The Pick Page 13

  She didn’t get far before Tyson caught up to her. “Ally? What are you talking about? Why do you need to find a ride home?”

  “Because,” Ally said with her back to him. She didn’t want him to know she was crying, so she continued walking.

  “Al, wait. Why you are leaving?” Tyson said stepping in front of Ally. She quickly put her hands up to cover her face. She had to admit that she was grateful for the additional coverage her gloves provided.

  “Ally please, talk to me.”

  Ally shook her head. Any words would come out choked up from the stream of tears she was failing to hold in. Tyson tried to pull one of Ally’s hands away from her face and when he didn’t succeed, he pulled Ally into his arms and held her.

  At first, she tried to push away, but when Tyson didn’t let go, she couldn’t hold it in any longer.

  Deep concern filled Tyson as he felt Ally shake in his arms, her breathing unsteady. He pulled her closer and he realized that she was crying uncontrollably. He wracked his brain trying to figure out what he had said to upset her. He held her until she was breathing normally with a couple sniffles in between. He took off his glove and released his hold on her enough to wipe away some tears from her face.

  “Please, tell me what’s wrong.”

  Ally looked at the ground and replied quietly with pauses in between words as she fought to keep the tears at bay, “I…I thought…maybe....we were going to...get married someday.”

  “Who said we weren’t going to get married?”

  “You did. You said we weren’t on the same page.”

  It all clicked in Tyson’s head. “Ally,” he said as he lifted her chin to look into her eyes. “I am dating you with the full intention of marrying you someday. I was just caught off guard by getting married so soon. 4 months is really fast, Al. I just don’t think I can handle everything at one time. I’m barely fitting in school and training and having a social life. Then throw in football practice, away games and marriage?” Tyson sighed. “That wouldn’t be fair to either of us.”

  “So, we aren’t breaking up?” Ally asked cautiously.

  Tyson chuckled. “No. We aren’t breaking up and I’m sorry that you thought that I didn’t want to marry you someday. I just need you to be patient with me, okay?”

  “Okay,” Ally nodded her head slightly in agreement.

  “I’m still in that awkward RM stage where I’m still trying to figure everything out. But I do know one thing,” Tyson said as he leaned in closer to Ally.

  “What’s that?”

  “I still love you,” he whispered.

  “I love you, too,” Ally whispered back as Tyson closed the distance between the two of them and kissed her.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  It was a warm, sunny Saturday in April. Well, after a cold winter, 60 degrees felt warm. The Brooks and Parkers gathered in a cluster of seats on the west side of Rice Eccles Stadium. Kylie looked around soaking in the surroundings. She loved being in this stadium. She could feel the excitement of football in the air, even though the season was still months away.

  Kylie smiled as she turned to see Ally applying sunscreen. That girl could get a sunburn just thinking about the sun. She was glad that Ally had cut back on her wedding preparations. It didn’t mean Ally stopped pinning things on Pinterest, but now she knew that she had plenty of time to plan the wedding of her dreams.

  As the team ran out onto the field, Kylie could tell the minute that Ally spotted Tyson. A smile spread on her face and carried to her eyes. At times, Kylie found herself feeling a little jealous of the bond that Tyson and Ally shared, especially when Tyson came over and she knew it was more to see Ally that it was to see his family. But she couldn’t help but be happy for them.

  Plus, Kylie had been on a couple of dates with one of Tyson’s former mission companions and new roommate, David Hyer. She really liked him and things seemed to be going well.

  The group around her cheered when Tyson ran out on the field as the red team headed out to play defense. He wasn’t a guaranteed starter. Since he didn’t play in any actual games before his mission as a redshirt freshman, this scrimmage was a shot for him to show off his skills. It didn’t take very long for his presence to be made known. He picked off the first pass of the scrimmage.

  Kylie’s smile grew as she heard the group of people behind her trying to figure out who number 32 was. Throughout the scrimmage, he made good tackles and got to the quarterback a couple of times. She made a mental note to let Tyson know that the group behind her were his new biggest fans, since they had mentioned multiple times that “that kid looks good”.

  After the game, their families hung around until Tyson changed, as well as a couple other groups of families and fans waiting for the players to finished up. When Kylie spotted Tyson, she was surprised to see two girls walking on either side of him. Even though it was warm, she didn’t think it was that warm for what they were wearing, well, really more of what they weren’t wearing. She glanced over at Ally hoping she wasn’t going to freak out over this. Then she remembered what it had been like in high school when Tyson was the star. Apparently, he was on his way to being the star again and that made him the guy that every girl wanted to date.

  When Tyson stopped at their group, with girls in tow, she saw a look pass over Ally’s face. She wasn’t sure if it was confusion, jealousy, or surprise or who knows what else. Their families congratulated Tyson, cautiously eying the girls.

  “These are some fans that I met and when I mentioned that I was meeting up with my family, they wanted to meet you guys too.” Tyson went on to introduce each member in the horseshoe-shaped group that had formed, with Ally on the end and last to be introduced. Tyson stepped up next to Ally and put his arm around her shoulders and said, “And last of all this is my girlfriend, Ally.” Ally smiled and slid her arm around Tyson, as he kissed her hair.

  Kylie had to admit that Tyson had handled that very well, based on the looks of surprise on the girls’ faces. They weren’t expecting Tyson’s group of family to include his girlfriend. Ally must have eased easily back into the role of popular Tyson’s girlfriend because she knocked the girls down by adding her own greeting.

  “It’s so nice to meet you,” Ally said as Tyson squeezed her close. “I love meeting Tyson’s fans. It’s nice to know that other people are out there cheering him on too.”

  The girls quickly said their thanks and goodbyes and once they were far enough away, Kylie burst out laughing.

  “They definitely weren’t expecting that!” Kylie exclaimed.

  “Thanks, Al,” Tyson said. “I couldn’t shake them. It reminds me of the days when we first started dating and a certain girl still couldn’t grasp the idea that I was dating you.”

  “Looks like you are Mr. Popular again,” Ally said.

  “You handled it so well. It’s one of the reasons I love you. I hope that this doesn’t become an everyday occurrence.”

  “Sounds like you need an engagement ring more than I do,” Ally said with playful smile and the rest of the group agreed.

  Over the next few weeks, the social events and football hype began to pick up. Ally had told Kylie of a few stories where Ally had to “rescue” Tyson from girls, as she called it. However, it seemed that most people had gotten word that Tyson and Ally were seriously dating and the girls seemed to back off.

  It seemed like Ally and Tyson were spending more and more time at Kylie and Ally’s apartment than anywhere else these days. Kylie was getting ready to head out to the gym when she got a phone call from Tyson asking her to come by his apartment.

  “What is so important that you need me to come over there? I mean I never go over there. You are always over at my place.”

  “I needed to talk to you without Ally around,” Tyson replied.

  “Okay?” Kylie asked. “Does this mean you need help planning how you are going to propose?”

  She could hear the smile in Tyson’s voice as he tried to explain,
“Not exactly. Well, not yet. I need you to help me pick out an engagement ring first.”

  “Hmmm, well I know that she likes square. Not round and not gold.”

  “Ya, I have gotten that from Ally as well, but I was thinking that you could maybe talk her into going to look at rings just for fun. Then if she finds one she likes, I could go back later and buy it.”

  “She definitely eyes those stores every time we go to the mall. But getting her in there without her being suspicious is going to be tricky.”

  “I hear you and David might be getting pretty serious, so maybe you could use that as your excuse?” Tyson added.

  “Did David say something?” Kylie asked trying to hold in her excitement at the possibility of marrying David.

  “My lips are sealed.”

  “Fine, I’ll see what I can do. But you owe me one.”

  “Thank, sis,” Tyson said. They talked about what price range Tyson was thinking and decided that Tyson would come up with a reason as to why he was busy that night so that Ally would be free to go to the mall with Kylie.

  When Kylie got home that afternoon, she found Ally watching Say Yes to the Dress.

  “Do you have any plans for tonight?” Kylie asked.

  “No, Tyson is going up to Logan tonight to do a temple session with some of his old mission companions that are going to Utah State. Then they were going to watch a movie or something after, so he was going to stay the night.”

  “That will be good for him to catch up with them. And probably smart to not drive home late tonight,” Kylie said trying to hold in a smile as she thought about the elaborate white lie Tyson had to come up with to make sure that Ally didn’t find a way to tag along. In all reality, he was staying at his apartment all night.

  “Ya. It will. They can speak Espanol with each other. Is David going with Tyson?”

  “No, he had to work. He’s pretty bummed,” Kylie lied as she made a mental note to tell David about the situation. He would need to know that he missed out on a trip to Logan that wasn’t actually happening.

  “Speaking of David, how are things going with Tyson’s mission companion? Is he your soon to be eternal companion?” Ally asked.

  Kylie and Ally spent the next couple minutes talking about Kylie’s dates with David. Tyson had set the two of them up. The four of them had gone on a few double dates and Ally thought that they made a cute couple. Kylie gushed about how she really liked him and she thought that David liked her back. She claimed that he had almost kissed her last night.

  “Maybe we will get married around the same time!” Kylie exclaimed. “That would be pretty cool, don’t you think?”

  “Ya, that would be cool,” Ally said doubting that that was going to happen anytime soon. At least based on the rate that Tyson was taking to adjust to everything.

  “Since the boys are busy, what do you think about going to the mall and doing some shopping?” Kylie asked.

  Ally quickly agreed and in a matter of minutes they were on their way to the mall. After browsing a couple of stores, they reached the first jewelry store. Kylie could tell that Ally was walking closer to the store front so that she could see the diamond rings in the little display windows.

  “Do you want to go in a look around?” Kylie asked.

  “No, it’s okay,” Ally responded.

  “Well I do. Come on,” Kylie said as she walked into the jewelry store.

  At first, Ally was hesitant but Kylie’s enthusiasm wore off on her. The two of them tried on rings and critiqued what they liked and didn’t like about each one. Kylie tried her hardest to keep Ally within Tyson’s budget by suggesting that the diamonds were too big. Or in some cases that she thought a different ring would look better.

  When they left the store, Ally didn’t seem too impressed with any of the rings she had tried on. There was another jewelry store across the aisle and even though Kylie felt like she might be pressing her luck on keeping the real reason why they were looking at rings a secret, she didn’t want to let Tyson down by not figuring out which ring Ally wanted.

  Before Kylie could figure out what to say, Ally was already peering into the little display window.

  “Wow, this ring is gorgeous,” Ally said in awe.

  Kylie found herself looking at a white gold ring with a vintage set of diamonds. Even she had to admit that it was beautiful.

  “It looks exactly like the ring you have always wanted, huh?” Kylie asked.

  “It definitely is everything I want in a ring.”

  “You know you want to try it on,” Kylie said as she led the way into the store.

  When they were greeted, Ally asked if she could try on the ring in the window. While Ally admired the ring on her finger, Kylie eyed the price tag and the sales representative showed Ally matching wedding bands. Ally let Kylie take a picture of the engagement ring and wedding band on her finger, just for future reference. Kylie smiled when she finally saw the price. It was on the high end of Tyson’s range, but still within the bounds.

  Chapter Thirty

  Two weeks had passed since Kylie had sent the ring information to Tyson. He had thanked her, but she hadn’t heard anything since. She didn’t know if Tyson had gotten the ring yet or if he even planned on proposing anytime soon.

  But one thing she did know that Ally was starting to lose her patience. She had started back up on the wedding preparations and kept asking Kylie if she knew when Tyson was going to propose. In all reality, it was probably a good thing that Tyson was keeping Kylie out of the loop. That way Kylie didn’t have to come up with any white lies or pretend that she didn’t know what was going on, because she didn’t.

  A few puzzle pieces fell into place that Saturday as to why Ally was set on getting married as soon as possible while Kylie sat at the kitchen table eating lunch. Ally sat across from her on her laptop, most likely looking at wedding ideas on Pinterest, when their roommate, Stephanie walked in the door.

  “Ally another package came for you today,” Steph hollered as she shut the door behind her.

  “Thanks. You can just set it on the counter,” Ally responded without looking up from the screen.

  When Ally didn’t get up to look at the package, Kylie’s curiosity got the better of her as she took her dishes to the sink. That’s when she saw Elder Hawthorne on the return label. Kylie felt anger quickly rise within her. She couldn’t believe that Ally was still writing him. Especially with her and Tyson planning to get married. She didn’t want to fight with Ally, but how dare she do this to her brother.

  “Isn’t Justin supposed to be coming home soon?” Kylie asked hoping she could go about this in a roundabout way and stay calm.

  Ally didn’t flinch as she responded, “Ya, I think he is supposed to be coming home next month. Why?”

  Ally looked up just in time to see Kylie pick up the box. “Because you got a package from him.”

  “Oh. Ya, he usually sends one every couple of weeks.”

  How was Ally being so calm about this? Kylie couldn’t handle it any longer. “Seriously, Ally. You are still writing him? I can’t believe that you would do this to Tyson.”

  “No, I’m not still writing him Kylie,” Ally said as her voice gained an edge. “He still sends emails and packages even though I don’t write back. I just delete the emails and I have a stack of unopened boxes in my closet. Go see for yourself. I haven’t written him since Tyson got home.”

  “Have you told Justin about Tyson?”

  Ally looked back down at her laptop. “I just hoped that he would get the hint. But apparently not.”

  “Well you better tell him before he gets home. At least try to tell him.”

  “What am I supposed to tell him Kylie? I’m dating someone, so don’t look me up when you get home? You know that won’t be enough to stop him from trying. I kept hoping that I would get engaged before he got back because then maybe he would stop trying…” Ally said as she ran her hand through her hair.

  Even though she
was frustrated with the fact that Ally hadn’t Dear Johned Justin, Kylie calmed down as she realized why Ally was acting the way she was about getting married.

  “That’s why you wanted to get engaged right when Tyson got home and get married before football season. And why you have started bugging Tyson about an engagement ring, huh?”

  Ally shook her head. “Kylie, I love Tyson. I want to marry him and live happily ever after. But I worry that Justin has the potential to mess things up. I’ve seen his temper, especially when it comes to Tyson. I’m a little bit scared of how he’s going to react when he finds out about Tyson.”

  “Have you told Tyson about Justin?”

  “Not exactly.”

  “I know that I told you that I would stay out your relationship, but you need to tell him, and preferably sooner than later,” Kylie said as she picked up the box. “If you tell Tyson, I will open all of the boxes from Justin for you.”

  “Okay, just make sure you keep anything that seems like something Justin might want back or is of high value,” Ally said as Tyson knocked on the door and let himself in.

  “Hey! How are my two favorite ladies doing today?” Tyson asked cheerfully.

  “Fine,” Ally and Kylie replied at the same time.

  “Are you sure? Because I feel like I just walked in on something. Do you want me to go back outside?”

  Ally said, “No.” At the same time Kylie said curtly, “We’re fine.”

  “Okay,” Tyson said cautiously as he put his arm around Ally. “You ready to go darlin’?”

  “Ya. Let me go grab some shoes and I will be right back.”

  Once Ally was out of the room, Kylie whispered, “When are you going to propose?”

  Tyson looked behind him, double checking that Ally wasn’t in the room, “Soon.”