Read Online Did I Mention I Need You? (The DIMILY Trilogy Book 2) by Estelle Maskame - Free Book Online Page B

Dean, Rachael, and Meghan would get hard. The five of us would be at the pier together and Tyler would glance between Pacific Park and me when no one was looking, and I always remembered the time he took me there, because it was our first and only date. None of our friends ever noticed Tyler’s smirks. But I always did. Sometimes he would stare at me in the hallways at school. Sometimes I’d stare back. Then he’d smile and turn away, and I’d reel my attention back to Dean, who was often by my side. I used to worry about Dean to begin with. I thought Tyler would hate me for it, for breaking things off and dating his best friend instead. But he never commented on it. Ever. Only narrowed his eyes at me whenever Dean and I were together.
    But all of that was before he left. All of that was a year ago.
    It’s all different now. I can tell. He’s more distant already, more casual about Dean and me. I don’t know why it’s hitting me so hard. It’s exactly what I expected. I mean, a year in New York City? I can’t possibly think of a better city to live in while trying to get over someone. How many new girls has he met over the months? How many new people has he surrounded himself with while doing events? Maybe he’s been dating. Maybe he’s already seeing someone.
    And yet here I am, standing on this rooftop by his side, still hopelessly in love with him.
    “I’m not going to tell you that I’m over you,” Tyler says eventually.
    My eyes flicker open and I raise my head, studying his face as he continues to stare down at the avenue below. His jaw is still tightened, but he doesn’t look mad. Just serious. Straightening up, he stands back from the wall and turns to face me. And the second his vibrant eyes lock with mine, only one thing runs through my mind: hope.
    “I’m not going to tell you that,” he says. “Because I’m not over you.”

7
    It takes a long moment to fully absorb Tyler’s words, for them to actually hit me. At first I think he’s kidding, or that I’ve only heard what I want to hear, but then he smiles at me and they crinkle at the corners. The sincerity within them only makes me realize that he’s being totally honest.
    “What?” I splutter, finally.
    “It’s gonna take me a lot longer than a year without you to get over you.”
    The atmosphere is so thick and suddenly everything feels deafeningly silent. So silent it almost hurts. But I can’t even process my thoughts, much less get out any words, and so I stare back at him even more dumbfounded than I was ten seconds ago. I shake my head, fast. There’s no way in hell this is really happening.
    “But I thought—”
    “You thought what?” He stuffs his hands into the front pockets of his pants and drops his eyes to the concrete. Weeds are growing through the cracks. “I’d come over to New York and move on just like that? You thought it would be that easy?”
    I never prepared myself for this. I never even imagined Tyler would be standing in front of me saying these words. Yet he is. I’m so overwhelmed and stunned that I still don’t entirely believe him. I bite my lower lip. “But you’ve been acting different. You’ve been treating me like your sister.”
    “Well,” Tyler says with a smirk, “you are.”
    “Tyler.” I press my lips together and look at him hard.
    He heaves a sigh as his smirk falters, running a hand back through his hair and rubbing the back of his neck. “Honestly, Eden? I thought you were over me. I didn’t want to be that asshole who messed with your head. I was gonna do the right thing. I was gonna keep my distance.”
    I think if I wasn’t so numb, I would cry. But I just can’t seem to stop staring back at him from three feet away, my lips parted in disbelief. It takes me a second or two to muster up a reply, and then all I can murmur is, “Does Dean still bother you? You know, him and me?”
    “No,” Tyler says.
    “Why?”
    He pauses to study me for a second. In the background,