Therapy is Good for the Soul

“Brrrrr, it’s freezin' outside! Can’t believe the temperature has dropped so much since this mornin'. I’m so glad you picked me up; waiting for the T in this coat would not have been fun.”

“Yeah, it’s colder than normal for this time of year. It even looks like it could snow.” Tyler told Bailey as he hung their coats up in the closet.

“SNOW? Bite your tongue! It’s too early for snow.”

“I think Mother Nature may disagree with you.”

“I hope you’re wrong, I’m not ready for winter weather yet. Speaking of cold, would you mind turning up the heat a bit?”

“I’ll turn the fire on and fix us some hot chocolate. That should warm us up before you start on dinner.”

“You mean we start dinner. I told you that I was going to put you and Freddy to work. Where is Freddy anyways?”

“Why? Am I not good enough company for you?” Tyler said with the best wounded look he could muster.

“It’s not that; I’m just curious because he said he’d be here.”

“He should be here soon. He was going to grab some coffee with Christina before she had to go into work.”

“He really likes her huh?”

“Appears so, they’ve seen each other a few times since their blind date with us. I’m pretty sure they talk on the phone every day.”

“Christina talks about him all the time. I knew they’d hit it off! I really hope it works out for them; they make such a cute couple!”

“Couldn’t agree with you more! Hot chocolate’s ready; careful it’s hot.” Tyler handed Bailey a mug and sat next to her on the couch.

“Thanks.” Bailey blew on her hot chocolate before taking a sip. “Did you have any trouble findin' everything on the list?”

“Nope, you were right Whole Foods had everything. Brittany came over to make sure I had all the pots, pans, and other stuff you needed.”

“Tyler, I could have told you that if you took a picture of what you had and sent it to me. You told me your momma bought everything in your kitchen so why didn’t you just ask her?”

“My mom may have decorated and furnished the kitchen, but it doesn’t mean she knows what everything is or how to use anything in here.”

“She can’t be that bad. I mean she had to feed you and your sisters all these years and y’all certainly didn’t starve.”

“Trust me, my sisters and I found ways to conveniently have activities that forced us to eat out frequently. Don’t tell her I said this but my mom is a horrible cook and sadly she is passing this gene onto my sisters! Here, look at Cass’s Instagram photos; she can’t even bake a cake from a box. It’s pathetic!” Tyler showed Bailey some photos of cakes that clearly hadn’t risen, were under cooked or burnt, and just looked disgusting. They couldn’t help but laugh.

“Ok, that’s really bad! I didn’t think it was possible to screw up a box mix. No wonder you’re so motivated to have me make a home cooked meal; you’ve missed out all these years.”

“YES! Now you know my pain and hardship. It’s a wonder I didn’t die from food poisoning after all these years.”

“Food Poisoning, talking about your mom’s cooking again?” Freddy asked as he came through the front door and Tyler nodded his head yes as he let out a chuckle.

“FREDDY!” Bailey jumped off the couch and ran over to give him a hug.

“Well hello to you too.” Freddy said as he returned the hug. “Please tell me you have a cup of that ready for me too? It’s starting to snow out there.”

“Ha, Told you so!” Tyler said smugly to Bailey.

“Fiddlesticks! There go our plans for the evening. Guess we should get our coats.”

“What are you talking about? It’s just a few flurries. I can take you home in my truck after dinner; it will be fine.”

“Are you sure it will be safe Tyler?”

“Bailey, Freddy and I are from Canada and grew up driving in the snow. It will probably be safer later anyways. It’s rush hour right now and they are probably going to wait a bit before they send out the trucks to keep the roads from getting icy. It may not be necessary if this blows over. Like you said it’s early for snow so we probably won’t get much.”

“Ok. I’m still trying to get use to things not shutting down at the mere chance of snow like it does at home.”

“Now that that’s settled, lets cook. I’m getting hungry.” Freddy said and they all headed to the kitchen.

“The first thing we need to do is peel and cut these apples. We’re going to use them for the pies as well as in the stuffing for the pork chops and the kale side dish; so we need a ton. Freddy why don’t you get started on them and Tyler you can dice the onions and celery. I’ll season the pork chops, put the sweet potatoes in the oven, and then help Freddy with the apples.”

Freddy turned on some music and everybody got to work. Just as Bailey was getting ready to help Freddy with the apples, she noticed Tyler struggling to cut the onions and stepped in.

“Tyler, you’re gonna cut your fingers off. Be careful! Let me show you how to do it; I don’t want you to ruin your career learning how to cook.”

Bailey stood beside Tyler and demonstrated how he should protect his fingers and efficiently cut the onions. She stood beside him as he took over to make sure he was safe, offering occasional words of encouragement. Throughout the meal preparation tasks, Bailey and Tyler would periodically brush their arms or “accidentally” bump into each other, both of them clearly enjoying the contact. Freddy and Tyler took pictures and posted them on twitter and Instagram during the cooking process. They wanted to make sure they had proof that Bailey didn’t do all the work. In a little more than an hour their dinner of glazed, stuffed pork chops, lightly sautéed kale with apples and onions, and baked sweet potatoes was ready. Bailey plated the food in a gourmet fashion to make one more perfect picture to post.

“Everything smells delicious. I can’t believe I helped make this!” Tyler was almost giddy as he carried their plates to the table.

“The proof is in the puddin’. The ultimate test is to see if tastes as good as it looks. Are y’all ready?”

“Let’s take a bite on the count of three. One, Two, Three.” Everyone took a bite and there was dead silence in the room for a moment. “Oh my God, this is amazing! You are one hell of a teacher Bailey! I can’t believe you helped us pull this off.”

Bailey laughed and thanked Freddy. “A few more lessons and y’all won’t need me any more. You’ll be hosting dinner parties before you know it.”

“I wouldn’t go that far. Even if we get more comfortable in the kitchen; it wouldn’t be as much fun without you.” Tyler didn’t want Bailey to have any doubts that he still wanted her around as much as possible.

“I agree with Tyler. Without you, we’d probably lose a few fingers or burn the place down. Not to mention, Tyler isn’t nearly as sweet or cute as you.”

“Hey! You better watch it or I’ll tell Christina.” Tyler punched Freddy in his arm.

“I’m sure she would also agree that Bailey is better company than you. Besides, I’m sure you think she’s superior company to me too.”

“Well I can’t argue with that!”

A rosy scarlet color spread over Bailey’s cheeks making her face take on an almost childlike appearance. She quickly turned her head away, and excused herself to the restroom, embarrassed by her reaction to the boys’ discussion. On her way back to the table after she gained her composure, Bailey glanced out Tyler’s window and saw the snow was now falling heavily.

“Oh my goodness! It’s really coming down now. Come look!”

Tyler and Freddy both walked over to Bailey to look out the window. They too were surprised about how hard it was snowing. You could barely see a thing out the window.

“What do you think, should you try to take me home now or is it too late?”

“Bailey, I doubt we could see very well right now. I think it’s better to wait and see if it slows down. If not, I think it would be best if you stay here tonight. Is that ok?”

“Its not like I really have a choice. I have to be at the hospital in the morning though. Would you mind getting up early and taking me back to my place to change and then dropping me off at the hospital?”

“That’s not a problem; I’ll take you anywhere you need.”

“Thanks. Well since we aren’t going anywhere for a while, lets get back to dinner.”

After they finished dinner, Freddy and Tyler did the dishes while Bailey played with Marshall in front of the fireplace.

“Well, it doesn’t look like it’s slowed down a bit or stopping anytime soon. Looks like you’re here for the night. Do you want to watch TV or a movie?” Tyler joined Bailey on the floor to play with Marshall. He’d never been so happy to see snow in his life.

“What movies do you have?”

Tyler opened up his entertainment cabinet to reveal a ton of DVDs. “Take your pick. I also have Netflix if you don’t see anything here you like.”

Bailey started rummaging through his DVD collection. “Can we watch this?”

“Now You See Me it is.” Tyler took the movie from her and put it in the DVD player and started to set-up the TV for them to watch it. “I better take this guy out before we start the movie, unless somebody else wants to do it for me.” Tyler said in Freddy’s direction.

“Don’t look at me. He’s your dog and I’m in for the night.”

“Sorry Tyler, I’d do it if it wasn’t for the snow.”

“Fine. I’ll be right back. Come on Marshall.”

Tyler and Marshall came back about 10 minutes later. When Tyler unhooked Marshall’s leash he took off and ran right over to Bailey. He started shaking all the snow off his body and trying to curl up in her lap, getting her nice and wet.

“Marshall, GET DOWN!” Tyler picked up Marshall and Freddy handed both him and Bailey a towel to dry off. “I’m so sorry Bailey. I didn’t know he was going to do that since it’s his first snow.”

“It’s ok. He was just trying to get warm. Weren’t you buddy?” She cooed at Marshall as she rubbed his ears. “I’m kind of cold now, can I get something to change into?”

“Yea, so sorry! Hold on a minute and I’ll be right back.”

Tyler handed Marshall to Freddy and ran to his room. He brought Bailey a sweatshirt and some sweat pants.

“Thanks.”

Bailey took the clothes and headed to the bathroom to change. When she came out she was only wearing his sweatshirt, which hit just above her knees and her socks. Tyler just stared at Bailey’s voluptuous figure that poured into a nice hourglass. He was mesmerized and admired her natural beauty. His heated gaze caused a sudden rush of red to stain Bailey’s cheeks. It took Freddy’s words to take them both out of their trance.

“Thought you wanted to change to get warm? You’re wearing less now than when you went in there; how’s that going to help?”

“His pants were way to big. I tried rolling them down at the waist and up in the legs, but it didn’t work. I figured this was my best option and I could just huddle under a blanket.”

Tyler got up and got her a blanket and sat next to her on the couch. By the end of the movie, Bailey was curled into Tyler’s side and they were sharing the blanket. Tyler set Bailey up in the guest room and promised he’d set his alarm and make sure they were both up by 6:15 so he could take her to change and then to work. Bailey gave Tyler a hug before they each said goodnight.

Bailey woke up at 5:00 when a coworker called to tell her the hospital called a code white and she had spent the night at the hospital. The census was low and not expected to increase much for therapists due to the weather. She said there was no need for Bailey to come in because she had it covered. Bailey was thankful she didn’t have to go into work and could get more sleep. Since she was already up, she decided she’d let Tyler sleep in and she’d take Marshall out real quick. She got up and pulled on the yoga pants she wore yesterday and headed into the living room with Marshall following close behind. When she passed the window, she couldn’t believe how much snow had fallen. She pulled her coat out of the closet and decided she would also put on one of the boys’ coats, a scarf, and hat. She even found a pair of boots; she knew they were way to big, but she was able to pull them on over her tennis shoes and something was better than nothing. She couldn’t find any gloves, so she grabbed Freddy’s hockey gloves that were on top of his gear by the door. She grabbed Marshall’s leash and was ready to head out the door when she realized the alarm was set.

Bailey knocked on Freddy’s door and whispered, “Freddy it’s me; are you decent? I’m coming in.” Bailey opened his door wider and covered her eyes with one hand as she walked in in case Freddy slept in the nude.

Freddy rolled over and saw Bailey standing in his doorway. “It’s ok, I’m dressed so you can open your eyes. Is something wrong?”

Bailey dropped her hand and walked over to Freddy’s bed. “I need the alarm code so I can take Marshall out and I didn’t want to wake Tyler.”

“But it’s ok to wake me? It’s his dog you know.”

“I know, but he has a game tonight. Just give me the code and you can go back to sleep. ”

Freddy gave Bailey the code and she leaned down and gave kissed his forehead and told him thanks.

Freddy rubbed his eyes and started to laugh. “What the hell are you wearing?”

“It’s like a blizzard out there, so I borrowed anything I could find in the closet to keep me warm and dry.”

Freddy grabbed his phone off the bedside table and snapped a few pictures of Bailey before she could object.

“You better not show those to anyone!” She said as she ran out the room and took Marshall out. Bailey took Marshall out quickly and dried him off with a towel before she took him back to bed with her.

Tyler knocked on the guest bedroom door at 6:15 to wake Bailey. When she didn’t respond, he opened the door and walked over to the bed. She looked like an angel, so peaceful while she was sleeping. He hated to wake her up.

Tyler gently tapped her shoulder, “Bailey, it’s time to wake up so you won’t be late for work.”

Bailey yawned and said work called and she got the day off. Tyler told her ok and he would take Marshall out while he was up. Bailey mumbled something before she turned over facing away from Tyler. He wasn’t exactly sure what she said, but he gathered that she already took Marshall out. He also thought she told him to go away or get in bed. He wasn’t clear if it was get in bed or go to bed, but the idea of getting in bed with her was too tempting. He figured he’d ask for forgiveness later if that wasn’t what she meant. Tyler moved Marshall to the foot of the bed and climbed in next to Bailey and fell asleep.

Tyler woke up at 10:00 and found himself intertwined with Bailey. Half of her upper body and head was draped across his chest and one leg was lying across his. Her hair was tangled and messy covering his chest. Tyler took a deep breath through his nose; she smelled like vanilla and peaches. Tyler smiled and wrapped his arms around her; everything about this felt right to him. He felt Bailey starting to stir, so he closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep.

When Bailey woke up, Tyler knew she was blushing because he felt a swell of warmth that overcame the softness of her skin. He was caught off guard when she started to lightly trace her fingers over his abs. It took all his will power and strength not to flip her over and make out with her right then and there. After a few minutes of just lying there together, Bailey wiggled her way out from Tyler’s arms and went to the bathroom and got dressed. Not wanting Bailey to feel embarrassed, he waited to get up a few minutes after he heard Bailey talking to Freddy in his living room.

“Sleep well?” Freddy asked Tyler with an I already know the answer smirk on his face.

“Best sleep I’ve had in a very long time! How ‘bout you Bailey?”

Red leaked into her cheeks as she nervously smiled and bit her lip, recalling how wonderful if felt to wake up in Tyler’s embrace. “Good.”

“Since everyone is well rested, what do you say we get some breakfast?” Freddy asked as he headed into the kitchen.

“What would y’all like to eat?” Bailey asked as she followed him into the kitchen.

Tyler wrapped his arms around Bailey’s waist and picked her up and carried her over to the couch. “Not so fast; you’re our guest so we will cook for you.”

“Don’t get ahead of yourself; you’ve only had one lesson.” Bailey replied.

“Yes, but breakfast is my specialty. Hope you like eggs.”

“Eggs sound great.” Bailey giggled and played with Marshall while Freddy and Tyler got busy in the kitchen.

Tyler and Freddy made a perfectly simple yet delicious breakfast of scrambled eggs, whole-wheat toast, fresh fruit, and orange juice.

“That was delicious! Thank you boys.”

“You’re welcome. Now that our bellies are full what should we do today?” Tyler asked everyone.

“Isn’t it obvious? We have to play in the snow!” Freddy cried out with excitement like a little kid on Christmas morning.

“No can do, I don’t have the right kind of clothes.”

“You didn’t have any trouble going outside at the crack of dawn this morning.”

“That was different; it was early and nobody was out there. I can’t let people see me like that.”

“Like what?” Tyler was now very intrigued.

“Freddy, don’t you dare!” Bailey threw herself across the couch at Freddy and tried to grab his phone. Freddy quickly threw his phone to Tyler. Bailey ran over to him and started jumping up and down trying to get the phone out of Tyler’s hands but it was no use because he was so much taller and stronger than her. Tyler scrolled through Freddy’s photos and not only did he find the pictures of Bailey all dressed up in their clothes to take Marshall out, but also found a picture of him and Bailey asleep together from this morning. Tyler quickly forwarded all the pictures to himself and handed the phone back to Freddy. He was going to make sure to thank Freddy later.

“I swear if either of y’all show anybody else that picture I’ll kill ya!!”

“You’re awfully cute when you get riled up like this. Did you know your accent gets thicker when you’re mad?” Tyler asked Bailey and leaned in close to her ear and whispered, “It’s sexy!” Tyler winked at Bailey before he headed into the guest room.
Bailey just stood there in shock while Freddy laughed.

A few minutes later Tyler emerged from the guest room with a hot pink parka with faux fur around the hood, a pair of black snow boots, and some mittens. “Here, try these on. My sisters always leave their shit here. I think they do it on purpose so they can get new stuff.”

The coat fit Bailey perfectly; it was a bit bright for her taste but at least it would keep her warm. The boots were a size too big but were easier and safer to walk in then the ones she wore this morning. Tyler wrapped his favorite black scarf around her neck after he put on his own boots and coat.

“Perfect! Now we’re all ready to have some fun.” Tyler said then they headed downstairs to play in the snow.

Freddy, Tyler, and Bailey had a blast; they built a snowman and even joined some kids sledding down the hill behind Tyler’s complex. After they took pictures of each other with the snowman, Bailey whispered something in Freddy’s ear. Next thing you know they pummeled Tyler with snowballs.

“Two against one, I see how it is. Hope you know payback is a bitch!” Next thing you know they were engaged in a full on snowball war.

Tyler set his sight on Bailey and started chasing her. She tried to outrun him, but there was no hope, especially in the snow. Just as Tyler was about to catch her, she tripped and fell down. Tyler leaned down and offered his hand; as he pulled her up she shoved a pile of snow in his face and took off yelling for Freddy to cover her. Freddy had made a pile of snowballs that he proceeded to pelt at Tyler. Bailey joined Freddy and helped him continue the assault against Tyler. Tyler was getting hammered with snow, but he came charging forward getting in a few good ones on Freddy and Bailey who was now hiding behind Freddy.

“You can try to hide all you want, but I’m going to going to get you!” Tyler continued moving forward towards her and then he fell. “FUCK!”

Freddy and Bailey started laughing hysterically, until they saw that Tyler wasn’t getting up and had taken his gloves off. He was holding his left hand and grimacing in pain.

“What happened?” Freddy asked

“Are you ok?”

“I hit something in the ground when I fell. I think I fucking broke something!” Tyler kept his head down staring at his hand.

“I’m so sorry Tyler! Let me see.” Bailey came over to Tyler and knelt down in front of him. She gently took Tyler’s outstretched hand. “Where does it hurt?”

“Right HERE!” He said as he pulled Bailey down into the snow beside him shoveled more snow on top of her while cracking up.

“Asshole! I thought you were really hurt.” Bailey said looking wounded that Tyler would trick her like that.

“I told you payback was a bitch!” Still laughing he pulled Bailey into a hug before he helped her stand up.

They shook off as much snow as they could from their clothes and then headed inside to dry off and get warm.

“You can use my shower. Just leave your clothes outside the door and I’ll wash them for you. You can borrow another one of my shirts until your clothes are dry.” Tyler said as he escorted Bailey to his room and handed her another shirt and some clean towels.

“Thanks, I won’t be long.”

Bailey went into the bathroom and closed the door behind her. She opened the door slightly to drop her wet clothes outside the door. She stepped into the shower and turned the knobs but nothing happened. She fiddled with everything for a while, but couldn’t figure it out. She wrapped herself in a towel and stepped out into Tyler’s bedroom and called for Tyler. Tyler stopped dead in his tracks at the doorway when he saw Bailey standing there clad in only a towel.

“Tyler. Tyler. TYLER!” She called his name three times before he was brought back to reality. This time it was Tyler that blushed; he couldn’t help the errant thoughts he was having about Bailey. “Will you please help me? I can’t figure out how to turn on the water.”

“Oh, Sorry about that it’s kind of tricky.” He went into the bathroom and got the shower started and showed Bailey how to change the temperature and all the cool features to change the water pressure.

“Thanks, I think I’m good now.” Bailey said as a hint for Tyler to leave, since he was still standing in the bathroom just staring at her.

Bailey emerged in the living room about 30 minutes later. She sat next to Tyler on the couch and pulled the blanket he was under over her lap so they could share.

“Good Shower?” Tyler asked.

“Heavenly!”

“Really? Ty wasn’t even in there with you, how good could it have been?” Freddy chuckled and Bailey threw a pillow at him.

“Still have a game tonight?” Bailey asked Tyler, wanting to change the subject.

“Yeah, got a text confirming it while we were outside. I have to be there by 5 so we should probably leave by 4:15 at the latest, just in case the roads are bad.”

“We?”

“Yeah, I figured you and Freddy would both want to come. Do you not want to?”

“I’d love to come to your game.”

“Great! If it’s ok with you I’m going to take a nap to get some rest before the game.”

“No problem. See you in a bit.” Bailey gave Tyler a quick peck on the cheek before he got up and headed to his room.

Bailey and Freddy fell asleep on the couch while watching some TV. Tyler woke them up at 3:30 and told them to get ready for the game. Bailey changed into her now dry clothes and Freddy changed into his Seguin jersey.

“So Bailey, what do you say to giving Tyler a little incentive for the game tonight?”

“I’m still payin’ off the last deal y’all tricked me into makin.”

“Come on Bailey, I can always use some extra motivation.”

“What do you want this time? You can’t possibly want more pies; we made three last night.”

“No food this time. If I get a goal you have to sleep with me.”

Bailey’s and Freddy’s eyes widen from the shock of Tyler’s proposal.

“Beg your pardon?” Bailey said looking like she could slap Tyler at any moment.

“Yeah dude, what the hell are you thinking?”

“What? NO! NO! That’s not what I meant. I’m so sorry; my words came out all wrong! Look Bailey, I slept the best I’ve slept in a very long time this morning. I just want to literally sleep next to you. Nothing else, I swear!”

“Just sleep?”

“YES! If I get a goal tonight, will you spend the night again? Only this time sleeping in my bed.”

“I don’t know Tyler.”

“Bailey, we’re friends right? I promise I’m not going to try anything! I just like your company and find it comforting to have you next to me.”

“Who do you play tonight?”

“The Blackhawks, why?”

“Fine, I’ll spend the night with you if you get a hat trick and Tuukka gets a shutout. Anything less than that you take me home and I get to keep Marshall for every away game you have this season.”

“Did you not hear me say we are playing the Blackhawks, one of the top teams in the league?”

“I heard you just fine.”

“What you’re asking is nearly impossible.”

“That’s my offer take it or leave it.” Bailey was grinning from ear to ear; she knew exactly how challenging her offer was and was proud of herself for thinking on her feet and coming up with it.

“Fine, it’s a deal.” Tyler held out his hand to Bailey and she shook it. Tyler was racking his brain on how he was going to talk to Tuukka and the rest of the team to get them just as motivated as he was to win this game now.

Tyler got Freddy and Bailey amazing seats two rows behind the Bruins’ bench. Bailey thought something strange was up when almost every member of the team turned around and either smiled or waved in her direction at some point during the game. The looks became more frequent every time one of the Bruins scored a goal. Tyler scored 1 goal in the first and had a goal and 2 assists in the second period. He had a huge smirk on his face and winked at Bailey after each point he got. The third period was intense and the Blackhawks had 20 shots in that period alone, but Tuukka was like a brick wall and was well on his way to a shut out. She was so happy, it looked like the Bruins were going to beat the Blackhawks 5-0 and she was going to win the bet. To her surprise, Tyler scored his third goal with less than 8 seconds left on the clock. Tyler won the bet and was completely elated. After a brief celebration with his teammates on the ice, he skated over to the bench and looked directly at Bailey and mouthed, “I win!” and all she could do was laugh.

Bailey and Freddy hung out in the friends and family room waiting for Tyler to finish changing and talking to the press. One by one the Bruins started to emerge in the room. Bergeron, Lucic, Ference, and Campbell all stopped to say hi to Bailey and said they’d see her at the next game, which she thought was odd.

Then Brad came storming in and picked Bailey up and spun her around and kissed her on her cheek. “You really are a lucky charm, so glad you’re coming to the rest of our games!”

“What are you talkin’ about Brad?”

“Tyler told us about your deal. Thanks for helping him find passion for the game again. The team is feeding off his energy. He says you’re his lucky charm, but now you’re the team’s”

“Ok,” was all Bailey could muster out; she was quite confused and wanted to talk to Tyler.

Tyler walked in and immediately scanned the room to find Bailey. He headed over and just like Brad he scooped her up and spun her around and gave her a kiss on the cheek.

“Tyler what’s goin’ on? Your teammates keep smiling at me and saying they’ll see me at all your games. Brad even called me the team’s lucky charm. Why do they think that?”

Tyler looked down and blushed for a minute before he responded to Bailey’s questions. “Bailey, I kind of told them that you promised to come to every home game this season if I got a hat trick and Tuukka got the shut out. I told them you’re my lucky charm and that’s why I’ve been playing so well this season. I needed their help to win our bet, but was too embarrassed to tell them the real deal we made.”

“Still don’t understand why they believe I have anything to do with your game, but I’m glad you didn’t tell them the real deal we made. I don’t want them to think I’m a slut!”

“Bailey, they would never think that of you! They would have laughed at me, not you. Hockey players are very superstitious; I honestly believe that you are helping me step up my game. My teammates know that and have seen the results, so now they believe in you too. Are you mad at me?”

“I probably should be, but no I’m not. But Tyler there’s a flaw with your lie; what’s going to happen when I’m not at every game?”

“I thought about that, but figured you’d already be here for several games for Bergy’s program and I can get you tickets for the rest of them.”

“So do you want me to come to all the home games instead of our original deal?”

Tyler took Bailey’s hands and looked her directly in the eyes. “I was kind of hoping you’d do both. PLEASE!”

Bailey looked at Tyler, stood on her tiptoes and whispered in his ear “Just for you.”

Tyler smiled and kissed Bailey’s forehead. “Thank you!” Tyler took Bailey’s hand, grabbed Freddy away from Brad and headed home.

Tyler’s thoughts started to wander on the ride home and he suddenly became quiet. Once they parked, Tyler helped Bailey out of his truck, but was still silent as they got on the elevator to his condo. Once inside the condo, Bailey and Tyler said good night to Freddy and she followed Tyler to his room. Tyler turned to face Bailey and closed the door behind him. He then offered a regretful smile. “I owe you an apology, so I’m sorry. Thanks for not ratting me out to my team.”

“You don’t need to apologize; it’s fine.”

“So you’re really not mad?”

“Is that why you’re upset? I already told you I wasn’t mad. You told me the truth; it’s not a big deal.”

“You’re too good to me; I don’t deserve your friendship.” Tyler wanted to say more, to apologize again for the whole Mandy debacle and to tell her he was crazy about her. Tyler felt he was literally going insane because he didn’t know how to handle his feelings for her. After everything he’d done, she was still there with him and he didn’t understand it. He was so scared that he would do something stupid and lose her forever.

Bailey wasn’t sure what was going on with Tyler but wanted to offer him some comfort if she could. She grabbed the sides of his shirt and pressed her forehead against his chest. Tyler relaxed his cheek into her hair. She smelled so good; being near her was like a sedative. Tyler’s entire body relaxed and he was suddenly very tired, but he didn’t move. They stood there with their arms around each other for the longest time, completely lost in the moment.

Bailey eventually broke free and disappeared into the bathroom. Tyler knocked on the door and handed her one of his shirts. Bailey changed into Tyler’s shirt, washed her face and brushed her teeth with the extra toothbrush Tyler had. She took her ponytail out and quickly ran her fingers through her hair before she came out of the bathroom. She walked back in the bedroom swallowed by Tyler’s shirt. He watched her for a moment and she stared back, wondering what he was thinking. Bailey suddenly became nervous which was curiously soothing for Tyler.

“Nice pjs,” Tyler said with a smile while sitting on the bed. “Well, come on. I’m not going to bite you.” Tyler pat the bed beside him.

Bailey slowly climbed in the bed and pulled the covers up over her. “Good night Tyler.”

Bailey rolled over onto her side facing away from Tyler. Her eyes were closed and she was as stiff as a board. Tyler got up to flip off the light before crawling back into bed. Bailey didn’t move, but she wasn’t asleep.

“Bailey do you trust me?” Tyler asked, a little nervous.

Every muscle in her body was tense, but they tightened even more just before she turned to face Tyler. “Yeah, why?”

“Come here,” he said pulling her against him. He waited for her to protest, but she froze for a few minutes before letting her body melt into his. Her cheek relaxed against Tyler’s chest. Instantly, Tyler’s eyes felt heavy; Bailey being in his room and arms made it feel like home.

Notes

Thanks for the positive comments! I'm so glad you came back to read the story. I'm trying to write longer chapters so you get more of the story faster to make up for the long delay. Please let me know if you think it's too much and I'll break it up again. I fiddled with this one a while and decided I better post it before I mess it up. I hope you like the direction I'm moving in! As always any feedback you can provide would be great.