Where Forever Lies by Tara Neideffer Page A

saw you, which is why Brandon and I go shoot some
hoops on Sundays before I take him home. There’s not much to do
on this side of town, you know?” He raised his eyebrows and
said, “So, it seems to me that you’ve been hanging out on
my side of town lately.”
    She hadn’t
really thought of that, but she realized he was right. She usually
stuck to places closer to her apartment because something always
seemed to be going on. Eyeing him over the top of her beer bottle she
took a drink and grumbled, “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”
    He gave
her an odd look as he pointed at her beer. “I’m surprised
you’re drinking beer. I wouldn’t have pegged you a beer
drinking type of girl,” he remarked, the corner of his mouth
turning up slightly.
    Paige
looked down at her drink and nodded, “Yeah, well, probably
because you don’t know me. What type of drink do you think I’d
be drinking, anyway?” she asked curiously.
    Tyler
sucked in his bottom lip as he gave it some thought and Paige
couldn’t help but let her eyes venture towards his mouth. She
studied him as he thought about his answer and noticed he had a few
scattered freckles on his cheeks that were slightly hidden by the
light scruff that he seemed to keep there. He could probably be a
charmer if he wanted to, but she figured he rarely showed that side.
With wet lips he said, “I’d say one of those girly
drinks. You know, the fruity looking ones. You look like the prissy
type of girl, so that fits you.”
    Paige gave
him an icy glare. She wasn’t the prissy type. But after she
gave it some thought she began to question herself. Was she? Compared
to him, she definitely was.
    “I’m
not one of those prissy girls, thank you very much,” she said
and to prove her point she chugged half her beer at one time. She
pulled the beer away from her lips and ran the back of her hand
across her mouth.
    Paige
watched as Tyler started laughing uncontrollably. He smacked the bar
with his hand as he stared at her. After he finally got himself under
control he said, “You can’t expect me to believe that
when your nails are neatly manicured, your hair is perfectly curled
and your clothes look like they’re designer.
    Appalled,
Paige looked down at her clothes and then back up at him. He was
wearing Levis, a brown T-shirt and brown cowboy boots that were still
covered in dirt from whatever he had been doing earlier. “If
you haven’t noticed, my nails are not neatly manicured. See
they are chipped,” she argued as she held her nails in his
face. “And my clothes are not designer; I bought them at the
mall at Lacey’s.” She placed her hand on the bar to
steady herself. The two beers were kicking in a little and she wasn’t
used to being tipsy out in public. She didn’t usually drink
enough to let her guard down but, with the stress lately, she felt
that she needed something to take the edge off.
    Tyler ran
his eyes down the length of her body and then leaned around to check
out her backside. Paige felt her cheeks flush from his intense
scrutiny. She didn’t know what he was doing and it was making
her uncomfortable.
    “They
look designer to me,” he finally said, bringing his gaze back
to her face. There was hunger there she almost missed because once he
blinked it was gone.
    “Paige!”
    She heard
someone yell her name behind her and turned around to find Brooke and
Kyleigh dancing their way up to her.
    “Where’s
my beer, girl!” Brooke called out. Once she got within arm’s
length of her, she yanked her beer out of Paige’s hand. “Thank
you, my dear,” she said as she took a big gulp. Her eyes
finally landed on Tyler and then went back to Paige, asking the
question without saying it out loud, but Paige knew she was dying to
say something.
    Tyler
leaned in close and said, “Well, I’d better get going. It
was really nice to run into you again, Paige.” He met her eyes
as he walked off and Paige watched him leave, not sure why she had
felt