Tyson POV

The car ride to Angel’s had been silent. I felt uneasy due to my new discovery: I liked Alex and I wanted her to be mine.

But the question still remained: how do I say that to her?

Sensing that I was restless, the brunette had kept her mouth shut… at least until she parked her cousin’s car in front of Angel’s house.

“So… Wanna tell me what’s going on?” She suggested, angling her body in my direction.

“Nothing’s going on,” I lied without gazing at the brunette and tried to unbuckle my seatbelt, but she placed her hand over mine to stop me. That made me lift my eyes towards her face; she was frowning at me.

“Tyson, when I walked into the service-station, you and what’s his name…”

“Raiden,” I automatically filled her in.

“Yeah, him… You were just saying to him “it’s no business of any of you” and now you look jumpy. So don’t tell me that there’s nothing wrong; I’m not buying it.”

I groaned. I knew I couldn’t fool Alex, but I didn’t want to disclose my feelings to her now. I mean, blurting “I want you” out of the blue wasn’t really going to score me some points with the girl. Or maybe it was… This was Alex after all and she had proven herself to be blatantly honest at times, so maybe just telling her the truth would do the trick.

I tilted my head to the side and studied her face. The frown was gone, replaced by an expectant and perhaps a little bit anxious expression. But what stuck out the most was determination; she was going to get to the bottom of this regardless of how much I tried to hide it.

So yeah, I might as well confess right now. I opened my mouth and said:

“The thing that Raiden and I were discussing back there…” I took a deep breath, “… it’s a guy thing so I’m not telling you about it,” I ended, my confidence level decreasing and my courage failing me.

She narrowed her eyes and it was now her turn to examine my face.

“Fine then!” She stated, but I could see she was anything but fine with it. “Maybe you could discuss it with Angel later.”

“Yeah, maybe…” I trailed off as she took her hand off mine. Both of us unbuckled our seatbelts and we got out of the car. I heard a few short beeps as Alex pressed a button on the remote and turned the alarm on. The two of us walked in silence with me trying not to give anything away while the girl didn’t even bother to hide the fact she was still studying me. Just as we reached the front door, it opened and an average height brunette hurriedly exited through it. A smile bloomed on her tired face and her blue eyes, the same as Angel’s, lit up when she saw us.

“Here you two are!” My best friend’s mom exclaimed stepping to the side so we could move around her. “The little ones are having a sleepover at their friends’, Angel already ordered pizza, the emergency numbers are on the fridge and if there’s anything wrong call me,” she blurted out. “Now I really have to go, my shift starts in half an hour,” the woman smiled once more then speed walked to her car. “Have a good time but don’t do anything stupid!” She shouted as she got into the vehicle, ready to drive off to her second job probably with just a few hours of rest after coming back from her other employment.

“Have a nice day… err… night at work!” Alex shouted after her. “I hope she gets good tips,” she added, this time talking to me.

“Well,” I started as the two of us entered the house, “tonight she’s working at the 24/7 diner, not some fancy café, so I wouldn’t bet on it.”

“Wouldn’t bet on what?” We heard Angel’s voice mixed with the sounds from the TV. And sure enough, when we entered the living room, we saw the blue-eyed boy sitting on the couch and eating pizza.

“Oy, dude, why did you start without us?” Alex queried, sat herself beside him and grabbed a slice.

“You took too long to get here,” the boy explained.

“Some of us were working tonight, remember?” I reminded my best friend, sitting on the empty couch spot on Alex’s other side. I bit into my own slice of pizza and for the next several minutes the only sound that was coming from the three of us was of chewing, gulping down our food and occasionally slurping our sodas.

“So what are we watching?” Alex questioned, getting a second slice.

“Dexter,” Angel answered and the three of us grinned.

How could we resist a few gruesome fictional murders?

*****

Fifteen minutes into the TV series and we had finished the pizza. The three of us were still on the couch and Alex had impudently invaded my and Angel’s personal space. She’d decided to lie on the couch, stretching on all three seats of it by putting her head on my friend’s shoulder and placing her feet on my lap.

“How come he gets the head and I the feet?” I queried as she wriggled once again, readjusting her position. She responded with a cocky smirk added to her words:

“What’s the matter, Ty? Want me to give you head?”

Angel laughed at her answer, but all it took was one glare on my part and he quieted down.

“You two are not going to turn this into another quarrel, are you?” He questioned as I was still frowning. “The episode is way too good to miss because of your bickering.”

“I don’t know… Something’s off about this episode,” Alex stated. “Maybe it’s because it has a slightly political theme to it and I get enough of that at home.”

“You do?” I questioned, curious as to what she meant.

“Well, I am a politician's daughter.”

“Really?”

Alex had rarely spoken about her family and I had no idea what her parents’ professions were. Looking at Angel’s curious expression, I deduced he didn’t have a clue either.

“Yep; dad is a politician, mom is the dutiful wife who stands by him no matter what; even that time he was accused of taking bribes.”

“Bribes? How did that end?”

“A few weeks later it was all forgotten.”

“How come?” I queried, not believing that such a short time could put those accusations in the back of people’s minds.

“It barely made the news. Oh, don't look so skeptical ‘bout it, guys! It’s Bulgaria, in order for it to actually be a big deal, they’ll have to find a politician who doesn’t take bribes.”

“So...” Angel cleared his throat before carrying on hesitantly. “He does take bribes?”

Alex shrugged it off.

“I don't know; I guess.”

The girl tried to sound casual, but something in her posture and pursed lips told me the topic was not something she actually wanted to discuss. Apparently Angel got the same vibe from her, as he didn’t go further with his inquiries.

Soon after, the episode ended and my blue-eyed best friend switched to a music channel that played mostly, although not exclusively, eighties and nineties music. A song was just starting, the label at the bottom of the screen telling me it was “Opposites Attract” by Paula Abdul.

“It’s our song!” Alex screamed, both Angel and her jumping from the couch with grins on their faces.

They had a song?!

“What do you meant it’s your song?” I questioned through clench teeth.

Why did my best friend have a song with the girl I liked?

“Remember we told you how Alex and I bumped into each other at a club one night?” I nodded, watching him swirl the girl. “This is the first song we danced to together.”

“And it’s also our personalized ringtone for each other,” Alex added, jumping to the side and then taking two steps backwards.

“Oh,” I muttered, calmed by the innocent explanation. Wait a minute! If she had a special ringtone for Angel… “Alex, do you have a personalized ringtone for me as well?”

“Sure!” She grinned deviously at me, putting her hands up in the air then down again in sync with the song’s rhythm. “Imogen Heap's Angry Angel.”

I grimaced. I hated Imogen Heap. Alex knew that. I wouldn’t put it beneath her to say that was my tune simply to peeve me. I took my mobile out and was just about to call her to see if that was really the melody she’d assigned for me when her phone rang. The girl rolled her eyes and with a muttered “Oh, great, a family call!” took her cell. As she went to talk privately upstairs, another song started playing on the music channel: Whitney Houston and George Michael’s “If I Told You That”.

“Seriously, Angel! Of all the things on TV we have to listen to that?”

“I like this song!” My friend protested and turned the volume up.

I sunk further into the couch, watching him dance to the tune. As the male singer started, the lyrics caught my attention and I realized they were somehow relevant to my current situation.

Now tell me how you'd feel
If I told you that
I had feelings for you…

I thought about what had happened today at work, how I’d finally admitted to myself I felt something towards Alex.

Should I tell her?

How would she react to hearing it?

Whitney’s turn came, replacing the sound of George Michael’s voice. I’d always admired this woman’s singing abilities, but today I wasn’t paying attention to them, but to what she was saying.

And would it be so wrong
To say what's on my mind…

Seriously: would it be wrong if I told Alex how I felt? I mean, I couldn’t keep it bottled up inside me forever, could I?

We were friends
But with time
What I feel deep inside
For you has changed

I sighed. Of all the songs, the TV station had to play one that would get me trapped in my own head with a bunch of complicated thoughts.

A shake of my shoulder caused me to jerk up. Angel had stopped dancing and was studying me with a slight frown on his face. His blue eyes were filled with concern.

“Ty, is everything okay? You keep rubbing your temples like when you have a problem or a headache.”

“Yeah… I was just thinking about something.”

“What about?” My friend queried, sitting on a nearby sofa.

“About… friendship and things turning into something more... Erm... Well…” I hesitated to continue. Angel was my best friend but was I ready to discuss this with him now?

“Ty, do you have feelings for me? ‘Cause you know I don't swing that way,” he stated with an exaggerated sigh.

I glared at him, angry that he’d make a crappy joke at a time I felt so insecure. But perhaps that had been a good strategy on his part as I got so peeved that I just blurted out what was on my mind:

“No, you idiot! I like Alex but she’s just so irritating; the girl really knows how to get on my nerves.”

“But you do like her?”

“Well, yeah... Don’t know how to tell her though.”

“How about writing her a poem? Something like:

Roses are red,

violets are blue,

I really do like you,

but sometimes I wanna smack you!”

“Are you finding this amusing, Angel?”

Seriously, why today of all days did he have to play a comedian?

“Hey, at least that way you'll be honest with her,” he commented, trying to suppress a grin.

“Ha-ha! Very funny, Angel!” I grunted, getting off the couch and heading for the kitchen. I’d only made it to the hallway that separated it from the living room, when I saw Alex coming down the stairs, her mobile glued to her ear.

Why not tease her a bit?

An anxious smirk slid on my lips as I pretended to be heading upstairs, but just as I was passing her, I moaned close to her phone:

“Alex, come back to bed, baby!”

Her jaw dropped, her eyes grew wide and for a moment she was left speechless. The second she got a hold of herself, she started to frantically prattle into the receiver:

“Mom, calm down, mom, I swear it’s not what it sounds like!”

“Mom?!” I screamed and took a step back, tripped on one of the steps and fell on my ass.

Alex burst in her typical obnoxiously loud laughter.

“Dude… Your face… Priceless!” She barely managed to insert the words between her attempts to catch her breath.

“Lexie?” I heard Kevin’s voice coming from his cousin’s phone. “Lexie, what’s going on? And was that Tyson?”

“Yep, the one and only… He tried to pull my leg but ended down on his ass instead,” she explained proud that she’d turned the tables on me and made me look like a fool. “Anyway, cousin, I’m hanging up now.” And without a goodbye or waiting for his response, she ended the call. A giggle left her as she saw me still in the position I’d assumed after my graceful trip and fall.

“So it wasn’t your mother?” I asked although I already knew the answer.

“Ty, why would I speak to my mother in English instead of Bulgarian?” She questioned, extending her hand to help me up.

“Still… You scared the Hell out of me, Alex.”

“Well, you shouldn’t have tried to put me in a compromising position,” the girl preached with a serious expression before her lips turned up in a suppressed smirk. “Besides… Your face… Priceless!”

And she started laughing at me again.

How come I liked this girl?

*****

When I went to bed last night, I’d made up my mind. I was still peeved by Alex’s joke, but I’d decided that nevertheless when morning came, I’d tell her how I felt. We had both stayed at Angel’s, me and the boy sleeping in his room and Alex in his sisters’.

But when the sun rose and I met Alex in the kitchen for late breakfast or as she called it brunch (a word I absolutely detested), I started making up excuses.

First one was that Alex wasn’t a morning person and I shouldn’t have a serious conversation with her so early in the day; then it was “I shouldn’t interrupt our breakfast”; then while Angel was cleaning up it was “I should help with the dishes”; then his mom came home and I didn’t want her to hear my confession; then Angel’s siblings returned from their sleepover and I didn’t want them to hear my confession…

Even now, that we were on our way back and I was alone in the car with Alex I still didn’t have the courage to tell her that I liked her and tried to convince myself that the only reason I was postponing this conversation was because I didn’t want to distract the girl while she was driving.

“You’ve been awfully jumpy this morning, Ty,” the brunette pointed out, keeping her eyes on the road.

“I’m just…” I searched for a word that would be suitable but won’t disclose the reason for my anxiety. “Twitchy.”

“I realize that, but why?”

“I don’t know… I just am.”

“PMS-ing, huh?” She suggested and her lips twitched in up.

I didn’t respond and just looked out the side window.

“You know what helps when I’m nervous?” She questioned, and once I turned back to her, I noticed her eyes darting at me for a second before returning to the road.

“What?”

“Exercise. Be it jogging, jumping jacks or oh, I don’t know… A nice, friendly wrestling match with someone who knows what they are doing.”

I laughed, feeling some tension lift off of me.

“You want to wrestle me, kitten? You know you’re going to lose,” I teased, not realizing I let slip the nickname I secretly had for her.

“Again with the kitten?” She asked and laughed as well.

Wait… What did she mean with again?

“Alex… When have I called you “kitten” before?”

“Oh, that…” She cleared her throat. “You might’ve mentioned it that time you got drunk over at Joey’s place.”

“Oh. Have I… said anything… else that might’ve seemed out of character for me? Or done anything… weird?”

“Like tell you I have a thing for you,” I added in my mind because during my rather sleepless night at Angel’s, I’d realized I might’ve been hooked on Alex for a long time before I’d actually realized it.

“Not that I can think of,” she replied slowly, shaking her head. “So what do you say?”

“Huh?”

“About coming over to my place to wrestle.”

“If you think you can handle losing to me,” I started with a challenging smirk.

“Ha! In your dreams, Williams; you’re going down!”

“I wouldn’t be so sure, Atanasova, I wouldn’t be so sure.”

“To my place it is!” She announced, taking a left turn. “Oh, and Tyson? I don’t mind you calling me kitten.”

“Good!” I thought and turned away to hide my smile. “Then I’ll be the only one to call you that!”

About ten minutes later, Alex parked in front of her apartment and both of us got out of Kevin’s car. I was more than eager to bring it on… In a friendly manner, of course.

“Hey, kitten, ready to get your ass kicked?” I queried, confident of my future success.

“Oh, it’s never easy to get that fine ass of hers kicked!” An unfamiliar voice with a British accent asserted and both of us turned into the direction it came from.

A tall, well-built guy in his early twenties was leaning casually against Alex’s building. His lips were turned up in a confident smirk and his piercing blue eyes were lit with amusement. He gave Alex and me a once over and ruffled his dark brown hair, making it stick out as if blown by the wind.

“Devon?” Alex uttered quietly as if not believing her eyes. “Devon!” She then squealed joyfully, lurching at the boy and jumping up to wrap her legs around his waist while she placed her hands at the back of his neck. The guy supported the girl’s weight by snaking his arms around her slim waist, holding her tightly.

“Hello, you sexy little menace!” He greeted, pecking her on the lips.

 “Not so bad yourself, Dev!” Alex giggled.

She giggled… And flirted back… And they kissed…

Some bastard was kissing my girl… And she didn’t mind…

I could feel my nails digging in the skin of my palms as I clenched my fists tightly.

The scene from the TV series we watched last night flashed in my mind and I was more than willing to do to this Devon guy the same thing Dexter had done to his victim in that particularly gruesome episode.

“So, Alex…” The newcomer started, aiming his gaze at me. “Who’s that?” He continued, licking his lips. A grin appeared on Alex’s face when she saw the guy do that.

Oh, so she actually liked him doing that?

“It’s just Tyson,” she replied with a shrug.

Just Tyson. No body special, just Tyson.

Was I really just somebody to Alex?

The guy let go of her and took several steps until he was right in front of me. He ruffled his hair again and tilted his head to the side, looking me up and down as if sizing me up. A cocky smirk graced his lips as he extended his hand to shake mine.

“Hi, Tyson,” he greeted in a deep voice. “My name is Devon.”