MR. MORENO'S SURROGATE ✔️

8 - Leilah

"Leilah." I hear him call out. "Leilah." he calls again.

My eyes flutter open and we're sitting in front of Tyler's house. I look up at Cayson and I open my door. Before stepping out, I look at him. "Could you walk me to the door?" I ask.

"Sure." he says, giving me a nod and opening his door.

As we walk to the door, I groan. "God, I'm so nauseous."

"Make sure he gets you to bed."

I nod my head and when we get to the door, Cayson rings the bell and Tyler comes to the door. Again, with no shirt. His eyes grow wide and he smiles and bunches me up in his arms, hugging me tight. "Why are you back? Did you..." he hesitates, putting me down to look at me.

"Nope. I'm still good and pregnant. We'll talk later." I say, giving him a small smile.

"Okay. We'll talk." he says, smiling a big smile.

He looks at Cayson and raises his eyebrow.

"That's Cayson, the level-headed brother." I introduce.

"Nice to meet you." Cayson says, holding out his hand.

Tyler shakes his hand and nods his head.

"Thanks for bringing her home," says Tyler.

"It's no problem really." Cayson says, smiling. Then he looks over to me. "I'll let you get to bed. Goodnight."

"Goodnight." I say, turning around and wrapping my arms around him to hug him.

He hesitates to hug me back, but pats me on the back as I catch his scent. Strangely enough, I feel a sense of safety with him. Something I've never seen or felt with Elijah. I let myself marvel in it for a little longer and soon, I forget that I'm in his arms. After what feels like a couple hours, I... wake up? I fell asleep? The last thing I remember is hugging Cayson. I must have fallen asleep on him. God, that's embarrassing.

I get up and I go to my bathroom to brush my teeth, but I stop myself when I feel the need to throw up. I run to the toilet and everything comes up. Now I'm nauseous. I get up and I take a shower and brush my teeth before going downstairs to see Tyler.

When I come down, i see him im the living room. His eyes meet mine as I walk to the couch. "Hey." I say, plopping down on the couch.

"Hey." he says back. "How you feeling?"

"Nauseous. Thanks for the shirt by the way."

"It's no problem. What happened last night? Why'd you come back?" he asks, looking attentively at me.

Sighing, I sit back, making myself comfortable. "Elijah's a dick." I admit.

"How so? Does he not want any part in the pregnancy?"

"Probably not, but no," I guess.

"Explain. I'm all ears."

"He's aggressive. He uh... he doesn't care. About the baby or me, and he made that clear. So I told myself and Cayson that I was doing this by myself. And I am."

"And you're sticking by that?" he asks.

"Yeah," I say, looking up at him.

He nods his head and lies his head back on the couch. He raises his head and looks over to me. "I'll help." he says.

My head shoots up. "What? No, that's not your responsibility. It's Elijah's," I say, shaking my head.

"And he clearly doesn't want the responsibility. So please, let me help. I wanna be there for you," he insists.

I sigh and I shake my head. I look over to him and I crawl over to him to hug him. My upper body is wrapped around his as I hug him, and he hugs me back.

"Thanks Ty." I say, smiling.

"It's nothing, Leilah." I can feel him smile on my shoulder. He pulls away and looks me in my eyes and looking over my relieved expression. He starts to lean in and my heart begins to race.

Is he about to kiss me? Before I can say anything, his lips are on mine. He hugs my body to his and hums in satisfaction as he kisses me gently and softly, running his fingers up my neck to rake them through my hair and tug lightly at it. I pull his shirt in my hand and I let myself feel every movement his lips make against mine. A knock at the door breaks us apart. We look each other in the eyes and the tension builds as we sit there.

"The door?" he says, keeping his eyes fixed
on mine.

"I'll get it." I say, looking back down at his lips.

As I continue to stare, another hard knock sounds at the door, making me snap back to reality. I get up and I answer the door, looking back at Tyler as I do. When I look back with a smile, I notice who's at the door and my smile disintegrates from my face.

"Why the hell are you here?" I whisper violently.

"Because my dumbass brother let you fucking leave. And you're coming back." he says, a little too loudly.

"Leilah?" I hear Tyler call.

"Stay there, I'll be back in a second," I say, walking outside. "What the hell, Elijah?" I say, attempting to push him.

He grabs my wrists and looks me dead in the eyes. "Go. To. The car," he says deadpan.

"My bags are inside," I lie.

"You think I'm stupid? I looked in your closet before I left."

"You must not have looked hard enough."

"Don't bullshit me. Bags or not, you're getting in that car. Let's go." He drags me from the porch and toward the car, keeping his grip hard and firm on my wrist as I struggle behind.

Suddenly, I hear the front door open as Elijah opens the car door. "Leilah!" Tyler calls out.

Elijah's eyes snap to mine and he turns to face Tyler. "She's fine, but she's coming with me."

"Like hell," Tyler snaps back.

"What're you going to do about it? Hm?" Elijah says, squaring up to him.

Tyler does the same, keeping his chest high, his eyes fixed on Elijah's. Elijah scoffs and walks away from him and I reluctantly get in the car, knowing that now I don't really have a choice. He gets in the car and as we drive off, I look at Tyler through the review mirror, an angry expression splayed across my face.

When we get to the house, I look over at Elijah. "You're a fucking asshole."

"Don't. I don't have time to deal with your tantrum right now." he replies. He gets out of the car as I yell at him.

"What the fuck is your problem? Coming to Tyler's uninvited and basically fucking kidnapping me? Who do you think you are?" I say, standing at the front door with my arms crossed. He turns around and storms over to me. He grabs my face with such force that I jump and inhale sharply, looking angrily at him.

He lowers his lips to my ear and whispers violently at me. "I've been trying to be patient with you. I've been trying my fucking hardest not to do what I want with you, but you make it so fucking difficult. The next time you raise your voice to me or question me, or leave without my fucking permission, I won't hesitate to punish you. And you do not want that," he threatens.

"Why don't I?" I ask, struggling from his grip.

His lips brush against my ear and it makes me shudder, my struggling coming to an end. "Because it won't be the punishment you're thinking of. I'll do whatever the hell I feel will teach you some fucking manners when it comes to the way you talk to me - even the way you walk and even fucking look at me. Try me." He lets me go and I watch him as he walks upstairs.

Then a familiar feeling takes me over. Something I've only felt with Tyler. That tension. And I really, really, really hate to admit it, but it's not the bad kind.

It's the one that feels good. Really good.