Paint Me, Violet (Sanford Series #6) [Completed]

CHAPTER 7

NAG-IINAT siya ng katawan habang naglalakad patungo sa tagiliran ng bahay. Nangangalay ang kanyang likod at leeg, pati na ang kanyang mga braso dahil kakalabas lang niya ng studio sa loob ng bahay ng kanyang mga magulang.

Pagkalabas ay agad niyang nakita si Tyler na nakaupo sa chaise longue at may hawak na cellphone. Ang kanyang mga magulang ay nakalublob sa pool at nag-uusap. Right, they have no work this day and they were probably hanging out.

Lumapit siya sa kinaroroonan ng kapatid at humiga sa katabi nitong chaise longue. Kapagkuwan ay dinampot ang juice nito na nasa ibabaw ng lamesang nakapagitan sa kanila at sumipsip sa naroong straw.

"What are you doing?" tanong ni Tyler na nagtaas ng tingin mula sa hawak na aparato. Nakakunot ang noo nito sa kanya at napabuntung-hininga nang makita ang hawak niyang inumin. "Seriously? That is mine."

"Not anymore, brother," she answered and grin. Tyler rolled his eyes before looking at his phone again and grin as if he was reading something amusing. "What's that?"

"None of your concern," Tyler said.

Napasimangot siya sa isinagot nito at hinablot ang cellphone nito dahil sa kuryosidad na agad din namang binawi ni Tyler sa kanya. But before he snatched his phone back, she saw a picture of a woman in a bikini on Instagram.

"Wow! Stalker Tyler Dark Sanford," she uttered mockingly and grinned at Tyler, who was glaring at her. "So, who is she? The new flavor of the month?"

"She—" he trailed off and closed his eyes to calm his anger, he must've been pissed off by her. "It's not like that," he answered when he opened his eyes and sighed deeply before leaning on the seat.

Tara saw the trouble in his eyes and she was intrigued. Tyler was a player, he played girl's heart like he was just playing basketball with friends. For him to look troubled because of a woman in a bikini, it must be something.

"Out with it," she indulged when he let out a series of sighs. He looked at her and squinted his eyes as if telling her that she cannot be trusted. "Come on, I might help you with girl trouble." Tyler sighed in defeat. He sat on the chair and faced her and she did the same. "So?"

"I don't know why I'm telling you this, but, there's a woman."

"Of course there is. Then?"

"I met her at a bar. We drink, we talked, we danced, we had a good time. I saw her after two days at the gym, but she acted like we did not know each other. I tried to talk to her, but—" he stopped and fondled his hair in frustration.

"But she won't talk to you. She is avoiding you like you are some jackass that needed to be avoided."

"Yes. Thank you," Tyler was sarcastic.

Hindi niya ito pinatulan ang sarkasmo nito at nagpatuloy sa pagbabahagi ng kanyang opinyon. "That means she has no interest, brother. Or you might've done something that she didn't like, that might offended her."

"But we had fun that night, we end it well."

"Then she doesn't want to make a big deal out of it. What happened that night stays that night. She doesn't want to get to know you more, she doesn't want to get involved with you again. It means you have to forget her, and stalking her on social media won't help."

"I'm not stalking her, I just... I happened to see her on my phone..."

Tara chuckled while Tyler trying to reason his way out. "You got it bad, bro. You're into her."

"I'm not!" he countered sternly.

"Tyler likes a woman," she teased in a sing-song. "Mom, Dad, Tyler is whipped!"