Folding Hearts (Mitchell Family #2)(23)
Author: Jennifer Foor

Ty scrunched up his face and seemed upset by my words. I didn’t understand why he would want to talk about it anymore. Because of that night, he was forced to come home and our friendship had really taken a toll over it.

“So, do you have any plans for this weekend?” he asked, changing the subject.

“No, this all just happened. I didn’t have time to plan for anything. Honestly, I don’t even know what there is to do in this town.”

“Well, aside from parties, and late night bonfires, there ain’t much, but for a kid, there are a few things. Down the road is a petting zoo. If the weather lets up we could take her tomorrow.”

“You don’t have to keep us company Ty. I don’t want to interfere in your life here.”

“I was offering to take you and the little girl I am crazy about out. You aren’t interfering. In fact, I don’t really do much anymore. I work a lot and I am tired when I get home at night. My friends are all settling down and getting serious and the few that aren’t party too much for even me.”

I watched him walk into the living room and sit on the couch. He patted the seat next to him for me to sit. Luckily he patted it far enough away that I sat a whole cushion away from him. “I think that Bella would love to see the animals. Thanks for everything. It’s been a hard couple of days.”

“Don’t thank me. I know you think you are imposing, but I couldn’t be happier that you are here. I really did miss you. Hell, I can’t believe they suggested you come here. Conner really seemed to be wedging himself between us last time I visited. I mean, I told him we were just friends and he had nothing to worry about.”

I don’t know why I ever thought there had been something between us. He was always a good friend to me. What he did with other girls was his business. He cared about my daughter more than he needed to and I could only be grateful to him for that.

Chapter 14

Ty

I still couldn’t believe they were here, in my house, spending the night. Izzy had gotten so big. She loved her birthday present and I couldn’t have been happier about that. My mother would really get a kick out of that little girl when she saw them in the morning. The last time she had seen her was when she was first born, but I had shown her pictures every time I got new ones. It was funny that her pictures were the only ones in my wallet. In fact, the last time I used my credit card someone commented that I had a cute kid. I didn’t have the heart to tell them that she wasn’t mine, so I just agreed with what they said. It was so cool to see her walking around on her own, getting into things and laughing while she did it.

Miranda looked exhausted. I knew what kind of stress Tucker had put on her in the past, but threatening her was the most evil thing a guy could do to the mother of his child. Saying things like that about his own child was just unacceptable. I would like to hunt him down and beat the shit out of him for doing that.

Miranda stared at the television, almost as if she were in a daze. “Hey, you still with me?”

She turned and gave a quick smile. “Sorry. It’s just been a long day. I think I am still in shock over all of this. How could I have been so stupid Ty? How could I ever think that he could be anything but the devil?”

Her confusion over her poor choices had stressed her more than she wanted to admit. I wasn’t really sure how she would react, but I held out my arms for her to slide into my chest. “I won’t bite you know.”

She reluctantly slid her body over so that she was pressed up against my chest. I folded my arm around her shoulder and across her arm, pulling her into me closer. Very gently I pressed my lips into the top of her head. She remained silent in my arms and I was fine with that. I just wanted her to know that she was safe.

I had started watching a new hot rod show on television. Miranda leaned her body on mine and let me just hold her like that. She looked up at me. “I am really sorry that I have been so distant with you. I should have never shut you out like I did. You are a good friend Ty. We are lucky to have you in our lives.”

She said the word friend again, which I was fine with, if that was all she really wanted. Unfortunately, just being with her for the past few hours stirred up some buried feelings that I was trying to deny having for her. She was so attractive and the fact that she was vulnerable and needy made it easy to want to be there for her. We needed to talk about what had happened between us that night, but she kept telling me to drop it. I felt like we were on the same page, but she continued to shut me down. I wasn’t really sure what to do about it.

“You are both important to me. I don’t know who else I could have talked to about losing Van. It meant so much to me to have you giving me advice. I don’t really talk to anyone else the way that we talk,” I admitted.

“Yeah, well with Bella, it is hard for me to have any kind of social life. Besides Van and my brother’s occasional girlfriends, I really don’t have many friends. Van is great, but she is so involved with her wedding plans right now. She really doesn’t have time for my drama, especially since they all told me to stay away from him so many times.”

She repositioned herself a little more away from me so we were face to face. It should have made things easier, but her gorgeous eyes looked intently into mine, causing me to look down at her lips. I knew it was a mistake. I never should have even thought about doing it, but I leaned over and pressed my lips against hers.

I kept my eyes open, worried about her slapping me in the face, but she closed her eyes right away. I avoided using my tongue, or following through with a deeper kiss. I just let my lips linger against hers. As I pulled away, I watched her open her eyes slowly.

“What was that for?” She asked.

I have wanted to do that for so long.

“I …well…I don’t know. Are you mad?” Since she hadn’t pushed me away or done worse, I figured what I had done was at least okay.

She shook her head. “No. I just didn’t expect that.”

Me either!

“I should probably head over to my parents.” Things had just become awkward.

I stood up before she could say anything. The kiss was over, but tension had filled the room. I could have just f**ked everything up. I needed to get out of there. I didn’t regret what I had just done, but I didn’t want to face negative consequences, either. She had finally smoothed everything over with me and I had possibly screwed it all up.

She let me walk to the door before she stood up and put her hands into her back pockets. “So, will we see you in the morning?”