At the lake

Chapter 3: Muse

"Okay out! I can't have people being suspicious." I was trying to push Tyler out of my apartment now the last of my boxes had been carried upstairs and put into my bedroom. It's weird I have the same one as last year I don't know why Kevin didn't let me just leave my stuff here.

Tyler's eyebrow quirked up and a mischievous grin spread across his face. "Suspicious how 'Liya?" He leaned forward, smirking at me.

Blushing, my jaw dropped. "You know what I mean. Like if they find out about my summer!"

"No one has any idea about you Aliya. If they think we are hanging out a lot they'll probably just think we are fucking." He said very bluntly.

At this point my face must have been neon purple with embarrassment but I think I covered up my flustered state with my full face of makeup that I wear everyday.

"Erm- yeah but I don't want them thinking that either!" I defended.

His smirk grew, clearly seeing how uncomfortable I was feeling. "Is that idea so bad?" He asked so casually like it wasn't a big deal. You don't just sleep with your friends. It gets messy.

I scoffed, "with you?! Yes, very bad."

Tyler frowned fiercely, the hint of playfulness completely disappeared from his expression and was replaced by...offence?

"What?!" My voice was quite a few octaves higher than usual. This conversation was making me nervous.

Ty shook his head, a few strands of hair falling down by his eyes. He ruffled the loose strands with his inked fingers to reveal a very serious looking Tyler. "Yeah alright mate."

The awkwardness turned the air between us stagnant. I shifted my weight uncomfortably between my feet and playfully told Tyler to get out of my apartment.

"What do you mean OUT?! Aren't you gonna feed the man who just did you a solid by the way?" Tyler feigned hurt. It always looked so funny when he was being overly dramatic; it didn't suit his grungy aesthetic. That being said, I'm glad we were back to our jokey selves, I was so over our serious summer.

My hands were on his chest and I was leaning all my body weight into trying to shift him but my feet were just sliding backwards on the laminated floor. Why did he have to be so big and I so small in comparison? I wasn't even that small at 5'8 I was probably considered tall for a girl, but he still towered over at me with his impressive 6'3 and a bit. He never let me forget the "and a bit".

He just stood there looking down at me and grinning. I huffed, let go, and stomped my defeated self into the kitchen. Tyler leaned over the kitchen island, elbows on the surface. His dark shaggy hair flopped a little over his eyes. As he clenched his arms I noticed how his tattoos moved slightly along his muscles. He wasn't massive or anything, more lean and strong rather than big and bulky.

Clearing my throat I realised I had been staring a little too long, Tyler suggesting that we fuck had really got me worked up. What do you want?" I opened the cupboards to find they were all completely empty. Did Kevin even eat?
"I've got nothing in here, a little bit of nothing... and oh some more nothing." I turned to face him a little too proud of myself after opening every cupboard to find absolutely nothing to eat. At least there was no more excuse for him to stay any longer. I couldn't have the rest of the gang getting suspicious. It would just make things really awkward.

"'Liya." He just looked at me then with his light grey-blue eyes. They were piercingly light but they softened as they looked at me. Ugh I didn't want pity, but I still liked the way he looked at me. "No one is going to find out about your summer. Me chillin' with you isn't going to reveal anything." He picked at the rough skin on his knuckles he had grazed while packing all my shit up.