Page 238 of Between Secrets and Obsession

Baby Tyler will grow up knowing what the man he’s named after did for us. How he risked his own life to save mine and brought Liam and me back together. I’ll never forget his sacrifice and naming our first son after him felt right and perfect.

“I don’t know why I’m so nervous,” I say, my legs shaking as we wait for him to come through the gates.

Liam comforts me by putting his hand on my knee. “Settle down, Mads. It’s not good for the baby.”

I roll my eyes. He worries too much.

But I love him for it anyway.

Looking in the back seat, I smile as baby Tyler sleeps. He’ll finally get more than thirty minutes to spend time with his uncle, and since he’ll be living with us for a while, I hope they create a special bond.

“There he is,” Liam says, and I snap my head around.

“Oh my God. He’s wearing street clothes!” My emotions bubble over, and I can’t wait any longer. I throw open the truck door and carefully hop out.

“Mads!” Liam groans, but he knows me well enough to know I won’t listen to him anyway.

“Tyler!” I shout and walk as fast as I can toward him.

As he approaches me, he opens his arms wide, and the dam breaks. I finally get to hug him after five years. Tears blur my vision as I wrap my arms around him, and he embraces me in a hug.

“Oh my God, I can’t believe you’re out!”

Liam joins and pulls him in for a side hug. “Dude. You’re buff as fuck.”

Tyler chuckles. “Gotta make sure I’m prepared for the real world now, ya know?”

I wipe my face, and Tyler smiles. “You look huge.”

Laughing through my emotions, I playfully push his chest. “Shut up. I know. And I still have two more months.”

Tyler cringes. “Yikes. Good thing I’m only staying for a few weeks.”

My face drops. “What? That’s it? Why?”

We walk to the truck, and Liam helps me get into the back so Tyler can sit shotgun.

“You know I didn’t want to go to Sacramento,” he says after we all buckle up. “I found a job back home. I need a fresh start. There’s nothing here for me.”

“Ugh,” I say offended. “Me! And Liam and baby Tyler.”

“And you all have your own lives to live. You won’t mind me invading your space for a little bit, but after a while, you’ll want to have your privacy again, so it’s best if I try to go back into civilian life as soon as I can.”

Liam starts the truck and drives us out of the parking lot. “Babe, he’s made his decision,” he tells me when he knows I want to keep arguing.

I slump in my seat. “Fine, but I’m using these next three weeks to change your mind.”

“You will after you realize my cooking game is weak,” Tyler teases.

Three weeks pass way too fucking fast. Tyler promised to visit, but I have a feeling he won’t anytime soon, which makes me sad because I was hoping he’d be here for Tobias’s birth. But I get why he needs a fresh start. His grandma still lives in Lawton Ridge, Alabama, and I’m pretty sure his high school crush, Gemma, does too. Though he stopped talking about her in our letters, I have a feeling he’ll be talking about her again soon.

“Why. Is. It. So. Hot!” I shout, ripping off my shirt. “Liam! We need to move!”

He pops his head out of the bathroom with a toothbrush between his lips. “Huh?”

“It’s too hot here! We need to live somewhere colder!” It’s the middle of August, and I’m dying of heatstroke.

Liam flashes an amused grin with a cocked eyebrow. “Oh yeah? Where would you like to go, baby?”