The Trouble with Faking It / Tyler Seguin

Chapter 5: Gonna Take A Little More Than Sweet-Talk To Sweep Me Off My Feet

Chapter 5: gonna take a little more than sweet-talk to sweep me off my feet

"Forgiveness is letting go of the hope that the past can be changed." – Oprah Winfrey

"Want me to kick his ass?" Jax asks, looks completely serious. "Seriously, I can hop on a plane right now. I've been saving Air Miles."

I laugh wetly and shake my head at the phone screen, where I am on Facetime with Jax. "It's okay. Besides, do you know how many Air Miles it would take?"

"Well, I'm sure dad would –ʺ

I cut him off right there. "Do not tell dad."

He nods solemnly.

Telling my dad would do no good whatsoever. It would probably just make the situation ten times worse. Telling Jax and Maddie was bad enough. I had to stop Maddie from storming to Tyler's house and punching him.

"I appreciate it, but I'm okay." I reassure him, and he doesn't look completely convinced but lets it slide before diving in to a story about what's going on home.

Sometimes I miss home, but then I think about what happened there and I don't miss it anymore.

***

Weeks start to pass, and life goes on. Eventually, I can move back in to my house and I see Tyler leaving and coming to his house through my windows. He doesn't look bothered, but I wasn't expecting him. There is only one person Tyler cares about, and that is himself. He never takes into consideration the feelings of anyone else, and that was my first mistake when I agreed to do this.

Come to think of it, my first mistake was even letting him in my life. If I just had forgotten him after his awful attempt at picking me up, then I would never have gotten myself into this whole mess. What was I thinking by agreeing to pretend to date him? It's the least responsible thing I have done in years, and I did it all because I made the mistake of trusting Tyler with what happened. I let him use it to manipulate me in order for him to get what he wanted.

I was stupid enough to believe him when he said he cared.

About a month later, a couple of weeks from Christmas, I hear a knock at my door. It's around 8 o'clock in the morning so I don't know who it would be. I look through the peephole, and when my eyes land on Tyler, I nearly fall over. I debate whether to answer or not but I'm curious why he's here. I might feel better if I get to yell at him again.

I unlock the door and slowly open it. It's raining, and Tyler is soaked which means he's probably been standing here for some time, most likely having the same internal battle I was. I hate that he still looks good, even though he's doing a pretty good impression of a drowned rat.

"What do you want?"

He holds up a piece of mail. "This accidently got delivered to my house... also I thought we could –ʺ

I scowl and shut the door in the face. Then I groan because I forgot the mail.

I quickly open the door and reach to snatch it from his hands but before I can slam the door, he stuffs his foot there. I try kicking it, but it doesn't budge.

"I'll scream so the neighbours hear if you don't move your foot." I threaten, and he sighs.

"C'mon Daisy, can we please talk?"

"No. Now move your foot."

"You're being unreasonable."

I swing the door open, so I can glare at him. He's standing with his arms crossed, mirroring the scowl I'm wearing.