All I want is the taste that your lips allow

I was sitting in the backroom with Sheila that morning going over the sales from the last few weeks. I was beyond ecstatic that they were going up, especially since it was a week from Christmas.

My mind kept retreating back to the night before. I kept thinking about how nice his lips felt on my cheek, and I felt my face heating up just thinking back to it. And my mind kept floating back to my conversation with Mae, too. Did I love Tyler? I don't know. I mean...I liked him. A lot. A lot more than I think I've liked Markus in a long time. Could I love him? Could my feelings be moving in that direction to him? But my biggest take away from the conversation was...that I wasn't immediately saying that I didn't love Tyler. That should have been a knee-jerk reaction.

You love him. No I don't. That's what I should have done.

But I didn't. That wasn't the reaction I had. My reaction was contemplation. Did I?

"So," Sheila started from across the table pulling me immediately from my thoughts, "what's the boy up to?"

I smiled, "Tyler's actually just at home right now. But he's getting ready to go for a few away games in Nashville and then I think he's in Columbus right after. Then a few more after that. He's gone just about a week," I explained, as I was looking down at the paper writing so more information down.

I heard her giggle slightly so I looked up and shot her a confused look, "What?" I asked.

"I asked how the boy was, Rae. Your boy, as in Markus. But I see where your head is all," she said smiling at me.

Shit.

My face went red in embarrassment and I put my head in my hands, "Sorry!" I said.

She laughed, "Why would you be sorry?" she asked as I slowly put my hands back down, "I'm happy that you're not so wrapped up in Markus and how much of a jerk he is!"

I sighed, "I know," I agreed.

Her eyes went wide, "Wait...you know? Did you just agree with me about some Markus bashing?"

I chuckled and shrugged, "I know he's a jerk, trust me."

She smiled at me, "Well, either way, I'm still just happy knowing there's someone in your life that is treating how you deserve to be treated."

I smiled and looked back down at the sheet on the table, but I kept silent. She was right...I saw it.

--

I was sitting in my room at my desk on my MacBook working on Photoshop to make some new packaging for the new products we had coming to Charmed. After all the positive feedback I had gotten from the girls, I was going ahead with the process of selling them in the store.

I was trying to get everything done as quickly as I could. Tyler and I were gonna be hanging out for a while that night, since he was going to be leaving on a string of away games that would keep him on the road for just over a week. I was pretty bummed he would be gone for a while again, but I couldn't wait to hang around lazily with him for a few hours.

It was going on the fifth day that I hadn't spoken to Markus and the craziest thing happened. I felt okay. I wasn't as torn up about it as I would normally have felt. I know in my head I needed to end this before it got worse than it was.

When my phone began buzzing I smiled to myself as I saved the packaging for the new face scrubs I had been working on. I figured it was Tyler asking if we should order dinner or make it at his house or what movie we should watch. He always called for tiny conversations like that which led into hours of talking.

That's why, when I looked down at my phone, I was beyond shocked to see that it was Markus calling me. I picked up my phone and answered it slowly.

"Hello?"

"Come outside, right now," he growled before hanging the phone back up.

I rolled my eyes, "What now," I muttered, getting off my desk chair and leaving my room, walking down to the front door quickly.

"What's up?" Sawyer asked me, looking up from his homework at the dining room table.

I shook my head, "Markus is outside," I told him.

He stood up instantly, "I'll take care of it," he told me.

I shook my head, "Stay in here, Sawyer. It'll be fine."

I looked outside the peephole and saw Markus pacing on the porch in front of the door. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before unlocking the door, I looked back at Sawyer and he was watching me intently.

"I'll rip his face off if he does anything," he muttered.

I smiled, “I'll be fine," I said before pulling the door open. I stepped out and closed it softly behind me.

"What's up?" I asked him.

He glared at me and held his phone up to my face, "What's up? This! Who the fuck is this?" he asked me.

I took a small step back so that I could see what he was showing me. It was the Instagram photo that Alex had tagged me and Tyler in from the dinner with the team a few days earlier.

"That's a photo of me, Markus," I said calmly.

"Well no shit!" he snapped, forcefully pushing the phone into his back pocket, "Who the fuck is with you?" he asked.

I sighed quietly, knowing there was really no way around this one. But...I found myself not really caring, which was interesting to say the least.

"His name is Tyler, he's just a friend," I told him calmly, but I could feel my anger rising. Whether it was just from his anger over this photo, or pent up anger from the last few years, I wasn't sure. But it was coming to a head.

He narrowed his eyes at me, "Who the fuck is Tyler? You've never talked about a Tyler before, Raeanne!"

I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms across my chest, "He's a hockey player, Markus. You remember that game that you left me all alone at, in a building I had never been to? That's the team he plays for. How did you think I got home that night?"

Anger flooded his features, "And what? You fucked him in the car too?"

I couldn’t help but let out a little laugh and shook my head, which only made him look angrier at me, "You're outta your mind, Markus," I said easily, "No, I did not sleep with him. I've known him since that night months ago when you didn't meet me for dinner. Remember that? You didn't show up for two hours? Actually, you didn't show up at all. So Tyler helped me not look like some dumb girl that lets a guy walk all over her, which is exactly what you’ve done to me," I said sassily, feeling slightly proud of myself for sticking up for myself. I was like a whole new person. Kind of.

His face went red and I knew he was beyond angry at me. There was a part of me that was afraid of him, afraid of the verbal attack that was sure to follow. But the other part of me just was so far beyond caring.

"So what then, Raeanne?" he asked harshly, with his twang becoming more and more prominent with each passing word, "You're going on dates with him and shit? What the fuck is going through your head?"

I scoffed and put my hands on my hips, "Going through my head? Are you serious?" I asked, irritated, "What's going through my head is that I try and try all the time to make an effort to see if you want to go out and get dinners, or see movies, or just hand out since we hardly see each other because of you! I'm not the one pushing you away! You're pushing me away every time you don't talk to me!

"That picture was taken the night I asked you four times if you wanted to hang out or go out! And I have the God damn texts where you kept saying no to me! Tyler asked if I wanted to go and grab dinner with him and the teams and their spouses! So instead of sitting at home and crying again about how you never want to go out with me for some reason, I went out with a group of friends! And you know something else?" I shouted, amazed that he hadn't interrupted me, "I don't feel bad about it at all!"

I could see his jaw clenching and unclenching and his face was beet red. I knew I had it coming.

"You stupid bitch!" he said lowly, "You are mine, Raeanne. You hear me? Mine. I'm not about to share you with some douchbag hokey player," he said, his voice rising.

"I'm not your property, Markus!" I yelled back at him.

He raised his hand and punched the door next to my head, I closed my eyes and willed myself not to make a sound, knowing that would only intensify it his anger and irritation with me.

The door flew open behind me and Sawyer was out standing next to me, "Get off the porch, get away from our house, Markus, you hear me?" he threatened.

Markus rolled his eyes, "Get outta here kid, this is between the adults," he said, pushing Sawyer's shoulder.

I stepped in between them, "Don't you dare put a hand on him," I said, pushing Markus hand away from Sawyer.

"Then tell him to get away from me and leave this between us," Markus countered.

"You're on my property, and I'm far from afraid of you, bud. So get away from Raeanne and me and this house," Sawyer told him, pushing me slightly behind him.

Markus scoffed, "Fuck off, kid," he told him.

I heard screeching tires and looked past Markus to see an all too familiar red Ferrari pull into my driveway recklessly. Without shutting the car off, Tyler jumped out of the driver’s seat and ran up the porch before Markus could even look behind him.

"What's going on here?" Tyler asked, standing on the side between me and Markus.

Markus looked hi up and down before chuckling, "Had to call in the reinforcements or something, kid? Worried you couldn’t take me by yourself or something?"

Tyler chuckled and shook his head, "Nah, see, I know I could take you down all alone. Which I'm totally willing to do, to be honest with you. See, I was called because Sawyer was worried he wouldn’t be able to control himself if you put your hands on Rae. And, honestly, I wouldn’t be able to control myself either.

"So, how about you take yourself and your beat up hillbilly truck and get going," Tyler said, motioning with his head to Markus' truck in the driveway.

Markus turned and took a step towards Tyler, "How about you mind your business. My relationship with Raeanne has nothing to do with you. At all. So why don't you go and find someone without a boyfriend to latch onto."

Tyler smirked, "You gonna make me?" he asked, taking a step towards him, so their chests were basically touching.

"I'll make sure that pretty boy face of yours doesn't make any girl interested in you," Markus threatened.

"Okay, that's enough," I said, trying to get my arms in between the two of them.

"Back off, Raeanne," Markus growled, taking my wrist and pushing me away hard, causing my back to collide with the front door, I let out a small cry when I made contact.

The look on Tyler's face was something indescribable; he grabbed Markus by the front of his plaid shirt and pushed him down the stairs, "Leave!" Tyler yelled.

Sawyer had his arms around me as my eyes filled with tears.

"You gonna make me?" he shouted from the stone pathway.

Tyler put his hands in his pockets, "The cops will," he said smugly.

Markus looked at Tyler before rolling his eyes at him, then his eyes moved over to me, "Raeanne, get down here, now," he ordered.

"She's not going anywhere near you," Tyler told him.

Markus scoffed and looked back at me, "Raeanne," he said sternly, "come here. Now."

I shook my head, "No Markus. I'm not going with you, anywhere," I said, breaking out of Sawyer's protective hold on me and stepped just to the right of Tyler.

He laughed, "What you think you're tough shit because you got some punk in front of you?"

"No!" I yelled, startling Tyler who looked back at me surprised, "I know I’m tough shit, because I'm dealing with you today! You're not the boss of me, Markus, no matter what you think!"

"And what, he's the boss of ya?" he asked, throwing his hand in Tyler's direction.

I scoffed and crossed my arms in front of my chest, "Be real, Markus! No one is my boss. Maybe you used to think you were, but not anymore!"

'You're lettin this idiot tell ya what to do right now!" he shouted.

"Have I spoken to her?" Tyler asked.

Markus rolled his eyes dramatically, "She' ain't even worth it, man. So back off."

"So then why are you still hanging around with her?" Tyler asked mockingly.

"Because she's mine," Markus growled, "she has been for six years, and you ain't gonna change that!"

"I don't care if you and her break up and she wants nothing to do with me afterwards for some reason," Tyler told him, "as long as she isn't with someone as disgusting and basically abusive as you, then that's all that would matter to me!"

"I've never hit her!" Markus shouted.

Tyler laughed sarcastically, "What? Are you serious right now, man. I was right here when you put her hands on her and pushed her into a door. You don't deserve her, man! She’s just...this amazing person and you’re dragging her down! You make her feel like garbage! She doesn't deserve to live her life feeling like she's worth nothing!"

Markus scoffed and crossed his arms in front of his chest, "Don't give me some holier than thou bullshit, man! You just want in her pants, admit it!"

Tyler leaned forward slightly and laughed, making Markus even angrier, "Really? If this was about sex and shit, I would have found someone without a douchbag of a boyfriend! Raeanne is my best friend! We hang out, we go places, we talk."

"The fuck places do you go to? Dinner with some other jackass hockey players?" Markus asked.

"Exactly," I said with a shrug, "I got to dinners and hockey games and over to Ty's place."

He looked at me wide eyed. I had genuinely surprised him.

"Like fuck if you're every going out with him or anything again!" he yelled at me.

"Dude, just leave! You're really not wanted here, by anyone!" Tyler told him, starting to get aggressive.

"No! You fucking leave! This is my girlfriend’s house, not yours!" Markus yelled back to him, letting his hands fall to his sides and his hands balled up into fists.

Tyler chuckled, "Calm down, Rocky," he said motioning with his head to Markus' hands, "you're not gonna go and hit anyone here. You're just some more scumbag that doesn't know how to treat women, clearly."

"You're just some fucking guy that can't find a single girl to hold on to!"

Again Tyler laughed; he knew it was getting under his skin, that's why he kept doing it, "Man! The only reason I even met her was because you were a piece of garbage and didn't show up to a dinner she planned! If you hadn't missed it, then we wouldn't be here! If you were a decent human being, and didn't leave the most amazing girl on the planet alone that night, then I wouldn't be standing here, yelling at you about how much of an asshole you are! This is all on you, man! Me and her meeting is your fault! So I mean, thanks for being a dick and not showing up that night!"

And that one really seemed to rattle Markus, because a second later Markus was up the steps and holding Tyler by the collar of his shirt.

"I won't hesitative to beat the piss outta ya," Markus warned him.

"Let him go, Markus!" I yelled, trying to pry his hands away from Tyler.

"Leave it, Rae," Ty said to me calmly, looking at me with serious eyes, I blinked at him a couple times before finally letting go. But I was still close enough to try and help if I could. Sawyer wrapped his hand around my forearm and tried to tug me back a little bit, but I refused to move away from Tyler. I needed to be there to defend him. I couldn't let him get hurt. I would literally let Markus hit me before he hit Tyler.

"Do it then," Tyler told him, "hit me. Beat me the fuck up," Tyler said, extending his arms out on each side of him, with his right arm going in front of me, "I know you won't," he said with a small laugh letting his arms fall, "you're way too much of a pussy, bud. And I think you know that if you, ya know...beat up one of the prides of Dallas, the police and some lawyers would have something real nice to say about it."

"No one gives a fuck about who ya are, man," Markus said back to him, but I saw the uncertainty behind his eyes.

"Do it then," Ty said simply, "hit me first. And then keep on hitting me because I won't throw a single one back. You're sure as shit not worth me damaging up these hands."

Markus growled and let go of his shirt roughly, with Tyler stumbling back slightly, but he kept himself composed.

"There ya go!" Ty called as Markus backed up down the steps, "Almost like I wrote it, eh? So go and get in your hillbilly looking truck and get the fuck going."

Markus was seething, his breathing was heavy and he was sweating. He kept looking between me and Tyler.

"Just go, Markus," I said with a sigh.

His eyes flew over to look at me, and he was angry, "You're fuckin nuts," he told me.

Tyler smirked and put his hands in the front pockets of his jeans, "Just go," he told him, "you're starting embarrass yourself, and I'm getting like, second hand embarrassment."

Markus watched him for a second before finally rolling his eyes, "Y'all can fuck off," he said before turning and going to his truck, he threw us the middle finger before driving off.

Tyler spun around and came over to me quickly, "Are you okay?" he asked worriedly.

I nodded, "Yeah...yeah I'm fine. Shocked is what it is mostly."

Tyler pulled me into him in a tight hug which I returned, "Never, ever, let him talk to you like that. Or put his hands on you."

I placed my hands against the back of his neck, "I won't," I promised him. And I really meant it.

"Thanks, Ty," Sawyer said from behind me, I let go of Tyler and look to Sawyer; I walked to him quickly and wrapped him in a hug too.

"Thanks for looking out for me," I told him quietly.

Sawyer held me tight to him, "You know I'd never let anyone hurt you," he told me.

I pulled away from him and smiled, "Thank-you."

He smiled, "Any excuse you can give me to kick his ass, I'm good with."

I laughed a little and looked back to Tyler who still looked at me with a worried expression. I smiled and went back to him, placing my hands on his biceps.

"I'm fine," I told him.

He didn't say a word, he just wrapped his arms around my shoulders and mine found their way to his waist.

"I swear, Raeanne," he started, his words muffled by my hair, "I don't know what I would have done. I don't know if I woulda been able to stop myself."

I rubbed his back, "It's okay, Tyler," I said soothingly.

"I wanted to kill him when he touched you," he muttered.

I bit my lip and continued to rub his back, "It's okay, I'm fine, Ty. Really I am."

He pulled away from me and put each hand gently on each side of my neck while I kept my hands at the top of his jeans.

And we just looked at each other, Tyler had a small smile growing his face and I knew I did too. My heart felt like it was exploding as I watched him. There was something so different than before. Something behind his eyes was different. There was something hidden there, but I knew it was something good. Sweet Jesus, I thought. Was I in love with Tyler?

"We don't have to do anything if you're too shaken up," he told me.

I shook my head immediately, "No, I want to hang out with you. I won't see you for another week."

He smiled and nodded, "Do you wanna go now? We can stop and grab some groceries and make dinner together?"

I smiled, "That'd be great, Ty."

Sawyer cleared his throat from next to me and nodded once, "I'm just gonna go back inside," he said awkwardly.

I laughed and dropped my hands from Tyler, as he did the same, "I'm coming in, I gotta get my purse," I said to Sawyer who nodded and went in the house, leaving the door open for me.

I looked back to Tyler, "I’ll just b e a second," I told him, he smiled as I turned to go into the house, running up to my room quickly and retrieving my purse and phone, and then I ran back down.

"See you later tonight, Sawyer!" I called as I got to the door, "Don't tell mama and daddy! I'll talk to them when I come back, okay?"

"Okay!" he called from the dining room, and with that I left the house, shutting the door behind me.

I looked at Tyler who had his back to the door looking down, probably at his phone; I went down the steps and stood beside him. I saw him smile and tuck his phone into his back pocket.

"Ready?" he asked looking at me.

I nodded once with a smile, "Ready!"

He looked at me questioningly, "Are you sure you wanna come over?" he asked, "I mean...that shit was pretty crazy, I'd understand if you didn't feel like it."

"What? No," I said, shaking my head, "I wanna hang out with you, Ty. We won't see each other for a little while so I wanna hang out with like we planned!"

He smiled at me, "Okay then! Let's go," he said as we walked to his car and got in without saying another word.

We didn't need to say anything. I knew this was the right thing to do.

Notes

Sorry for the wait, but I've been rewriting the next few chapters! Please let me know what you think!!