We've Got This

The silence in the car was deafening, and it was driving me crazy. When we were about half-way home I decided to break it. “You know, if you wanted to make me jealous, all you had to say was that hot girls hit on you all the time; you didn’t have to bring her up. You said that to hurt me,” I said, as my eyes filled with tears and my chin quivered. He just looked at me as a tear fell. “And you know what? I’ve always been jealous of you, and I always will be jealous of you. You have this extravagant life; you have an amazing job and you’ve been all over the world. I could never compete with that. What you need to realize is that Patrick giving me that ticket was the only way I would ever be able to sit that close to the field; I couldn’t afford that seat in my dizziest daydreams. So I’m sorry if I made you jealous with my gawking at the opportunity of a lifetime,” I finished.

He took a moment before responding, probably afraid of saying the wrong thing. “I’m so sorry,” was all he said at first. “The last thing I wanted to do was hurt you. I did not bring up Ali to hurt you; you’re right, I was jealous. I was jealous because I saw the way that Rizzo guy looked at you; I should be the only guy looking at you like that,” he said, taking my hand across the center console. “But there’s no need to be jealous of me; we can go all over the world and experience amazing things together,” he added. “I’m so, so sorry baby.”

I shook my head. “I’m sorry I made you sit through that game; I know you’re not a baseball guy. But I do really appreciate you coming,” I said, glancing over at him and giving him a small smile, which he returned as he took my right hand in his and kissed it. “But you need to realize that I’m not the kind of girl to instantly drop something if I see potential in something else. I love Anthony Rizzo; he’s one of my favorite players. But that doesn’t mean that I want to be with him, or anyone else besides you, for that matter. I’m saying that I know a good thing when I see it, and we have a great thing going,” I continued, watching the road. “And I know that we’re going to be okay; know why?” I asked.

“I know we’re going to be fine, but I’ll bite. How do you know?” he asked.

“Because we’re having this conversation,” I replied. “We’re going to be okay because we’re being open with each other from the get-go, and that’s a huge thing for long-lasting serious relationships.”

By now we were pulling up to the house, so I parked in my usual spot on the street. “You’re right,” Tyler said as I turned off the car. “We’re going to be fine because we can obviously communicate. Now, can I interest you in some make-up sex?” he asked, wiggling his eyebrows and kissing the back of my hand. I just chuckled and shook my head, taking my hand back. He frowned.

I sighed. “Ty, seriously. I’m not ready for that yet. But I promise you, you’ll know when I’m ready,” I replied, and he accepted that answer as we got out of the car. “But, you can definitely interest me in a piggy-back ride up the driveway; my feet are killing me,” I added, smiling sweetly at him and batting my eyelashes. He just rolled his eyes and turned his back to me, hunching down a little bit so I could jump onto his back. I giggled a little as I leaped onto his back, causing him to stumble forward a little bit from the force. “Onward!” I exclaimed once he regained his balance, and he headed up the driveway.

Since it was already kinda late, Mom and Dad were already in bed. “We need to be quiet,” I said, sliding off his back and opening the back door. “My parents are already in bed.” Tyler nodded as we quietly headed into the house and up the stairs. “I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for bed,” I said as we entered my room, closing the door behind us so we could talk at a normal volume.

“I could stay up a little longer,” he replied, sitting down on the edge of the bed. “What’s the plan for tomorrow?” he asked.

“Well, Six Flags doesn’t open until 11, so I was thinking we hit the gym or something in the morning?” I suggested. “When’s your flight tomorrow?”

He pulled out his phone before replying; probably looking it up. “Uh, my flight leaves at 8:30 tomorrow night from Midway Airport,” he replied.

I nodded. “Okay, so then we can’t stay at Six Flags the whole time; it’s open until 7pm tomorrow. Midway is a bit of a drive, so we’ll probably only be able to stay at Six Flags for a few hours,” I replied, sitting down on the floor in front of the bed.

“And you said it opens at 11?” he asked. I nodded. “And what do you want to go to the gym for? It’s not like you can run or anything,” he added.

I rolled my eyes. “I can still do upper body and core stuff,” I replied. “So, what do you say?” I asked.

He nodded. “Alright, yeah, let’s hit the gym in the morning,” he said, taking his shirt off. “If you can keep up with me,” he added with a wink as he crawled up to the head of my bed and laid down. I rolled my eyes and went to put on my pajamas in the bathroom before heading back into the bedroom for bed. When Tyler turned to look at me he gave me a shocked look. “Oh come on; you have Chubbs shirt? Seriously?” he asked.

I shrugged. “Well, I have another shirt for this other Dallas player that looks just like my boyfriend; it’s kinda creepy actually,” I replied, climbing into bed next to him.

He smirked. “Well, I’m sure he’s one good looking guy then,” he said, sitting up and pulling me in for a kiss. “But come on, Blackhawks pajama pants too?” he whined.

“Yes, Blackhawks pajama pants. They are my favorite team after all,” I replied. “Maybe that could be a birthday gift idea for you in the future; Stars pajama pants,” I chuckled as I climbed under the covers and turned off the light. “Good night, Tyler,” I said, leaning over and kissing his cheek before turning over on my side, back to him, arms buried under my pillow.

I felt like I had only slept for five minutes when I felt myself being shaken awake. “Jean, babe, time to wake up,” Tyler said softly as he shook me. “You wanted to go to the gym this morning, so get up so we can go.”

“What time is it?” I groaned, eyes still closed and face in my pillow.

“7:30,” he replied, and I felt his weight shift off the bed and the heard him opening the blinds. “Come on, get out of bed sweetheart,” he said as I felt the blankets fly off of me.

I quickly sat up, eyes still closed, and yanked the blankets back up over my head. “A few more minutes,” I whined.

“You said yesterday that the park opens at 11, and that it takes about an hour to get there. If you sleep anymore we won’t have that much time to work out. So come on, get that pretty ass out of bed and get dressed so we can get going,” he pressed, taking hold of my arms and pulling me up. Once I was on my feet he gave me a sweet kiss. I gave him a look before walking over and pulling some workout clothes out of my dresser to change in the bathroom. “See? Was that so hard?” he asked when I came out ten minutes later.

“Oh shut up,” I replied, grabbing my gym bag and car keys. “You coming or what?” I asked, heading out of the room. He tried to take the keys from me on the way out, but I yanked my hand away. “It’s a five minute ride, I’m driving,” I said as we walked down to my car.

Once we got there I went over to the squat racks. “What the hell are you doing?” Tyler asked. “You know you can’t do any legs right now.”

I rolled my eyes and pulled over a bench. “I can still do bench press and upper body stuff,” I replied, loading up the barbell.

“I bet I can bench press you,” he said with a smirk on his face as he sat down on the bench.

I raised my eyebrow at him. “Seriously? You don’t even know how much I weigh. What if I weigh more than you’re expecting?” I asked.

“Oh stop, come here,” he said, taking my hand and pulling me over to the bench. “I promise you, I will be able to bench you, no problem,” he continued as he laid back on the bench. “Now, just lay back onto my hands,” he said, raising his hands up in the air in a press position. I gave him a wary look. “I won’t drop you, I promise.”

I then hesitantly approached the bench and slowly leaned back onto his hands, one between my shoulders and the other on my butt. Once he had a good grip on me, I carefully lifted me feet off the ground. He then easily lowered me down to his chest and lifted me back up. The trip back up was interesting; it was a rough lift, because he lifted me faster than I was expecting, and I almost fell off his hands. “Jesus Mary and Joseph,” I grunted as I tried my best to steady myself on his hands. Then he had to go and squeeze me ass. “Alright, that’s enough of that,” I added, carefully putting my feet back on the floor and leaving his hands as he chuckled. “Honestly, I’m a little surprised you didn’t do that when I was first on your hands.”

He sat up and shrugged. “I have some self-control. Not a lot, but enough,” he replied. I smiled and leaned down to give him a kiss. “What are you gonna do?” he asked.

“I think I’ll actually do some bench press,” I chuckled. “And then I’ll probably go over and do some stuff with dumbbells,” I added, sitting down on the bench that was next to Tyler.

“Need a spotter?” he asked.

I smiled widely. “I’d love one,” I replied as I loaded up my barbell with weights.

“You know what they say, right?” he asked as he stepped behind the bench.

“No, what do they say?”

He gave me a cheeky grin as I leaned back and gripped the barbell. “The couple that works out together, stays together.”

It made me laugh so hard that I had to let go of the barbell. “Oh my God,” I gasped as I sat up. “You are such a cheeseball!” I laughed. “That’s one of the silliest lines I’ve ever heard,” I added and I leaned back and gripped the barbell again.

Tyler gave me a look. “Oh come on, I thought it was pretty good,” he replied, positioning himself to spot my bench press.

“It was pretty good,” I replied as I lifted the bar. “It was just really silly as well,” I finished as I lowered and raised the barbell for my first rep. I then completed my three sets of ten reps before sitting up. “I’m gonna go upstairs and walk on the treadmill for a while. Come get me when you’re ready to head out,” I said, kissing him on the cheek before heading up the stairs.

I was up there for a good half hour before I felt someone step onto my treadmill behind me. “I’m all set, you ready to head out?” Tyler asked as he put his hands on top of mine on the sides of the treadmill. I nodded and stopped it, getting off and going to get a towel to wipe it down. When I was finished we headed home.

It was about nine in the morning when we got back to the house. “Alright, do you want to jump in the shower first?” I asked, grabbing more clean towels from my closet. “That way you won’t have to wait for me to finish my hair and all that when I’m done in the shower.”

I turned to Tyler and he nodded. “Sure, that’s fine. Should I go now?” he asked. I nodded, and he walked into the bathroom. He came out about ten minutes later with just a towel wrapped around his waist. “All yours,” he said as he sauntered over to me, where I was sitting on the bed, and kissed me sweetly.

I sighed as I looked him up and down. “You know, you really should never be allowed to wear a shirt,” I said as I ran my hands up and down his abdomen.

He groaned and took my hands off of him. “As much as I would love for this to keep going, I’m actually looking forward to Six Flags. So get a move on,” he said, pulling me up and kissing me before pushing me in the direction of the bathroom. I walked over to my dresser and took out clean clothes. I wasn’t sure what shirt I wanted to wear yet, so I just took out a bikini top.

I was in the shower for twenty minutes before I emerged dressed and hair braided. Tyler turned to look at me and rolled his eyes, groaning. “You’re killing me here,” he said, looking at my bikini top. I giggled and looked through my dresser, trying to decide on a tank top. I felt him come up behind me and wrap his arms around my waist as I searched. “I know you did this on purpose,” he mumbled into my ear.

I shrugged. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I replied. “I just couldn’t decide on a shirt, that’s all,” I said, pulling out a tank top.

Before I could put it on he turned me around, pinned between him and the dresser. “You’re such a tease, you know that?” he asked rhetorically, putting his hands on my bare waist and crashing his lips down on mine.

After a few moments I broke the kiss. “I’m the tease? Who was the one that came out of the bathroom in nothing but a towel? Hmm?” I refuted, only to have his lips reconnect with mine. I broke it one more time and smirked at him. “That’s what I thought,” I chuckled and pushed him away from me so I could put my shirt on.

Once it was on I turned back to him and he looked unsure of something. “Can I tell you something?” he asked.

“Of course.”

“Alright,” he started, taking a deep breath. “I know I should wait for a better time to say this, but Jean, I love you.”

Notes

Sorry it took so long! I got a little bit stuck trying to write this chapter.
This one is a tad boring, but it will get better and more drama-filled in the next couple of chapters. Let me know what you think!