My heart was going to leap out of my chest. Why was Tyler back? And how hadn't I heard of it? I took a sip of my Cosmo and tried to keep my attention diverted. Whenever Tyler was around, I had the same reaction. I could never act normal with him in the same room.

Given our past history together, if I was that girl he'd left behind ten years ago, I would've been a sobbing, curling ball on the floor. But, not anymore. Tyler wasn't going to be pulling the reins and controlling my life right now. I felt a nudge on my shoulder, and I found myself staring into a familiar face. It was Noah. There was a grin on his face as he wrapped his arms around me in a hug, "You look so gorgeous today, Victoria."

I smiled as I hugged him back, "why, thank you, kind sir. You don't look so bad yourself."

Noah and I had managed to continue being good friends throughout the years. When Tyler had left, Noah had tried his best to pull me out of my misery. Our respective fathers were best friends, they used to golf together, party together and everything else grown family men liked to do. Noah had been sweet and supportive throughout the years and was quite frank about his admiration and wanted more than just friendship, however, I'd always been taken to a certain blue-eyed demon. Everyone else kind of paled in comparison to him so I'd never led Noah on.

"The last time I saw you it was two weeks back." Noah pointed out. "You should go out more, Vicky." I noticed how his gaze flicked in that direction for a second before he looked at me, "You shouldn't let a certain bad memory haunt you throughout your life."

"You're right. Honestly, that's not really why I haven't been going to parties and stuff. The bakery needs my undivided attention, and I've always been busy with it. I like baking."

Noah smiled in understanding. Like me, he'd decided to stay in town after graduation. His family, the McCloy's owned a construction company, and Noah was helping his father and his older brother with their business.

"We should catch up soon. Are you free next week?"

"Well..."

"It would be fun. Let's go for a movie."

"Okay, I'll ask Hazel if she would like to go with us."

He shook his head. "Just you and me."

Something about this conversation was giving me a déjà vu.

"Oh."

"I'll text you." He said as a guy from school approached us and started talking to Noah, he politely smiled at me.

I wasn't very good at talking to people. There was a time in my life when I used to be a social bee, but that one year—ten years ago had changed it all. I was relieved when the guy pulled Noah's arm and led him towards the kitchen leaving me alone at the bar once again.

Slowly, I sneaked a peek in the direction that he was in and was surprised to find Tyler staring at me unabashed. His once smooth features were now hard, his jaw was ticking. He had no problem maintaining eye-contact. I stared back, refusing to back down. The intensity, and the loud music and the recalling of our past memories, it was a little too much for me to handle. I broke the eye-contact and looked away.

My head was spinning. Any direction that I looked in, I thought people were looking my way, talking about me and laughing at me.

She's such a slut!

I know right?

She was with him only because of his money.

Can't imagine why anyone would do something like...

I was breathing hard and clenching the glass tightly. Coming here was a bad idea. I should have known that the anxiety wouldn't leave me. I knew people weren't talking, they would have forgotten about everything but it was still so hard to walk in a crowded place like this, see him standing there and act normal.

I took one last sip of my drink and walked towards the general direction of the bathroom. I climbed the stairs and walked down the hallway. I opened a door randomly and was welcomed by a series of moans and groans and the bed shaking.

"The fuck!" The girl yelled.

"Sorry!" I said and closed the door abruptly.

I walked straight into Kevin's room and hoped there wasn't anyone occupying it. The bathroom there was usually clean and he always trusted me to use it. I opened the door of his bedroom and closed it behind me. I went straight for the bathroom. As usual, the room was neatly organized, not a thing out of place and completely lint-free. Kevin was a Queen, you'd expect nothing less of him. The dresser was the only messy place, the dresser top filled with makeup pallets, brushes, and lip-gloss.

I closed the bathroom door and the anxiety started to swallow me. I placed my purse on the counter and took deep breaths, opened the water tap, splashed some water on my face and wiped it with tissue towels. I gripped the edges of the marble counter and tried to calm down.

Suddenly, I heard the bedroom door open and close.

I froze. "Kev, is that you? It's me, Vicky. I'm just using your bathroom."

There was no answer but the footsteps were closing in on me. The door flung open and a tall, dark frame filled the doorway.

Tyler.

I could see his reflection in the mirror. "What do you want, Tyler?"

Silence.

"Just wanted to make sure you're okay." He said softly. He used to have a sweet voice, the last time I remembered; now it sounded deeper, like chocolate oozing out of a molten lava cake.

I gave out a bitter laugh, "You're ten years too late to ask me that question."

"Let me hold you." Tyler offered. "Let me hold you for a minute, it'll be alright."

"I said I'm okay. Leave me alone."

"You're shaking." He pointed out.

No amount of insults or rejection stopped Tyler from getting what he always wanted. I should have expected this, but I hadn't seen it coming when he kicked the bathroom door shut and took two steps towards me.

I remembered when we were seventeen-- Tyler was an attractive teenager, with his lanky figure and boyish handsome features. He was too good to be true, but now, he was a completely different story. He was towering above six-feet, lean yet muscular underneath the white shirt, his shoulders were broader than I remembered, his features bold and a little rough around the edges. He possessed a mouth that could show you what heaven felt like. He looked like a prince charming in every sense; the only problem was he wasn't. Tyler was the man who'd throw that prince off the horse, climb on it forcefully and get the princess for himself. All because he could and wanted to.

I was so hell-bent on not wanting to see him, but my body remembered what it once had. He didn't wait as he planted both of his hands on either side of the counter and I was welcomed by a whiff of his perfume, intoxicating and nostalgic. So much for not wanting him back. He was all grown up and staring at me with an intense gaze, so intense it could set an entire forest ablaze.

"Tyler, get away from me," I said.

He didn't move an inch; in fact, his hand went to my waist, his fingers splayed there. Still maintaining eye-contact, he said. "Are you even wearing underwear?"

Give it to Tyler to make outrageous statements of the century and still have women panting over him.

I almost laughed incredulously. "You're seriously impossible!"

As if he wanted to make sure I was wearing underwear, his hand that was resting on my waist slid down towards my backside. My cheeks burned with sheer embarrassment.

"What are you doing?" I whispered.

"Distracting you," Again, he was blunt to a fault.

Some people thought he was rude but it was sheer bluntness that I'd found it very attractive until I realized why he was so frank about his thoughts. And when the truth had come out, it was already too late.

"I'll scream," I warned him.

He smiled, "A hundred bucks says you won't."

I stared at him. Why was he doing this? Wasn't it a clean break up? Why was he acting like that particular break-up scene ten years ago never happened when it was so clear in my mind like a fucking clip that was on repeat.

I had to tell him to stop this.

I didn't want to be with him anymore!

My resolve almost slipped when he picked me up in one fluid motion like a doll and placed me on the granite counter. His long fingers touched my cheeks and traced a path slowly from my jaw to the valley between my breasts, "Stop..."

He whispered, "My sweet Victoria."

Those same words he used to say to me.

When he said my full name, he made it sound so sexy. His fingers traveled down towards the slit of the dress and his hand moved up. I froze. "You have no right to..."

"Shhh..." He said. I could feel the bulge in his jeans brush me. "I just want to look at you. It's been ten years."

His eyes roamed from the top of my body, slowed down to my breasts (he was a certified pervert) and traced all the way down to my hips and lastly my legs. He was staring at me completely star-struck like he couldn't believe I was here.

Tyler was an odd one; everyone knew that and especially me. There was no arguing with him.

"Are you done ogling? Can I please leave now?"

If I'd wanted, I could really scream and then walk away, but my body and my heart were a traitor. Secretly, I'd always wanted him back in my life. Secretly, I'd wanted him to look at me the same way he used to back when we were seventeen. My gaze flicked to his ring finger and he followed my gaze.

"Want to go somewhere more private?" He asked casually.

"Are you insane?" It just came out of my mouth.

He chuckled, "More than half the people know that I am."

"We broke up when we were teenagers, Tyler. In case you weren't aware, we aren't dating anymore." I said slowly.

Tyler laughed, showing me his perfect set of white teeth, "the way you speak to me, one would think I'm ninety and senile."

"You may as well be," I said. "God knows the Lockhart's maybe vampires and have been taking some potion to stay youthful. You're probably toothless and sporting a beer belly."

"Well, sorry to disappoint you but it's all in our genes. We look young even during our old age."

"Good for you," I said.

I was still seated on top of the washroom counter, with Tyler standing dangerously close. I couldn't even get down without his help.

"Let me down please," I said.

He folded his arms across his chest. "What's the hurry? We've met after so long. A long conversation is overdue, don't you think?"

"I don't have anything to say to you," I admitted.

"If my memory doesn't fail me, you're the one who pushed me away, Victoria."

"And for good reason!" I snapped back at him. "I was angry, and hurt, but that didn't mean that I wanted you to leave for good. But you left me..."

The words choked in my throat because it was so hard...

So hard to remember all that...

"We were kids then, we didn't understand certain responsibilities, what we wanted from life." He reasoned, his blue eyes turning dark, "Certainly, you're not punishing me for old times."

"You left me when I most needed you, Tyler, you never called, never emailed, how was I to get in touch with you? And now, you come back almost a decade later wanting to get back with me?"

"Listen, Victoria..."

"No, you listen to me, Tyler Lockhart. Do not make these excuses about us being too young to understand our relationship, because you and I both know what we had and how you blew it to pieces."

I saw at the moment, the rage flashing in his eyes, the rejection from me always seemed to tick him off. It satisfied me to see him trying to battle it, the demons. Slowly, he said, "I left that time because I had no choice. I told you I would come back to you once I'd sorted out my life. Right now, I'm in a position where I do not need my father's money or my mother's protection."

I folded my arms across my chest. "Well, I already have a boyfriend."

"Well, there won't be any other boyfriend after tonight because I'm here now."

"Such arrogance!" I exclaimed and I wanted to slap him so hard that he would fly back into his monstrous big bed back in that mansion. "I won't break up with him."

He laughed, "Right. Because in order for you to break up you actually need to have a boyfriend which you don't have."

I hated how he knew the truth.

"You say nothing's changed in the past ten years when we hadn't even been in touch. During those ten years, you never took another woman to your bed? You never fucked anyone? Are you telling me this, Tyler?! Were you loyal to your nonexistent girlfriend?"

He had no problem looking me in the eye. "Do you really want to hear what I have to say?"

"Yes, I want to hear your glorified truth," I admitted mockingly.

"I took a silver-blonde woman home with me every time I missed you. Most of them had dyed their hair and didn't have a natural silver color like yours. I always told the girl to lie face-down as I took care of myself. And I gave her strict instructions that I'd address her as Victoria. They weren't you, but that was the only way."

I laughed. I actually laughed. "Fuck you, Ty. You're disgusting!"

"Aw, don't be like that Vicky, you're the one who asked." He said coyly.

A streak of jealously spurred inside me. I wasn't going to wait for him to put me down so I jumped, and now the difference in our heights was colossal, even worse than the times we were in high-school.

"Where are you going? We haven't finished talking."

"I'm sure you'll have no problem finding another one of my look-alike to make a conquest out of."

He was laughing, roaring with laughter and I bit back from saying something vile. I didn't wait for him to follow me as I started walking out of the room when his hand grasped mine and he gently tugged me against him. I gasped when I felt something hard pressing against my lower back. He was so close behind me, I felt his nose bury in my hair. "I was only kidding, love. Trust me."

He hadn't changed. The part of him that liked to torment me when he got the chance. He found some type of sadistic pleasure in making me angry.

"You're jealous." He pointed out, the hint of laughter still playing on his lips.

"You're delusional."

He laughed again, the deep rumble did inexplicable things to my body. I opened the door to the room to step out when he stepped forward in time to block me with his huge form.

Noah was standing there outside the room, staring at us. He looked from Tyler and slowly moved his gaze to me, without taking his eyes off me he said, "Lockhart."

"McCloy." Tyler greeted him.

"What are you doing here?" Noah asked.

Tyler raised his hands as if to imply the obvious. "What do you think happens when a man and a woman are locked inside a bedroom?" He grinned, "I'm sure you're smart enough to imagine."

"There was nothing—"

Tyler threw me a glare and turned back to Noah. "Do you need anything?"

There was too much macho tension brewing in the room. "No, I don't. Victoria, we need to talk."

Noah turned to leave when Tyler called out to him. "McCloy."

Noah stopped dead in his tracks. In a soft threatening voice, Tyler said, "Thank you for being Victoria's friend while I was gone. Now that I'm back, you have no need to bother Vicky anymore."

Noah looked at me like I'd betrayed him, and that look almost killed me. Without a word, he retreated down the stairs.

A slow smile spread on Tyler's lips and that infuriated me. Years had passed, but he hadn't changed. He was still the same; manipulative, arrogant, quick-witted and downright nasty. Don't even get me started on his narcissistic tendencies.

People like him never changed, the voice inside my head whispered.

"Noah is my friend! Why did you do that?!" I asked.

Tyler closed the door behind him and locked it, turning his full attention towards me. Those dark jet-black locks flopping over his forehead. They made a good contrast to his sparkling blue eyes.

"He's not good for you." He said simply.

"And who are you to decide that?"

"Tyler Lockhart." He answered.

If the situation wasn't so serious, I would have choked on my laughter. This used to happen when we were younger, and I was mildly surprised that he hadn't forgotten. I used to ask him something and his answer would be the same. When he said his name like that, it only meant one thing.

He was unstoppable. His name was enough to get him whatever he wanted in the world.

"I need to leave. Move aside please."

He traced the back of his finger to my cheek, caressing softly. I tried not to swoon, to fall to my knees as I felt his finger almost burn into my skin. The attraction was almost too unbearable to take.

"I'm not good for you, we both know that." He admitted.

I didn't answer just kept my gaze averted.

"But there's no one else who understands me better than you do." He said softly as if the walls would hear us. "I want you back in my life, Victoria."

My heart ached when I said it but it had to be out. "We've taken that road before, and I can't walk through it again. I just can't!"

"I won't hurt you this time. I promise." He said close to my ear.

"I've stopped believing in promises especially when they come from you."

"I just want us to be friends again."