Lost Boy

Chapter Twelve

"He was proud and stubborn, and all the ton looked up to him. Men curried his favour, women flirted like mad. And all the while he'd been terrified every time he'd opened his mouth."

-The Duke and I.

...

"You have a cute smile."

I choked on my pizza. "Why t-thank you." I blushed.

"...Aren't you going to say something nice about me?"

"N-Nope. When are y-y-you gonna leave me in peace?" Tyler pouted in response, he reminded me of a frat guy sometimes, completely wild.

"Why not?" He groaned, pouting at me. For someone so gruff his skin was actually pretty clear, and his lips looked soft. I wondered what the rest of his face looked like, underneath the hoodie.

I shrugged  and stood up to throw the empty box of pizza away in the trash before joining him back at my desk. "Because y-your ego is already big enough. I don't w-want to contribute f-further to that." I gestured to his head. He bit his lip in response, shaking his head at me. 

Making use of our time, I had convinced Tyler to work with me on the project while we ate, comparing notes. We had completed a rough draft of the design, going back and forth on colour schemes and ideas. "I'm afraid to move in case my stomach e-e-explodes," I whined, patting it. "I'm stuffed."

I was beginning to like spending time with Tyler. I barely even noticed the pain coming from my wrist anymore.

We were talking about the lighting of the design when I suddenly noticed something. I saw a small line of ink peeking out from the side of his hoodie.

What is that?

Looking closer I could see that it trailed along his neck going under the shoulder of his hoodie, and came back down his arm before stopping under his wrist. However, I couldn't quite work out what it was.

"Hello? Is anybody in there? Earth to Fawn." Tyler knocked twice on my head, alerting me to stop staring.

Before he could talk any more my curiosity got the best of me and I found myself blurting out, "What's t-that?" I pointed at his arm. His eyes immediately widened and flicked between me and the ink. He knew exactly what I was asking, but he was playing dumb.

"What's what?" He asked, shrugging nonchalantly. "What are you looking at?"

"Is that a-a tattoo? " I gasped. I had always wanted a tattoo, I just couldn't decide what to get. Like what if got a tiger on my butt and then regretted it ten years later? I didn't want to be an old grandma with a tiger on her ass, that would be weird. "What I-is it of?"

"Nothing. You're imagining things, maybe you ate too much pizza." He pulled his hoodie down more and crossed his arms over his chest, shutting down.

I scrunched my brows. "But I'm c-certain that I saw something undernea-"

"No, you didn't Fawn." He rolled his eyes exasperatedly. "You're acting delusional."

"No, I'm n-not! You m-might as well tell me before I find out f-for myself." I prodded at him. He stared into my eyes for a few moments, briefly flickering down to my lips and then back again, seeming to be having an inner conflict within his mind. After a minute with neither of us blinking, he sighed and rubbed at the stubble on his face.

"Please princess. Not today alright? " I wanted to get to the bottom of this, but the look in his eyes made me instantly feel like I was crossing a line.

"Fine. But I w-won't tell you what happened to my arm u-until you tell me about your tattoo." I shrugged, happy with my compromise. "Deal?"

"Deal.I think we've done enough work for today." He cleaned up the desk, throwing things into my bag and tidying up.

"What are y-y-you d-doing?" I squeaked, appalled that he was messing up my system. "I had that p-perfectly organised!"

He chuckled at me, letting me move away slightly. "In case you didn't notice sweetheart, I dont follow the rules."

I groaned, frustrated. The system was long gone. He smirked down at me, holding the last post-it note, challenging me.

Two can play this game.

"You okay there?" I could only nod in reply, still feeling out of place. I was trying to get used to the closeness of his face and the feeling of his cool breath on my neck. I could tell I was red as a tomato. As if reading my mind, Tyler moved so that he was looking at me and softly brushed the hair that had fallen in front of my face. "You look tired."

"Well after the d-day I've had I think I'm allowed t-to be." I sighed.

"Are you sure you don't wanna talk about it?" He asked, looking concerned. "It might help."

I grabbed my coat and started walking towards the front desk, ready to head home. Tyler knew I was ignoring him, and yet he continued to walk me all the way to my car. "Whatever it is, it's going to be fine. I promise. I'll leave now if you want me to?"

"Are you l-l-like this with e-everyone?" I blurted out without thinking.

Shit.

He gave me a soft smile in return. I thought he was ignoring my question until he said, "Just you sweetheart, you seem to have an effect on me."

I couldn't hide my blush.

We were friends...right? Or were we becoming more?