girl. I nursed his broken hearts and encouraged him to get back on the dating wagon, as any good friend would do. Then Brit literally stumbled into our lives and everything changed. I didn’t like it at all.

Tyson used to know everything about me. He knew all of my secrets, lies, and insecurities. But that isn't the case anymore. He doesn't know my biggest secret—he doesn't know that I'm in love with him.

Something began to happen though when he told me he was moving. It took me all afternoon to recover from the bomb he dropped and I'm not sure what it was, but it's like a puzzle piece was put into place. Everything became crystal clear. He can’t leave without knowing the truth.

“One more shot,” I say, raising my glass to Quinn.

Her lips curl into a devious smile. “Someone is getting brave.”

“I need all the liquid courage I can get." We tap and chug.

“It’s about damn time.” She has been trying to get me to confess my undying love for Ty for the past four years.

My head spins when I move to stand, but it’s not because I’m drunk. Confrontations have never been my strong suit. Not that I’m going to confront Ty in a bad way, but until now, I've always been able to predict how Tyson will react to things. This…well, I honestly have no idea how he is going to respond to this.

On unsteady legs, I make my way across the bar. Ty is playing pool with Levi and Cooper, his college roommates. This is the perfect time to approach him since Brit is standing at an adjacent table talking to some of her friends. I would prefer her not to be present for this conversation.

Levi greets my intrusion with a hug. “Hello, gorgeous." His hand roams down to the small of my back, and I smack it away playfully.

Poking his chest, I give him a firm look. "No ass grabbing tonight," I scold.

I lean against the back wall and watch as Cooper sweeps the table. That's my cue. Wasting no time, I kick off the wall and approach Ty. “Hey, got a sec?”

He cocks his head to the side, giving me a lopsided grin that makes my insides melt and my knees wobble. “Anything for you, you know that."

Taking a deep cleansing breath, I calm my nerves. “Can we step outside? Maybe somewhere a little more quiet?"

Tyson purses his lips, but he doesn’t protest. Instead he places his hand at the small of my back and steers me toward the side door.

“I think there are some tables outside in the back,” he says quietly.

I nod once and continue for the exit. Tyson opens the door and a rush of hot air greets us before he guides me to the right and toward the back of the building, where we locate a group of picnic tables. We walk quietly side-by-side while I give myself a pep talk.

Breathe.

You can do it.

Breathe.

What’s the worst that could happen?

Don’t forget to breathe.

We stop by one of the tables and I grab Ty's arm, preventing him from sitting. “I think you’re going to want to stand for this."

I know him all too well, and I’m sure that within the next two minutes he’ll be pacing like a bull.

“Okay. You’re starting to make me nervous, Harley. Is everything okay?" He runs his hand through his hair, giving it that I-just-had-wild-monkey-sex look, and then he shoves both hands into his pockets.