Tyler's Undoing by L.P. Dover Read Free Book Online

a little girl. She talks about it all the time, but I don’t play. I usually just go with her and drive her around in the golf cart. Do you play?” she asked.
    “Of course,” I lied. “Maybe I’ll see if she’ll do that with me.”
    “That would be amazing,” Bree squealed. “She’ll love to play with someone.”
    I had never even set foot on a golf course before, other than the local putt-putt when I was a kid. I mean, how hard could golf be?
    “What else does she like to do?” I inquired.
    “Um . . . she likes to go running every morning. If I could get up early enough, I’d go with her, but she always goes at like six in the morning. That’s too much for me.”
    Now that was something I honestly did as well. I just usually went running around my neighborhood. “Where does she run?”
    “She goes to the local high school by her house, to run on their track. If you show up there tomorrow, you better not mention I had anything to do with it,” she warned.
    “I won’t.” I chuckled. “Just tell me which school she goes to and I’ll pretend this phone call never happened.”
    She sang like a canary and we hung up. Kacey was going to be pissed.

 
     
    BREE HAD DROPPED me off a little after ten o’clock last night and I was up again at half past five for my morning run. It was my daily routine: run, take care of Nana, eat, work, and sleep. By the time I got out of the house at six, the sky was already pink and gold with the rising sun. It was beautiful.
    Cindy’s shift ended at seven, giving me just enough time to wake up, put on my black workout shorts and bright yellow T-shirt, and get my running done before my grandmother woke up. Sitting at the kitchen table in her scrubs and her auburn hair pulled in a low bun, Cindy was busy documenting my grandmother’s chart when I walked past.
    “Be careful, sweetheart,” she murmured.
    Grabbing my iPod off of the kitchen counter, I slipped it into the holder on my arm and placed the ear buds in my ears. “I will. I’ll be back in about forty-five minutes.”
    Time to run.
    The local high school was only a quarter of a mile away, so it never took long to get there. It was the end of the school year, but there were always a couple teachers who did their morning runs there as well. I was never alone, which was comforting.
    Before taking off on the track, I scrolled through my albums and picked one of my favorite bands, Avenged Sevenfold. Usually, I listened to pop, classical, nineties music, and even songs from the sixties, but when I ran I wanted something harder, more untamed.
    Once my favorite songcame on, I took off running, enjoying the tension release of just letting go. Other than playing golf on the delicate green grass of a golf course, running was my other secret pleasure. It gave me time to think, to pretend I was somewhere else, where I didn’t have responsibilities weighing me down.
    I wasn’t exactly a fast runner, but I could get at least three miles done in thirty minutes. I thought that was pretty good. With one lap down, I made sure to keep my pace steady so I wouldn’t lose my momentum—which was promptly thrown out the window when I felt a presence close behind me. A little too close.
    Quickly, I glanced over my shoulder and lost my footing. Before I could fall on my face, Tyler scooped me up and twisted me around so that he took the blow when we landed on the ground. Breathing hard, I lied on top of him while my mind caught up with what just happened.
    “What the hell are you trying to do, give me a heart attack?” I snarled, smacking him in the arm so he’d let me go.
    Guffawing, Tyler let me go and got to his feet just as I did, his face alit with humor. “You’re welcome for taking the fall, beautiful. I can’t help it you’re clumsy.”
    Humiliated, my face turned blood red, cheeks burning. “I am not clumsy,” I shouted. “I can’t help it you snuck up on me like some creeper.” Brushing off my legs, I huffed and