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JEN

AFTER A LATElunch, we spent the rest of the day playing putt putt, laughing and jokingly trying to distract each other from making our shots. Later we strolled along a path that wound its way around a pond. Somehow, we put all our history aside and spent the time just learning new things about each other. His phone chimed a couple times, but he looked at the caller and sent it to voice mail. I appreciated that he was devoting this time to me.

“So, you and Alex have been friends for a long time, right? How did you meet each other?”

He gave me a playful nudge with his elbow. “I’m not sure I should tell you. It might ruin the perfect image you have of me.

I rolled my eyes. “I’ll try not to let it knock you off your pedestal,” I snorted.

He laughed, then sobered. He pulled my hand through his arm. “I didn’t have a lot of friends growing up because I was considered sort of a nerd in school.”

I stopped walking.“A nerd?”That was hard for me to imagine.

He turned to face me with a slight grimace. “Yeah, minus the pocket protector, I was sort of the stereotype. I didn’t play sports, I loved math and science, and I never got to hang out after school because my mom wanted me home for . . . other things.” He shrugged. “I even got picked on by the jocks.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I sputtered. “You’re so big! What were they, giants?”

“Nah, I wasn’t all that tall back then, and I had what I guess you’d call a lanky build. I only grew taller and started to bulk up near the end of high school.”

“A late bloomer, huh? I guess you showed them in the end.” I laughed, then sobered. It was really hard to imagine Tyler being picked on. “I hate bullies. They come in all sizes and disguises, and not just in schools,” I said quietly. I waited for the familiar tightening in my chest as I thought of Mark, but to my surprise, it didn’t come.

Tyler looked at me sympathetically. He patted my hand on his arm, then slid our hands between our bodies and entwined our fingers. He started walking again, continuing to hold my hand. I loved the affectionate gesture, and I knew the reason thoughts of Mark didn’t affect me today is because Tyler knew my secret and was still here with me. “You’re right. Well, for me, the good that came out of it is meeting Brandon and Alex.”

Without conscious thought, I wrapped my free hand around his arm that was linked with mine and leaned my head against the side of his shoulder. He looked at me and smiled, and I felt peace for the first time in a long time.

“Sounds like a good story,” I coaxed.

He slowed our pace so my head didn’t bob so much against him while he spoke. “I transferred to their school during eighth grade. Honestly, school was never hard for me. You know, the nerd factor and all that,” he snickered, and his ability to laugh at himself made me smile.

“Anyway, some football players were giving me a hard time because our science teacher graded on a curve, and I always got really high marks, so I threw their grades off. Same old story, if they didn’t get their grades up, they were going to be benched. And instead of studying, they decided it was easier to pick on the new kid. They were telling me all the ways they had in mind to make life even harder for me if I didn’t deliberately get some questions wrong. I might have been a geek, but I wasn’t a coward. I had my fist balled up and was getting ready to deck the closest one, knowing it might be the last thing I ever did, when these two other boys came up behind me. I didn’t know them, but the jocks apparently did."

“Brandon and Alex,” I guessed. “Did they beat up the players instead?”

Tyler snorted. “They didn’t have to. Brandon wasn’t small and he was a wrestling champion. Word was he knew how to fight off the mat, also. They made up a story about me tutoring them, and by the time Brandon and Alex finished telling them what would happen if they hurt me, the jocks were begging me to tutor them, also.”

“You didn’t do it, did you?”

“Yeah, I did.”

Of course he did. He probably brought home every stray he found, too. I don’t think it ever occurred to Tyler to not help someone in need. Is that what I was? Just a stray in need of help? A listening ear followed by a pat on the head, fed a treat, and sent on my way?

“ . . . turns out they weren’t such bad guys in the end,” Tyler was saying. I forced myself to refocus on what he was saying. “ . . . just overtired from practice and struggling to keep up. Alex and Brandon didn’t really need tutoring, but they showed up to support me. Eventually, I got my mom to let up on me some, and I started spending more and more time with them. We hung out a lot at the North’s house. As you’ve seen, Alex’s mom loves to take care of everyone. Of course, Brandon liked to be there to flirt with Mia,” Tyler laughed.

“I can see Alex standing up for someone. I wish I could have met Brandon.” I’d only ever heard great things about this man who was killed in a car accident along with his wife Mia, Alex’s sister, leaving behind their precious son, Aiden.

We had circled the pond and were back at the car. He shoved his hands in his pockets, and his mouth turned slightly downward. “He was a great guy. A man’s man, if that makes any sense. He and Mia loved each other fiercely. I wish you could have met them. You remind me a bit of Mia, actually.”

“I do? How so?”

He grinned at me. “She didn’t have a problem telling people what she thought, either.”

I punched him in the arm. “I’m not that bad.”

Tyler made a pretense of rubbing his ‘injury.’ “Just don’t apply for any positions that require diplomacy and you’ll be fine,” he snorted. “Seriously, she was a little hard to win over, but once you did, she was loyal and fierce.”

“I would have liked her, I think.”

He turned us around so his back was against the car, wrapping his arms around my back and pulling me into his body so that the lower halves of our bodies were in close contact. “She would have liked you. She would have liked us together, too.”