The Pick Read online

  “Any word from Tyson?” Kylie asked, taking a bite.

  “No, but I’m not going to stress about it too much. The ball is in his court and it has only been a day. I’ll give him a little time before I start to worry.”

  “Wow, you sound like a woman with experience.”

  “Ha, says the woman who has been on the most dates in the last six months,” Ally replied as she took a bite of crazy bread. “Mmmm, these taste so good.”

  Ally had been on a handful of dates since Justin left. But she hadn’t been interested in any of them, so she hadn’t let them lead to more than a second or third date. Once she decided that she wanted to wait for Tyson, she had limited her dating even more to an occasional group date here and there. Kylie on the other hand had been going on a lot of dates lately. It seemed like she knew that her husband would show up soon, she just had to figure out which guy it was. Knowing Tyson was coming home, made it easier initially to watch her best friend go out on way more dates than Ally. But lately, it had become more painful the longer it took for Tyson to come around.

  Hopefully, after her impromptu picnic with Tyson, she wouldn’t have to wait too long before he figured things out. She didn’t know what she was going to do if Tyson didn’t want to date her. She also worried that her limited dating had caused her to develop a reputation in her ward for turning down guys or that she was a one date and done girl. There was always Justin, but she really wanted everything to work out with Tyson.

  It didn’t take long for the two of them to eat the entire pepperoni pizza and side of breadsticks. Ally was grateful that she had changed into yoga pants and a loose t-shirt because she was going to burst. But she made herself comfortable and was determined to watch the movie without thinking about Tyson too much.

  Kylie glanced at Ally when there was a knock on the door.

  “I can’t move. I’m too full,” Ally groaned as if she were in pain.

  “I don’t believe you,” Kylie replied as she paused the movie.

  Ally gave her best puppy dog pout. Kylie gave in and answered the door.

  “Hey, Ty,” Kylie said a little bit louder than normal. “Come on in. We were just watching a movie.”

  From the couch Ally could see Tyson give Kylie a hug. He caught Ally’s eye and smiled at her and Ally smiled back, while also freaking out a little bit because she was pretty sure she looked like a slob. She hoped her hair at least looked okay as she pulled the blanket that was on top of her closer to her chin.

  “I haven’t seen you in a week. To what do I owe the honor of seeing my brother’s nose out of a textbook?”

  Tyson pulled a bouquet of roses from behind his back. “I brought these for the girl that brought my nose out of a textbook. So, I guess you owe it to the roses or to Ally.”

  Ally didn’t care what she looked like anymore. She jumped up off of the couch and walked over to take the flowers from Tyson.

  “Thank you, Tyson. You didn’t have to do this,” Ally said as she smelled the roses.

  “Hey I thought you said you were too full to move,” Kylie teased.

  “Well I’m not too full anymore,” Ally said as she smiled at Tyson. “Thanks again, Ty. Let me put these in some water.”

  “Do you want to stay and watch the rest of the movie with us?” Kylie asked as Ally moved to the kitchen to find a vase.

  “Well I’m a day late, but I was actually hoping that Ally would let me take her to Cafe Rio to make up for not taking her on a date on Valentine’s day? I haven’t eaten there since I got back. But it looks like you already ate.”

  “We can still go to Cafe Rio. I can just have a couple bites of your food,” Ally said putting the vase of flowers on the end table next to the couch.

  “No way! I am getting you your own salad. I know what happens when you say you will only take a couple bites. You end up eating half of my food,” Tyson teased.

  Ally jokingly smacked him on the arm. “Hey, that was one time.” This was the Tyson she loved so much. She just wanted to wrap her arms around him and hold him close.

  “Still, I’m not risking it.”

  “You don’t mind if I leave, do you?” Ally said, turning to Kylie.

  “No, I don’t mind,” Kylie replied, actually happy to be watching this unfold before her eyes.

  “Great! Let me go change really quick,” Ally said enthusiastically.

  Tyson grabbed her hand and stopped her from leaving, “You don’t need to change.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Ya, I’m sure,” Tyson said, still holding her hand as they walked to the door. “By the way, are you wearing one of my shirts?” Tyson raised his eyebrow.

  “Umm, maybe,” Ally said embarrassed as she pulled her coat on.

  Kylie chipped in, “She raided your closet after you left.”

  “I thought I was missing a couple things,” Tyson grinned.

  “Well you always get all the nice Utah Under Armor stuff,” Ally explained as Tyson followed Ally outside and shut the door.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Tyson smiled as he reflected on the things that had happened over the last week. Ally had helped him ace his tests. He wasn’t as stressed out about his classes. He was doing better at balancing his time in the weight room, studying, and also spending time with Ally. There was something about her that just made everything in his life fall into place. It wasn’t the first time she had had that effect either. In high school and on the mission, she was the one that calmed the storms in his life and helped him though.

  He glanced down at Ally who was snuggled up on the couch next to him. There were a lot of movies that he had missed while he was gone and Ally had made sure to make a list of the ones that he just had to see. He wasn’t really paying attention to the movie. He was just enjoying how relaxed he felt and how grateful he was for the girl next to him.

  Tyson and Ally had quickly eased back into their relationship after that Valentine’s Night picnic. They had actually grown closer while Tyson was on his mission. He was continually grateful that Ally hadn’t given up on him over the last month. He would have missed out on having her as his best friend again and being able to share everything with her. Tyson sighed as he thought about the fact that he still hadn’t kissed her. He wanted to, but the thought made him nervous. It wasn’t like he hadn’t kissed her before. He wasn’t nervous at all when he kissed her in her tree house years ago.

  But there was something about the fact that he knew this kiss would mean more than it had back in high school. Tyson did care about Ally back then, but now they were both in the stage of life where this kiss could possibly mean marriage. The thought seemed daunting after he looked at everything else he had on his plate.

  How could he, recently home from his mission, with no steady income while he played football, support a wife and potentially a family? Even though Ally had a scholarship that paid for her tuition and most of Tyson’s expenses were paid for, he still worried. Tyson took a deep breath. He reminded himself that he didn’t need to rush into this. He hadn’t been around Ally for two years, and he still wanted to make sure that neither of them had changed too much. So far things seemed to be going well, but Tyson decided that he wasn’t going to force the kiss. He would wait until they had dated a little longer and then he would kiss Ally when the moment felt right. He didn’t need to rush anything. Right now, he could just focus on the present.

  Ally and Kylie sat at their desks on opposite sides of the room they shared.

  “Hey Ky? Do you have any pictures of Tyson and me together? Just the two of us?”

  Kylie turned around. “I’m pretty sure that you have all of the pictures that I might have. Why?”

  “I’m just trying to round them up,” Ally said not realizing that Kylie had gotten up and walked over to Ally’s desk.

  “Why are you looking at wedding decorations?” Kylie asked, startling Ally.

  Ally tried to think of a good reason as to why she would be looking at weddin
g decorations, but couldn’t think of anything other than the truth. “I’m just looking at ideas,” Ally shrugged.

  “And you need to start gathering the pictures now?” Kylie asked.

  “Well, if I’m going to get married before fall practices start in August, I need to start getting things in order. I only have four months to plan a wedding and they say you are supposed to pick out your wedding dress at least six months in advance. I’m already behind schedule. I figure if I have everything planned out beforehand, then maybe it won’t be as crazy trying to plan it later,” Ally explained.

  “Al, are you sure about all of this? I mean last I checked you guys hadn’t even kissed yet. I know you are ready. But are you sure Tyson is ready?”

  “Do you know something I don’t...?” Ally questioned, trying to hide the concern and disappointment in her tone and face.

  “No, no,” Kylie rushed to explain. “I’m sure that he wants to marry you. I don’t know why he wouldn’t. And I will be so happy for you guys when you do. But maybe he isn’t ready to get married before football season starts. That is really, really quick.”

  “It has to be before,” Ally said confidently. “If not, we will have to wait to get married until the beginning of next year. That seems like forever away.”

  “I see. You’re just dying to get rid of me,” Kylie pouted.

  “No, I’m not,” Ally said squeezing Kylie’s hand. “We will be family and you will be around for forever. Also, there is a bridal show next week. Will you go with me? Just to get ideas?”

  Kylie laughed. “Will there be taste testing?”

  “I think so.”

  “Okay. I’ll go with you,”

  Kylie wished that Ally would just be patient. Why couldn’t she remember just a few weeks ago, Tyson was struggling with balancing school and dating? Kylie didn’t think he was ready to take on marriage and football in a just a couple of months. She also knew that there wasn’t any chance of convincing Ally to take it slow. She was very organized and liked to have everything planned out. If worse came to worst and they did end up waiting to get married, at least everything would be planned. This wasn’t a battle that she wanted to take on.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Kylie had to admit that there were a lot of things to think about when it came to planning a wedding. More than she thought. She could just see the wheels turning in Ally’s mind as they walked up and down the aisles full of ideas and possibilities.

  As the afternoon progressed, Kylie wanted to smack each vendor who said that the random wedding date Ally had picked, July 30th, was coming fast. If only they knew that Ally wasn’t even close to being engaged yet. It was only making Ally more stressed, which without a doubt would be shared with Kylie later on.

  They had a good time and Kylie was surprised that she actually enjoyed it. She felt like she was already apart of Ally’s future wedding as she sat on the floor with Ally sorting through all of the business cards, pamphlets, and pricing sheets they had gathered during the bridal show. Kylie was starting to think that maybe Ally needed to be going into event planning with her organizational skills. She already had a binder put together to separate each item needed for the wedding, such as: cake, bouquet, bridesmaid dresses, venue, etc. Together, they looked up the vendor’s website to get a feel as to if Ally liked the style or not, then discarded it or placed in its designated pile.

  “What in the world are you two doing with all of these papers all over the floor?” Tyson said as he bent down to pick up a handful of flyers on the ground.

  “Don’t you know how to knock?” Kylie said as Ally quickly found herself on the ground scooping the piles into her hands, not caring if they became messed up.

  “I did. And no one answered, so I Iet myself in. We need to leave soon if we are going to go to the ward activity. I even rounded up some inner tubes,” Tyson replied as he glanced through the papers in his hands.

  “Oh ya,” Kylie responded. “We lost track of time. We just need to grab our stuff, then we can go.”

  “Kylie, you didn’t tell me things were so serious with Ben. Wedding cakes, flowers, invitations. Where did you get all of these anyways?” Tyson teased.

  “We got them at a bridal show and they aren’t for me, Ty. You know how my date with Ben went....” Kylie shot back at Tyson with the glare that can only come from a sister.

  “Well then who are they for?”

  “No one,” Ally said as she picked up the pile next to Tyson’s feet, then stood up with the piles in her arms. She grabbed the flyers in Tyson’s hand without looking at him. “I’ll take those.”

  Ally quickly grabbed the binder off the end table and walked briskly down the hall to her room. Kylie followed. Tyson realized that only one person in this apartment would be organized enough to have a binder and between Kylie and Ally, Kylie was the furthest from getting married. Tyson chuckled when he realized that Ally had been planning their wedding. Part of him thought it was cute and he was definitely going to give her a hard time about it. The other part of him felt the heaviness in the pit of his stomach just thinking about getting married right now.

  Ally said little as they made their way up to the Tracy Lodge sledding hill. Tyson and Kylie carried on most of the conversation, even though Ally sat between them in Tyson’s truck. They finally turned on some country music and Tyson worried about what might be wrong with Ally. Was she really that embarrassed about being caught looking at wedding ideas? Or was it something else?

  Once they arrived at the cabin, Ally seemed to return to her normal self while they trekked up the hill and rode down on the inner tubes that Tyson had brought. After a few rides and a hot chocolate pit stop, Tyson dragged Ally away from their group of friends and she agreed to go on another ride down the hill.

  When they reached the spot that Tyson had picked out earlier on the side of the sledding run, he pulled the tube over by a tree so they wouldn’t slide all over while they talked. He picked that spot because it would provide them a little bit of privacy, but they could still watch the riders fly past them.

  “Do you mind if we stop here and take a little break?” Tyson asked.

  “Sure,” Ally said slightly out of breath. “This hill is quite the workout.”

  “You think it was a workout? Think about me, I’m the one pulling the giant tube.” Tyson plopped himself into the middle of the tube.

  “Aww, you poor thing,” Ally said joining him. “I can pull it the rest of the way.”

  Tyson chuckled, “It’s okay. It will just help me prepare for spring practice.”

  “Don’t they make you push tires around and such?”

  “I don’t know what Coach will have us do. I haven’t been around for a spring practice, but we definitely ‘push’ tires around during Fall Camp.”

  As their conversation about the expectations of spring ball dwindled, Ally had relaxed into Tyson’s arms. They watched a couple of sleds go down the hill and even saw some fall off and continue their slide down the hill without their sleds. Tyson was almost positive that Ally had been quiet that evening because he had caught her looking at wedding ideas. He dreaded having to talk about it, but they needed to discuss the elephant of the night.

  Tyson whispered in Ally’s ear, “Did you find what you were looking for at the bridal show this morning?”

  He could feel the immediate tension in Ally’s body. “What?”

  “I know that the piles of wedding cakes and flowers on the floor were yours. There is no way that they would be Kylie’s.”

  “Oh,” Ally responded quietly. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for you to find out.”

  “Why are you sorry? I’m not mad.”

  “You’re not?” Ally said with a touch of surprise.

  “No. Unless you are engaged, then I might have a problem with the fact that you went on a date with me last night,” Tyson said teasingly.

  Ally laughed a little. “Nope, not engaged. I just...”

  “What?” Ty
son prodded, wanting to hear her be the first admit that she wanted to marry him. They had talked about the future and at times it was assumed that they would have a future together, but neither of them had actually said they wanted to marry the other. He leaned a little bit closer and rubbed his nose against Ally’s. It was something that they had come to call the ‘Eskimo kiss’ before his mission and usually preceded a real kiss. He really did want to kiss her and the moment seemed right. “You know you can tell me anything.”

  “Well…” Ally hesitated as Tyson waited for Ally to say she wanted to marry him. “I guess I just want to get things in order if we are going to get married before football season starts.”

  Tyson pulled back realizing that Ally was planning to get married as soon as possible. Ally continued to ramble on about how she was worried about the timeline of getting engaged. She didn’t know how they were going to pull off planning a wedding in four months. About how she was already behind in scheduling a venue and finding a dress and all the things that needed to get done. All Tyson could think about was the fact that four months was way too soon.

  “Ty?” Ally asked after Tyson didn’t say anything for a while. “Please tell me what’s going through your mind.”

  Tears started to build in Ally's eyes as she realized that maybe Tyson didn’t plan on marrying her. It would all make sense, why they hadn’t kissed yet, why he was so slow to even resume their relationship. Maybe he was realizing that they had changed while he was on his mission and it was just a matter of time until they broke up. “I guess we aren’t on the same page, huh?”

  Tyson shook his head and Ally looked away, trying to hide the tears that were inevitable. “I’m sorry. I just thought…” Ally couldn’t will herself to say that she thought that they would get married. She could feel the tears on the verge of a waterfall. “I’ll find another ride home,” she said as she slid off the tube and started down the hill.