A week passed since the incident.

I still remember it like it was yesterday. I tasted fear and death. I'd come out of that like a new person, and the experience made me look at things in a different light. I was the same, yet not completely. I'd discovered that I was stronger than I imagined. I wasn't scared when I'd picked up that gun to shoot, there was only bitter anger and hurt over what my old friend had done to me, everything that Noah had confessed. He'd lied to my face all those years about being my friend when all he wanted was to screw me over to get back at Tyler.

I'd come home late that morning before dawn and tore all the old pictures that I'd taken with him.

I wanted to put it behind me as soon as I could so I brushed those thoughts away and concentrated on icing the strawberry cheesecake. I arranged the diced strawberries on the top and began cutting the cake to put it on display. I mentally reminded myself to make the Nutella donuts which were the most popular and bestselling in the bakery.

Patrons filed into the place moments later and I served them their usual coffee, and donuts or pastries, plastering on a smile and answering politely to their inquiries. What happened that night wasn't a secret any longer and most people in town knew about it and wanted to dig deeper.

I worked myself to the bone for the next couple of days because sitting around doing nothing brought me back to that night again, and I would rather do something else than relive in those moments. Archer had received an offer for an internship for a famous hotel in Boston so he'd left for that leaving me and Hazel to take care of the business here. Tyler had been surprisingly distant, allowing me some space which was unlike him. That night he'd hugged me close and told me that he had some business to take care of and that he'd be back soon. I smiled to myself, thinking about him. I'd decided not to fight him anymore...

Or sacrifice the love that I felt towards him...

If he couldn't love me the way I wanted him too, maybe I could teach him to love if he still wanted me, that is.

Tonight I'd given Hazel a night off, I felt bad that she had to work so hard even though she should've been partying and doing the stuff that a girl her age should be doing.

As if on cue, the bell of the bakery dinged. I looked at the time; it was a little past ten p.m. Hazel told me she wasn't going to be back home until after midnight.

"You're back early..." I said looking up and froze.

Tyler stood at the door, looking like a meal as usual. He wore a black leather jacket, over ripped denim jeans. His hair rumpled but adding to his alluring beauty.

Could he just stand there forever so I could admire him?

Because every time he showed out of the blue, dressed like that, it took my breath away. I looked down at myself. I was wearing a decent yellow dress with little sunflower print over it. Hardly anything you'd consider sexy, but it was cute.

He was holding a large box of pizza in one hand and a bottle of wine in the other, grinning he said, "Did you order pizza, ma'am? Thought I'd deliver the pizza and myself on your doorstep. I'm complimentary."

"Lock that door, Tyler Lockhart."

Who in the right mind would say no to pizza, wine, and a man like that?

"Careful there, Miss, I might start getting all the wrong ideas." He said grinning as he flipped the sign to 'CLOSED' and locked the bakery door from the inside.

I missed our casual banter so much—especially the types where we flirted with each other a lot. I was glad that we could still slip into our old selves when we wanted to. I discarded the apron on the counter and picked up two flutes before leading the way through the bakery extension and into the house at the back of it. We climbed up the stairs to my room and once inside, we settled down on the carpeted floor with the box of pizza and the bottle of some ridiculously expensive wine between us.

"I thought you were vegan." I teased him.

He opened the box and showed me the pizza inside divided into two. One side of it was pepperoni and cheese which I assumed was for me and the other side had some healthy amount of greens on it.

I laughed. "You're one of a kind."

"The one and only," he said jokingly.

I switched on my laptop and played Money Heist on Netflix because we agreed that we hadn't watched it yet. We were two episodes in, and things were getting interesting in the show. There was an air of casualness between us but that didn't stop the nervousness as it slowly crept into me, kind of like being with your crush for the very first time and getting your palms sweaty. We hadn't spoken much after that day at the warehouse.

I kept sneaking glances towards him, as he did me. It's like we were back in high-school again. I noticed his hand laying on his thighs, the veins running over his arms, his fingers thick and long. I might start hyperventilating.

"Vicky," Tyler was the first to break the silence, "I didn't come here today to harass you, or demand you to go to bed with me. I've always been honest with you about things, and I won't stop now. I came back from London to take over my father's company after his disappearance and a part of me hoped that you would forgive me and take me back. I realize that I've been very selfish so far and disregarded your feelings entirely. I'm sorry."

I stared at him in silence. I had expected him to outright demand me to fuck him or something crude along the line, but an apology was something that I had never seen coming.

"I won't expect you to forgive me, because hell, I wouldn't forgive myself for what I did to you. I just..." his eyes bore into mine, reminding me of the serene ocean, "I thought if we had a kid together, you wouldn't leave me. I wasn't thinking about how unfair that was on you because a lot of times I struggle to differentiate the right from wrong. It's not an excuse, of course, but I thought you should know."

"Thanks for being honest with me," I said with a smile and placed my hand over his, our fingers interlocking.

"You're the only person who knows me, and understands me for who I am, Vicky. I don't think anyone can beat that." He covered our entwined hands with his right hand and traced my fingers slowly, "I kept teasing you about having sex with me, and told you that's what I wanted because I thought you wouldn't want me any other way. I pretended to play the games because it was easier that way."

I pushed the box of untouched pizza between us away and went to sit beside Tyler. He was bigger and broader, and I loved how he still smelled the same.

Some things never change, I guess.

I put my head on his shoulder, and he put an arm around me, holding me there against him.

"You win."

"What?" I asked, laughing.

"The games we were playing. I'll admit defeat to the Queen. I don't think I ever had any chances of winning against you anyway." He chuckled.

"You're corny, you know."

"I haven't even started being corny yet. Let me begin." He said, his voice becoming a sensuous whisper, "I love you, Victoria." He confessed, running his hand through my hair, "I love you like a man shouldn't even be allowed to love a woman that way. And I want to marry you if you'll have me. We'll take it slow."

My heart sank with his raw words. I sucked in a breath and stared up at him trying to gauge if he was teasing me or joking around and all I was met with was sincerity.

"You don't have to force yourself to love me." He mentioned softly, "I'll take what I can get. I'll be your best friend as I've always been, and I think I'll do a decent job as your husband—you may need to put me on a leash from time to time but I guess you already know that."

I laughed hard through the tears that had gathered in my eyes. "How many times did you rehearse that before coming here?"

"Well, let me see...how about every single day for the past ten years?"

"Tyler..." I swiped at my tears, I bit my lip hard.

How should I tell him about this? What if he was disgusted and didn't want me anymore? I needed to rip off that Band-Aid and get it over with. "I'm barren. I cannot have children. Even if I married you, I don't think I'll be able to give you children."

He continued to stare at me in that cold way of his and I wondered what was going on in his mind. "I know."

"You knew?"

"Yeah," he admitted.

"How?"

"You're better off not knowing."

"Tell me." I urged him.

"When I beat up Noah he continued to talk about how you were going to be useless to me. Said you were damaged goods and he didn't care if we got married."

"Well, he's right," I said.

He picked me up from where I sat on the carpet and placed me sideways in his lap, "Fuck that. Children don't matter to me, baby. Max, Phoenix, Travis, and Maya can do that job of producing heirs. With the madness that's running within the Lockhart's, I'm quite okay with not having to repeat that cycle."

"You'll change your mind."

"I need you, Vicky. I want you as my wife."