“Make it iced,” I murmur, pressing the back of my hand to my forehead, feeling the heat. I wipe away a bead of sweat from my brow.
“No problem,” Tyler says. He turns to Emily. “Strawberries and crème frap with a shot of vanilla?”
“You know it,” she says, grinning. As Tyler and Snake head off, Emily sits down next to me and I can’t help but feel irritated that Tyler remembers her order. “How lush is this weather?”
“Yeah, it’s great,” I say. I pull my bare legs up onto the bench, crossing them and leaning back despite how scorching-hot the wood is. “Hotter than Santa Monica, that’s for sure.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. We get the ocean breeze over there.” I’m not looking at her as I talk, mostly because I’m focused on the people walking by us. I think parks like these are the best places to people-watch. The diversity of people here is really cool and, again, I find myself wondering what they’re doing and why they’re here and who they’re with. I’m far too curious for my own good.
“I’ve always wanted to see California,” Emily tells me with a sigh. “Tyler says I need to visit it one day.”
Now my gaze finally shifts over to her. “Tyler said that?” He told her to visit? Why would he tell her that?
“Yeah, he said I’d love it over there,” she says, voice overflowing with enthusiasm. “I’ve never been off the East Coast, but it’s too late to head west now. London is calling my name.”
I press my lips together. If London is waiting for her, then why is she still sticking around in New York? Why is she living in Tyler’s apartment?
“You think you’ll ever come back here? To the States?”
“I hope so,” she admits, smiling. “A year isn’t long enough. I’m on the lookout for opportunities that’ll get me back over. I might apply for some of those summer camps.”
“Oh, that’s cool.” I turn away from her again and study the park, my eyes resting on a squirrel that’s darting between trees not too far ahead.
“Tyler says I should just move over here permanently.”
I grit my teeth. I think if she mentions Tyler’s name one more time, I’ll combust. Why is he even telling her to move here in the first place?
“You really wanna do that? Isn’t the UK cool enough?”
“I suppose,” she says with a shrug. “It’s just that there are so many more possibilities over here and you guys have so much spirit.” She sounds almost sad as she talks, like the thought of going back home doesn’t particularly make her happy. Maybe her life here is better. Maybe her life back there isn’t the greatest, and the more I dwell on this thought, the more I realize this is most likely the case. Just like Tyler, she has suffered from abuse, and perhaps being over here allows her to escape from what has happened in her past, the same way it’s allowing Tyler to. “I’ll miss everyone too much if I never come back.”
The squirrel disappears and I have no choice but to look back to Emily again. I decide just to go for it. I decide to just blurt out, “Would you miss Tyler?”
“Obviously,” she says immediately with a small laugh. “He’s such a great guy. We toured together and he helped me out a lot. I wish I had a brother like him.”
“No, you don’t,” I murmur under my breath, sighing hopelessly. She wishes she had a brother like Tyler? Does she have any idea how difficult it is? Does she realize how easy it is to end up falling for him?
Thankfully, I spot Tyler and Snake in the distance and their approach cuts my conversation with Emily short, but I don’t mind. I was growing sick of hearing her talk about Tyler anyway.
“Here you go, Eden with the runner legs,” Snake says as he passes my iced latte into my hand. I arch an eyebrow at his words, but he’s already diverted his attention away from me as he sits down on the other side of Emily.
Tyler’s handing her the frappuccino, smiling down at her as he does, and I quickly get to my feet.
“Tyler, can I talk to you for a sec?” I say before he has the chance to sit down, fixing him with a hard look.
“Sure,” he says, looking back at me a little unsurely. I think he can tell by the tone of my voice that I’m not exactly overjoyed.
Leaving Snake and Emily behind on the bench, I head around the pathway, walking far enough to be out of their view. Tyler drifts along behind me, drinking whatever drink he has.
“So I was talking to Emily,” I start slowly, turning around to face him. I squeeze the cup in my hand. “She says you keep telling her to move here and to visit California. Why?”
“Because California’s great and she loves it here,” Tyler answers instantly, his tone unsure. I think he’s confused as to what I’m getting at. “What’s the big deal?”