Chapter 9: Tying Loose Ends

The pond was calm and peaceful and the smell of rain lingered in the air, though I couldn’t see a cloud in the sky above us. Time passed and we sat in quiet content. When we spoke, the conversations ranged from favorite books to most useless skills, which was an interesting topic to say the least.

The minutes seemed to slip by unnoticed when Tyler checked his phone and grumbled to himself, "Shit... I missed a briefing."

"Oh shit... You gonna be in trouble?" I grimaced.

"Hopefully not. Worth it if I am though," he replied with a mischievous smirk.

I gave him a shy smile, a little flattered by the implication that I was worth getting in trouble for.

"But we should probably start heading back. I'm supposed to be meeting up with Jess soon," he explained pulling himself to his feet and offering me his hand.

I took it, eager to feel the warm buzz between us.

He never let it go as we headed back toward the park, chatting about everything and nothing.

When we finally made it back to