Moving On

Chapter 6 - Part 1

"What's with the alarm?" Ryan asked the moment Tyler entered the kitchen, where the boisterous crowd was already seated around the table.

He shrugged and settled into an empty seat. He was already used to seeing all the guys in his house. All of them had their own places, but everyone always gathered at his. They weren't there for him, though; they were all there for Marianne's food.

Ryan didn't bother to wait for his reply. Using his fingers, he picked up a strip of bacon and stuffed it into his mouth.

"We have forks here," Marianne said with a swat to Ryan's head.

Joseph was seated across from him, chatting with Dan, while Joanne moved over to sit next to him.

"Did you sleep well?"

He didn't bother to reply. He stood and reached over for the pot of coffee placed in the middle of the table.

"What's that?" Joanne asked as he poured his coffee. She reached over, pulled out the chain, and held the rings in her hand.

Tyler wanted to stop her, but he was holding a pot of hot coffee in one hand and his cup in another. He didn't want to make a mess.

He exhaled heavily through his nose as Joanne leaned in to take a closer look.

He could never stand her overwhelming perfume. It was so artificially sweet that it hurt his nose to breathe while seated beside her. He turned away from her and took a breath of fresh air.

"Are those for me?" Joanne shrieked the moment she saw the rings. "Oh, they're beautiful."

Putting everything down, he yanked the chain from her hands. "Don't touch them. They aren't for you."

He hated people touching his things without his permission. Actually, he hated people touching his things, period.

He let the rings hang free outside his shirt. The long chain that held his parents' rings swung freely right below his chest. "And you need to stop introducing yourself as my fiancée."

Joanne's brows furrowed and she pouted. "Why? We've been dating forever; it's time we move on."

A sudden stillness took over the kitchen.

Subtlety wasn't prevalent in the group.

Everyone was clearly surprised that he'd brought that up, and all of them didn't bother to hide their stares.

The guys had told him, more than once, to stop Joanne before she started believing her own imaginary story, but he hadn't bothered. He was certain that Joanne wasn't insane.

He never led her on.

His indifference toward her was obvious to everyone, so how could she think otherwise?

He pushed his chair away from Joanne, putting some space between them. Her overpowering perfume was giving him a headache.

Staring right at her, he continued. "We were never dating. I never corrected you because I thought it was only a habit that meant nothing."

Joanne leaned forward and tried to circle her arms around his, but Tyler rose from his chair and turned from the table, bumping right into Kate.

Ryan and Joseph shared a brow raise while Dan stretched across the table to grab his sister's arm. "Enough, Anne."

"Are you running to your room?" Kate teased and smiled at him.

The urge to leave the kitchen melted away. "How was your sleep?"