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1.
Kate lies.
The first time Tyler sees her, he’s immediately drawn to her. She doesn't look like she belongs with the Storm PAR goons: she looks like someone who’s trying so hard to fit in that she stands out. And she’s staring right at him, mouth slightly agape, eyes squinted, brows low. Like she’s trying to figure him out. Like she doesn’t like what she sees.
That’s exactly why he goes to her to try to strike up a conversation. He isn’t used to people looking at him like they don’t like what they see. She’s something different. She’s someone who’ll lie to his face.
“The two cells to the west are fighting over the same inflow. They’ll choke each other out. This one to the east has the sky all to herself.”
He knows she’s lying as soon as she says it. Funny thing is, he likes it.
2.
Next time, same place. Same face. The one that’s trying to figure him out. He’s probably wearing the reflection – maybe that’s what she doesn’t like about him.
So he lies back. “You know, we’re gonna be stuck here all day waiting for nothing to happen.”
And he thinks she likes it.
3.
After the tornado in Stillwater, he looks over the wreckage while the roar of the wind still pounds in his skull. Kate stays at his side and he’s relieved; he’d tried to show her something good, and he’d almost gotten her killed. Both of them killed. He isn’t sure he could stand to have her out of his sight. But no sooner than that thought crosses his mind does the Storm PAR brigade whisk in.
Her eyes find Javi, but she gives Tyler the courtesy of a pat on the arm. A tentative smile. “I’m fine,” she says.
That evening, Dexter shows him pages upon pages of news stories about her, Javi, the whole crew.
She certainly isn’t fine.
4.
She taps on his window, and his heart stutters— stutters again when he sees her face, her wet hair, the way she presses her lips together like she’s afraid to smile.
He follows her back into the barn and finds that her workspace is littered with notes—some old, some new. There’s an empty coffee cup fallen to the floor, and he nudges it with his toe.
“You stay in here all night?”
She glances at him over her shoulder. “Of course not.”
5.
He’s ducking debris in the theater, making his way around to every nook and cranny, hoping for some secret door, a tucked-away haven against the ongoing storm. Kate flings open a door that turns out to be a side exit and they’re both pelted by rain. There’s nowhere to go, and Javi confirms it.
“We’ve just got to move people to the interior wall,” he says.
“Right behind you,” she says.
They hear a crash and a scream, and he’s already walking in stride with Javi. They help people to their feet, shepherding them to places that still aren’t safe.
It isn’t until Javi says, “Where’s Kate?” that Tyler remembers.
Kate lies.
6.
He’s never been so happy for a flight delay as when Kate pushes the handle of her rollaboard into his hand and follows him outside. To his surprise, she says nothing about the fact his truck is anchored in front of the departure doors. She only smiles that non-smile again, eyes on him like she’s still trying to understand something.
Next thing he knows, he’s got two hotel key cards clutched in his hand, and she’s pushing him against the back of the elevator, hips anchored to his, standing on her tiptoes to press her lips against his, her hand threaded into the short hairs on the back of his neck. When the doors slide open, she jumps away from him like maybe she regrets it, but the look she throws over her shoulder is enough to confirm she doesn’t.
He follows her to the room and swipes them in, and she’s got her arms wrapped around him again. He has half a mind to stop her, but, then again, he’s driven her to a hotel; they both knew this was going to happen. And he wants it. Her.
So he lets himself. He kisses her back with fervor, sliding his tongue over hers, feeling his pulse quicken at the little gasps she makes. He tugs the hem of her shirt and they break away just long enough for him to pull it over her head. Her hair falls around her face, and she laughs. It’s the most beautiful sound he’s ever heard.
They discard the rest of their clothes; the only sounds in the room are palms on skin, soft moans, whispered comments. You're so beautiful. He can’t stop touching her.
And after, she rests her head on his chest, he runs his fingers through the silky strands of her hair, and she exhales out every bit of tension she’s been holding. She relaxes so fully into him that he thinks maybe it means something.
“You’re coming back, right?” he whispers into the darkness.
“Of course,” she says.