Wildest Dreams

Chapter 17

"Ty?" Ty looked up to see Marlene standing in the doorway of the gym. "You've got a visitor at the front desk."
"I'll be right there." Marlene nodded before leaving. Ty put his weights back before heading towards the lobby. His week with Jocelyn was great, though it stirred up a lot of feelings that Ty had no idea what to do with or how to express them. Ty had a feeling Jocelyn knew, but obviously hasn't said a word. Jocelyn had also had decided to stay back this past weekend, leaving Ty to go alone. He honestly wasn't surprised, she hadn't been home in over a week. He did come over when he got back after the race, like he had done since May. He had also made plans for her birthday that night and he was excited to share them with her. Ty took the shortcut through the shop to the double doors that led to the lobby. Once he pushed through the double doors, Ty came to a halt. Now he was wishing he didn't come down. The last person he wanted to see was standing in front of him. "Evie."
"Hi, Ty."
"What are you doing here?" Ty asked, crossing his arms across his chest.
"I wanted to see you."
"Well, that makes one of us. I thought I made things clear with you."
"Ty, please."
"Not only did your break my heart, Evie Busch, you ripped it out of my chest and stomped on it."
"I said I was sorry."
"Why him though? You could have pick anyone else in the garage to leave me for and yet you just had to pick him."
"I didn't mean for it all to happen, Ty. I was going through stuff with my dad's concussion and..."
"I subbed for your dad, Evie! You kept telling me that I was going to do great in the Cup Series and you were going to be there for me. You told me that."
"Ty, please..."
"You fucked Sam Mayer behind my back. For God knows how long and you want me to believe he was just there for you?"
"That's not what happened."
"The hell it isn't. I walked in on you two in your apartment. Who does those things on the living room couch. Did you expect to walk in here and expect me to take you back and everything be the way it was before?"
"I made a mistake, Ty."
"So did I. Coming down here to talk to you."
"Ty, please."
"How about you take the 23 minute drive north to JR Motorsports and waste someone else's time." Ty turned on his heel and headed back through the double doors. He ignored every single person that call out his name. Ty headed back to the gym. He now had a lot of anger to get rid of.  He headed straight for the treadmill, hoping a good run will help. That's what he had done when he found Evie and Sam together. Ty practically shoved his ear buds into his ears before starting his run. Ty ran and ran and ran, ignoring the pain in his chest and legs. How dare she try and waltz back into his life after what she did. He figured sleeping with his girlfriend would help Sam get back at him considering how much they hated each other. It was the ultimate revenge. Ty had gotten over it, especially when Evie decided to move to Nevada to be around her grandparents. He didn't, however, understand why her coming back brought all of this back.
"Ty." Ty was caught off guard, almost falling off the treadmill. He jumped off the treadmill belt, pausing the machine. "Are you okay?" He turned to find Jocelyn standing next to him.
"I'm fine."
"Ty..."
"My ex-girlfriend just showed up." Ty pulled his ear buds out and shoved them into his pocket.
"Oh. I'm assuming it didn't go very well?" Ty sat down on the floor next to the treadmill, Jocelyn doing the same. "What happened?"
"I don't know what she was trying to accomplish by coming here. She cheated. For God knows how long. With the one guy I can't stand."
"Sam Mayer."
"How do you know?"
"It's not hard to pick these up around here, Ty." Ty sighed. "Why didn't you tell me about her before now?"
"Because I was over it. I was over her. I didn't feel like I needed to bring her up."
"How long did you know her?"
"All my life. Her dad is Kurt Busch, so we basically grew up together. She was my first and only before you. I was going to wait and then thought I was going to be with her forever, so I didn't wait anymore. Six months later, everything was done."
"Oh, Ty..."
"I was okay though. Focused on championship run. Focused on getting seat time in the Next Gen car. I had things to distract and help me get over it."
"But her coming back..."
"Opening some wounds I didn't know could be opened again." Jocelyn reached over and took his hand in hers.
"What do you want to do right now?"
"I don't know."
"Do you want me to take you somewhere?"
"Where?" Jocelyn got up before holding her hands out for Ty. He took them before getting pulled close to her. Jocelyn put her hands on his cheeks and pressed her lips to his. "How do you always know how to calm me?"
"That's what I do best. Come on." Ty followed her out of the gym. He didn't know where she was taking him and honestly he didn't care. Evie coming back really fucked him up. They stopped at her office to grab her purse. "Do you want to follow me home?"
"Sure." They left the building and got into their own cars before Ty followed Jocelyn to her house. They talked the entire drive there as he had called her as soon as they pulled out of the parking lot. A half hour later, they pulled up to Jocelyn's house.
"Where do you want to go from here?" Jocelyn asked.
"Inside. Talking to you on the way here really helped."
"What do you want to do? Order some lunch and watch some movies?"
"What do you want to do? It's your birthday. I had some things planned, but Evie showing up just threw me off."
"Don't worry about me. I'm just 32."
"I got you a gift too."
"Ty..."
"I'm going to grab it out of my car. I'll meet you inside." Jocelyn didn't argue. She went inside as Ty went back to his car. Ty found Jocelyn standing in her kitchen on her phone.
"What do you want for lunch? I'll just Doordash it."
"It doesn't matter to me." Ty said before plopped the bag in his hand on the counter.
"You really didn't have to."
"I did anyway." Jocelyn looked in the bag.
"This is all your gear." Jocelyn said laughing as she pulled them all out. "You really didn't have to."
"That wasn't exactly the present. I just wanted you deck out in my stuff. Even if it's not at the track." Jocelyn looked at the bottom of the bag, finding a small box.
"What is this?" She asked as Ty unhooked her charm bracelet off her wrist. "What are you doing?"
"Open the box please." Ty leaned against the counter as she opened the box. There, nestled in velvet, was a small green charm in the shape of a T.
"Green is my favorite color. Did you know that?"
"No, but it was a good guess." Ty said with a laugh.
"I think you did it because of the green on your car."
"And your eyes are green." Ty held out his hand. Jocelyn placed the charm in Ty's hand. He attached to the bracelet before returning it to her wrist.
"Thank you, I love it." Jocelyn leaned in, pressing a kiss to his lips. "You should probably shower."
"Only if you come with me."
"If I go with you, we'll miss the Doordash guy." Ty pouted, but headed upstairs. Jocelyn ordered some food before heading upstairs as well.  She heard the shower turn on and as much as she should have let him be, Jocelyn stripped down and walked into the bathroom.
"Thought you weren't coming up here." Ty said as she stepped into the shower.
"Left a note for the Dasher on the app to just leave it." Ty pulled her into his arms
"Thank you. For earlier. I didn't know exactly what to do in that situation, but you knew."
"I am a therapist, Ty."
"But you know me."
"I do."
"There's something I want to say right now, but I don't know exactly how to deal with these feelings and..."
"Ty..."
"I love you. I know it's only been like 2 months, I know. I spent two and a half years with Evie and never felt like this with her."
"Ty..."
"You don't have to say it back if you don't want to."
"I'm still trying to figure things out."
"That's more than fine. I'm not forcing you to say anything." How did Jocelyn feel though? Ty was right. It had only been a short time, but something felt different than it had with Ben. Did she love Ty? She honestly didn't know.