Flustered

Agitated was one of the many words that could describe Tyler’s mood. His mom was having some girlish tea party with her friends, leaving the house filled with high-pitched voices and obnoxious giggling. Usually, he could close his door and ignore them, but his sensitive hearing picked up their annoying words perfectly. He ended up storming out of the house, keys in hand and black jacket in the other.

The brunette male sped down his driveway and began driving aimlessly around town. He wasn’t exactly sure where to go. There was always the grill, but there was a chance she was there. Matt and him weren’t as close anymore, so he didn’t venture over to his house. The football players were probably all with girls or drunk somewhere. Sighing, he turned and found himself in the Mystic Grill parking lot.

He sat in his car for a moment before getting frustrated with himself. Was he really letting a girl get to him like this? After some debate, he came to the conclusion that no, he wasn’t going to let Sierra get to him. With that, he got out of the car and walked into the grill. Nodding at a couple of familiar faces, he immediately made his way to a small table near the pool table.

A cute giggle made it’s way to his over-sensitive ears and it was all he could do to not groan. Sierra and her friend, Sam, were sitting in a booth and chatting over dinner. Knots began forming in his stomach, but he ignored them and decided the join the current pool game.

It wasn’t long before Tyler began to enjoy himself. Laughing and being an ass with some of the guys was what he needed. When his friend completely missed his shot, Tyler laughed and smacked him playfully. There was a brief pause in action, and Tyler could suddenly hear everything going on around him. Glasses hitting tables, chairs scooting back and -

“...and well, you’re really pretty, and well - here I am!”

“Here you are.”

Locking his jaw, Tyler looked up to see some kid standing by Sierra’s booth. His view of her was almost completely blocked by the skinny boy talking to her. His grip tightened and immediately dropped the pool stick on the table before he broke it. It seemed his evening of pretending like everything was normal was over.

Taking a deep breath, Tyler went to his table to sip on his Coke. Maybe he could ignore them. Maybe he could not rip that guy’s throat out. Maybe -

“Sierra. That’s cute.”

His glass hit the table with a little more force than necessary. Or maybe he could rip this kid’s throat out.

Time for Plan B. Tyler got up and slowly walked over to where the adorable brunette was sitting. He wasn’t sure if it was the testosterone in him or the wolf, but he could tell he was going to enjoy this.

“Say, do you mind if I sit down with you...?”

Tyler ended up standing right behind Sierra’s seat and crossed his arms, eyebrows up in a silent challenge.

“I mind.”

His voice was hard and he felt himself tense up, like he was preparing to fight. Which he didn’t want to. Fight. He didn’t. He just wanted to throw the stupid punk across the room. In his mind, that wasn’t a fight. That was just unfair.

The boy shifted awkwardly.

“Sorry dude, didn’t know this was your girlfriend.”

You’re damn right you’re sorry.

Sierra had began to talk, but Tyler ignored her.

“You should go. Now.” He jerked his head to the left and his stance left no room for argument.

“Sorry man. See ya.”

The kid disappeared and the dark haired male visibly relaxed. Until -

“What was that?”

Oh yeah. Sierra. He didn’t actually stop to think about how she would react to his sudden attitude. By the look on her face, light brown eyes glaring and lips formed into an angry pout, he assumed she wasn’t exactly pleased. He battled with himself for a moment and looked away from her, deciding to just deny deny deny.

“Nothing.”

He really shouldn’t have looked at her again. He should have just kept staring off into the distance. But when he looked into her brown orbs, the look of defiance in them pulled at him. Made him swallow, hard. That impulse was returning, the impulse to just kiss her and it was coming back with a vengeance.

“That was too something! You don’t just come over here and, well, do that!”

The usual, quiet Sierra he was so used to dealing with was vanishing quickly. She was irked and standing really close and he could smell her and it was all too much. His eyes hadn’t left hers, but he quickly looked away, searching for something to say to get her to back off before he lost it.

“I -” He stopped himself, shook his head and sighed. “I gotta go.”

Those were not the words he wanted to say, but it was too late to backpedal. Whirling around, Tyler walked off, desperate to get away from her. He went to his table to grab his jacket when her voice stopped him.

“Don’t walk away from me.”

He did not expect her to follow him. He expected her to sit down and eventually complain to her friend, who would later try and trip him in the hallway and all would be forgotten.

She wasn’t supposed to fucking follow him.

“Look, I’m sorry. If you want to go talk to that dude, go ahead.” He couldn’t keep the bitterness from seeping into his voice, he was angry and frustrated and just wanted to leave.

“No! I want to talk to you.”

He was almost positive she hadn’t meant to say that out loud. A warm feeling sprouted in his chest at her words and he couldn’t bring himself to move.

“Just talk to me.”

Tyler almost gave in, but held strong.

You don’t deserve her, you don’t deserve her, you don’t deserve her -

“About what?” He snapped. She flinched, but plowed on.

“About how you’ve been,” she paused, “avoiding me lately. I thought we were friends, but...” Her voice died off and he sighed. He seemed to be sighing a lot lately and that in itself was annoying.

“Look, I - I have to go.”

He turned his back on her, hopefully for the last time, and stormed off. He shoved his hands into his pockets and removed his keys, quickly flicking through them to find the ones that belonged to his car. He was almost there when a voice reached his ears and sent a chill through him.

“Tyler!”

Cursing under his breath, Tyler kept walking. Damn girl didn’t quit. If he could just get to his car, he could drive off and then he’d be okay. He was so close, about to put the key into the door, when she grabbed him.

“Tyler.”

She had his arm in her hand, holding him back, and her touch felt like fire. As soon as his name left her lips, he turned to look at her and was instantly drawn to her lips. She was biting them nervously and before he could even comprehend how much that action turned him on, he crushed his lips to hers and felt the world melt away.

She gasped at his sudden action and, without thinking, he slipped his tongue into her tiny mouth. A strangle groan made it’s way up his throat as he wrapped an arm around her petite waste. Her mouth was warm and tasted like Coke. Dropping his car keys on the pavement, he took his other hand and brought it to her face. He could feel how hot her face was and smirked into the kiss. He was so preoccupied with his actions that he hardly noticed she was kissing him back.

Her hands had somehow made their way up to his hair and he growled when she tugged at it. Taking her lower lip between his teeth, Tyler flipped their positions and trapped her against his car. There, he flushed his whole body against her and let his tongue do battle with hers. He never knew Sierra as a girl with experience, but it was clear to him she knew what she was doing.

He pulled away from her after a moment and stared at her. Her cheeks were red, her eyes were closed and she was panting. Feeling extremely pleased with himself, the Lockwood male tucked a curly piece of hair behind her tiny ear. She opened her eyes then and laughed a little before suddenly turning serious. Girls always tried to ruin the moment by being serious.

“Tyler, I -”

He cut her off by pressing his lips to hers again, not really in the mood for talking. Talking let to thinking, which was a problem. He didn’t want to think, he just wanted to act. She pushed back on hips lips with extra vigor before pulling away and covering her mouth with her hands. He sighed and dropped his head down, hands on either side of her head.

“I like you.” She blurted out and Tyler couldn’t help the amused laugh that escaped him. Sierra glared and he just smirked.

“I like you too.” Now let me kiss you some more.

“Okay.” She seemed to be thinking now and it was so like her. To think instead of act. He was the exact opposite, acting off of his emotions rather than thinking everything through. There was a pregnant pause before Sierra spoke up again.

“So, now what?” Her voice was feeble and embarrassed and Tyler looked away.

This was exactly what he didn’t want to think about. In the long run, he couldn’t be with her. Not without lying to her. He respected the girl too much to keep secrets. If she were just a quick fuck, things would be different. But she was Sierra. Sierra, the shy and socially awkward girl with curly hair. Sierra, the nerdy writer. Sierra, the one girl Tyler wanted and couldn’t have.

Eyes dark with so many emotions met her unsure ones. There was a moment of awkward silence before he planted one more kiss on her. She immediately wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer to her. Both teens pulled their heads away and grinned, one was of shyness and the other was of arrogance.

“You never answered my question.”

She needed an answer, he realized. She needed to know that he wasn’t going to just make out with her and leave. Tyler closed his eyes and mulled things over. His head was beginning to hurt. Opening his eyes, he leaned in and placed his forehead on hers.

“You’re incredible.” She blushed and Tyler couldn’t help but smile a little. “Too incredible. And I’m -” He paused to find the right words, but was cut off when she grabbed his face. Her hands were soft and cold against his cheeks. She was looking directly at him and that same look of defiance she gave him earlier was in place.

“And you’re what? A football player? An arrogant ass? A sweet guy? Because those sound fine to me. You’re not perfect and neither am I. We don’t have to figure this out now, I’m just glad -” She took a deep breath and shook her head.

“What?” His forehead crinkled in confusion.

“I’m just glad you’re talking to me again.”

Tyler let a shaky laugh loose and kissed Sierra again, who shrieked when he grabbed her hips and pulled her to him. They stayed like that for awhile, and just for awhile, everything in Tyler Lockwood’s life was perfect.