~ Chapter 38: Do You Believe Me Now?  ~

[ Jackie’s POV: ]

“Can I drive you home?” Tyler bumped shoulders with me playfully before holding both my hands. He gave me the cutest puppy dog eyes I’ve ever seen in my life and I felt my heart skip a beat.

“I, uh… My best friend is here somewhere, I can’t just leave her,” I said, trying to be as honest as possible.

Tyler pouted. “Aw man. A boy can dream, huh?” He let out a smirk and I felt my cheeks blush red.

“You know what? I’ll send her a text and tell her to leave without me. It’s not every day I get a ride home with such a muscular boy,” I giggled, slapping his bicep playfully.

Tyler gasped, amusement in his eyes. “Jackie Sharkeisha Miller, are you flirting with me?”

My eyes widened and I burst into laughter. “Oh my god, my middle name isn’t Sharkeisha!”

“Stop lying to me,” Tyler grinned, “You’re definitely Sharkeisha.”

“Ew no,” I choked on my own spit.

Tyler sighed and looked me in the eyes. “Alright, fine. You’re a cute Sharkeisha.”

I smiled up at him, not knowing how to reply to that. I’ve always been terrible at taking compliments, especially from cute guys like him.

“Jackie…” he whispered, stroking my cheek with his soft hand. “Do you… Want to do something tomorrow?”

I shivered from his touch. “Like… A date?”

He let out a small smile. “Yeah, like a date.”

I bit my lip, scanning his hazel eyes. “S-Sure.”

“Cool,” he slid his thumb against my skin and I let out a small gasp, overwhelmed by his touch. “Now let’s take you home, okay?”

“Okay,” I nodded, and he took my hand again and safely led me outside the house and to his car. He opened the door for me and I got in, adjusting my seatbelt as he walked around to the other side and got into the driver’s seat.

“You know… You’re going to have to teach me ballet sometime,” Tyler teased, as he revved up the car. I let out a loud laugh and immediately shook my head.

“I told you, I only took a few classes when I was like 7. There is no way I’m going to teach you anything of ballet,” I giggled.

“Ouch,” he grinned, pulling the car onto the road. I gave him directions to my house as we drove and kept cracking jokes to each other, similar to what we were doing at the party anyway.

Time flew by and we found ourselves parked in front of my house, making my heart sink. If I was saying the truth here, I’d say I never want this night to end.

“Well, looks like this is it,” Tyler sighed.

“Ugh, do I really have to go?” I whined.

Tyler looked at me, letting out a smile that showed all his perfect teeth.

“No,” he scanned my eyes. “I can just sneak you to my house and I’d have the pet unicorn I’ve always wanted.”

I snorted. “I’m not a unicorn, Tyler.”

“You’re right,” he leaned closer to me, “You’re even better.”

I felt my cheeks blush red as I continued to look into his eyes. Even under the dark sky, I could see them sparkling out at me.

“You know something?” I whispered.

“What?” he asked softly.

“I, umm… I was hesitant about going to Sara’s party at first,” I sighed.

“Why? I thought she’s one of your bestest friends,” he pointed out.

“She is, and I haven’t seen her in so long so you’d think I’d be more than ecstatic to go, but…” I trailed off, biting my lip. “I’m trying to… get over someone at the moment. He meant so much to me—he still does, but…”

“I get it,” Tyler stopped me. “You don’t have to talk about it if it makes you uncomfortable.”

“No, no, I want to tell you this,” I protested. Tyler looked at me hesitantly before giving in and letting me finish. “Anyways, I thought I was going to go in there and sulk about how terrible my life is, but… Then I bumped into you,” I smiled. “I can honestly say you made my night a billion times better and if it wasn’t for you, I just…”

“It’s okay,” he said softly. “I’m honored to have been the one to make you forget your problems for a night.”

I felt myself blushing and I gave off a small smile before pushing a strand of my hair behind my ear. “Umm.. It’s been a difficult few days. I-I’m just so happy I found someone who made me feel like myself again. Even if it was just for a couple of hours.”

“I’ll be here anytime you need me, Jackie,” he leaned closer, leaning his forehead on mine. “I promise.”

“You don’t have to do that for me, I—”

“—Shh,” he interrupted. “I want to. And there’s nothing you could do to stop me. You’ll always have me.”

I licked my lips. “Thank you. Same goes for you, mister,” I pretended to scold him.

Tyler laughed before reaching his hand up to grab my chin. “Hey, want to know a secret?”

I blinked at him. “What?”

“Your eyes,” he caressed my cheek, “are one of the most beautiful pair of eyes I’ve ever seen in my life.”

Upon hearing that, I was instantly grateful that it was too dark for him to see me blushing even harder.

“I bet you say that to all the girls,” I teased.

Tyler chuckled before shaking his head. “I swear to god, Jackie. I’m not lying.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Why on earth would I say it to you if I didn’t mean it?”

“I don’t know, you tell me.”

“I just personally wouldn’t think to say something like that to someone if I wasn’t actually telling them the truth,” he gave me a look.

“Sure,” I muttered sarcastically.

“Why don’t you believe me?” he pouted.

I merely shrugged. “Because I don’t think my eyes are that pretty.”

“Ah, ah,” he raised a hand up. “I said beautiful, not pretty.”

I groaned. “Here’s an idea… Why don’t you stop being right all the time?”

“Here’s another idea… Why don’t you learn to just take a compliment?”

“I’ll take it when I feel like the person means it,” I scoffed.

Tyler frowned at me, bringing my face closer by my chin. Before I even knew what was happening, he pressed his lips into mine and we shared a slow and passionate kiss that sent butterflies through my stomach. I widened my eyes and slowly learned to close them as Tyler deepened the kiss.

I could feel his heartbeat against mine as we both soon pulled away and I let out a soft gasp, unable to believe he just kissed me.

“How about now?” he brushed his lips against mine. “Do you believe me now?”

I looked up into his eyes again before placing my hand in the back of his neck and urging him forwards, kissing him again. He let out a satisfied moan and kissed me harder, leaning forwards until my back hit the car door and we continued making out for a while.

Soon enough, I ran out of air and pulled away, my breathing intense as I attempted to regain oxygen.

“Maybe…” I teased, eyeing his phone near the car’s radio. I picked it up and made a new contact before typing in my number and then giving it back to him. “I put in my number. Make sure you give me more details about that date you asked for.”

Tyler, who was still out of breath, simply nodded, licking his lips as I unlocked the car door and stepped outside. I waved him goodbye and walked up to my front door. I dug inside my purse and pulled out my keys, sticking it to the lock before twisting it and opening the door. I then stepped inside and closed it again, leaning my back against it.

I thought back to everything that had happened at the party and felt my heart warming up at how terribly sweet Tyler is. I didn’t expect something good to come out of today at all.

Specially since I was just getting used to everything being depressing for me.

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SURPRISE CHAPTER! #swag

Sorry it was so short, I just wanted to bring you guys a holiday update. Hope you guys enjoyed it and happy St. Patrick’s day! :)

Picture of Tyler on the side —>

- Nina xx