The Perfect Son by Freida McFadden(20)

“Tyler.” I frown as I say his name. “What are you doing here?”

The last person I expected to see when I got home was Tyler Martinson. He’s still got on his football jersey, and he’s sitting on the front steps of my house, his elbows on his knees. When he sees me get out of the car, he scrambles back to his feet.

“Olivia,” he says. “I’ve got to talk to you.”

“Tyler!” My mother has noticed Tyler sitting there. He knows her because Tyler’s mom is this crazy PTA lady. She’s always volunteering for this or selling tickets for that. All the other parents are always trying to suck up to her, including my mom. “How are you doing?”

“Good.” Tyler shrugs. Liam is always really polite around adults, but Tyler isn’t. I’m lucky he doesn’t curse my mother out. “Mrs. Mercer, I need to talk to Olivia for a few minutes.”

My mother hesitates. Even though she knows his mother, Tyler doesn’t look like the kind of guy you want to leave your daughter alone with. He’s big, he doesn’t look adults in the eye unless he’s pissed off, and he resembles the date rapist in some TV movie.

“Just for a few minutes,” Mom says. “Then I want you to come inside, Olivia.”

I nod, disappointed my mother wouldn’t give me an excuse to blow off Tyler. I don’t want to talk to him. Not for a few minutes—not for a few seconds. But when my mother goes back into the house, he and I are left alone together for the first time since that day he asked me out and I said no.

The thing is, Tyler isn’t bad looking. He’s actually pretty good looking. Not as cute as Liam, but who is, right? The reason I didn’t want to go out with him had nothing to do with his looks. It had to do with the fact that he’s a jerk. And a bully.

For example, when we were freshmen, there was this kid in our class named Greg, who was like the nicest kid ever. But he was also really scrawny, wore super thick glasses, and was definitely pretty nerdy. For some reason, Tyler made it his mission to torture Greg. I had gym with the two of them, and Tyler was always trying to find a way to throw the ball directly at Greg as hard as he could. Which, in Tyler’s case, was really hard. I remember one time he threw it at him so hard that his glasses broke and his nose started to bleed.

He also started rumors about him online. I can’t remember all the details, but it was pretty bad. I think they also Photoshopped Greg’s face on all these embarrassing pictures. Then they sent the pictures to the whole school.

It was stuff like that the entire year. By the time June came along, Greg was so beaten down that he barely spoke anymore to anyone. And then he didn’t come back to school in September.

Oh, and last year there was that whole thing with Lily Macintosh. I guess they were going out and he got mad at her, and he sent everyone in the school these photos of her topless that she apparently sent him when they were going out. I felt really bad for Lily, although you have to be really stupid to send naked pictures of yourself to a guy like Tyler Martinson. Anyway, she left school too. Madison told me she tried to kill herself, but I’m not sure if that’s true. I overheard Tyler laughing about it in the hallway once.

So yeah. That’s Tyler. That’s the kind of shit he does.

“What is it, Tyler?” I wrap my arms around my chest, because it’s even colder than it was earlier. Tyler is wearing a coat, but there’s no chance in hell he would offer it to me the way Liam did. He’s too self-absorbed to even notice I’m cold. “What do you want?”

“I need to talk to you about Liam.”

I roll my eyes. “Don’t bother.”

“It’s important.”

“Liam is a really nice guy.” I raise my chin to look Tyler in the eyes. “There’s nothing you could tell me about him that would change my mind.”

“You’ve got to listen to me, Olivia.” Tyler’s voice cracks slightly, which surprises me. Is he actually upset? “I’m not joking around. Liam is… he’s dangerous.”

I snort. “Liam is dangerous?”

“I really think…” He frowns at me. “I think if you go out with him, your life could be in danger.”

“Oh, come on! So you’re saying he’s a murderer?”

“I’m saying… of everyone I know, he’s the only one who scares the shit out of me.”

“Why?”

Tyler shifts between his thick legs. “It’s a long story. You have to trust me.”

I just shake my head.

“And anyway,” he adds. “Liam has barely any experience with girls. Wouldn’t you rather be with someone…” He winks at me. “Someone who knows what they’re doing?”

Right. And now he’s finally come to the real reason he’s here. Because he’s pissed off that I went out with Liam after rejecting him.

“I wouldn’t, actually,” I say.

I start to turn away from Tyler, but before I can, he reaches out and grabs my arm. I try to shake him off, but he holds tight.

“You’ve got to listen to me, Olivia,” he pleads with me. “You’re making a huge mistake. I promise you.”

Tyler’s fingers are the size of sausages. I try again to shake him off again as I feel bruises blossoming on my skin. “Let me go,” I say through my teeth.