I should have come clean when it wouldn’t have been such a big deal. Before we’d had sex, so that telling her would help prove that the bet was meaningless to me. That I was willing to end it before I could try to claim victory. Telling her now would just sound like I was trying to both wait until I could claim my prize and ease my conscience. I had no idea how she would react.
I risked another glance in her direction. She was staring out the window, watching the trees whiz by with a faraway look in her eye. Probably worried about her sister. About how Reid might have fucked things up.
And yet, could I really blame him if he did tell Sarah everything? Here I was, rationalizing about how I should have been honest long ago, and still angry that Reid had maybe had the balls to do it first. Maybe he was feeling the same way I was? Maybe he was just as angry that he had agreed to it and was starting to worry it would fuck things up with someone he was starting to have feelings for?
I gave Reid a lot of shit for a lot of things—most of them deserved—but could I really blame him for this? Just for manning up and coming clean before I had a chance to do it myself? Did everything we do have to be a competition? Maybe Ash had been right about this, too. Maybe I was more like Reid that I’d like to admit.
I should tell her.
But look where it got Reid… Sarah, crying on the phone to Hannah and asking to be picked up early—unwilling to even get in a car with my brother again for the drive back. Is that how Beth would react?
I’d wanted to believe not. That we had a strong enough connection, and that she felt about me some of the same things I felt about her. That she would forgive me for allowing my complicated and excessively competitive relationship with my brothers to lead me into making an incredibly stupid decision. A decision that I had made before I’d even met her.
I wanted to believe that she would understand all of that.
But I was scared.
So I said nothing.
17
Beth
Ash was the only one there when we arrived at Hannah’s apartment. The barbecue was set up in a grassy common area shared by all the apartment residents. It was a little field that continued away from the building for a little while before ending in a line of trees not far away. Ash was just heating up the grill as Wyatt and I greeted him, but when he said hello, I caught him exchanging a strange look with Wyatt. Both brothers wore the same worried expression.
I wasn’t sure what was going on, but I thought it must have something to do with Sarah and Reid, because ever since the phone call in the car, Wyatt had been very quiet. Maybe he knew more about what had happened then he was letting on, although I hoped he wouldn’t keep something like that from me. Not something that involved Sarah.
Or perhaps I was just imagining things. Maybe they were simply concerned about whether or not Sarah and Reid would make up, or if there would be bad feelings and tension between the two of them from now on. That would certainly make all of us spending time together more difficult.
The more I thought about it, however, the more I realized that Wyatt had actually been quieter than normal during our drive, even before the phone call. So maybe it was something else that was bothering him.
Maybe it was something about me?
Had I done something wrong when we were having sex? Was I not good at it? Until now, I’d actually been fairly proud of myself. For my first time, I thought things had gone very well. He had seemed to enjoy himself, but maybe he was just being polite? I had certainly enjoyed myself, but I had nothing to compare it to. Wyatt had probably been with many women. Maybe he was regretting my inexperience?
But then why had he seemed so eager to do it again this morning? Why had he been so reluctant to come back home?
None of it made any sense. Especially since Wyatt was gripping my hand tightly, almost as if worried I was going to run off and leave him. Perhaps when Sarah and Hannah returned, things would clear up.
“So what have you two kids been up to?” Ash asked, as the three of us moved to a nearby picnic table to sit down and wait for the others.
Wyatt cleared his throat and I turned to hide my face, embarrassed by the honest answer that sprung to my mind.
Ash laughed. “Ah, I see. Taking advantage of a little private time. Nothing wrong with that.”
“Shut up,” Wyatt mumbled.
“Well, sorry to interrupt you love birds then, but Hannah was glad you were coming back. She really wanted Beth to join us today.”
“Is she okay?” I turned back to Ash at the mention of my sister, remembering how sad her voice had seemed on the message she left me. When I had called her back to tell her we were coming, she sounded a bit better and claimed nothing was wrong, but I wasn’t sure. It seemed that everyone was in a strange mood today.
“She’s fine; just missed her sisters,” Ash said lightly. He stood. “I should go check on that barbecue.”
I watched him walk away, wondering if he was trying to avoid the conversation or if I was just being paranoid. I was feeling particularly sensitive given everything that was going on. I needed some reassurance from someone.
Wyatt was next to me, absently working one of his fingers into a groove left by the cracking wood of the old picnic table. I needed him to talk to me, to tell me what was going on, or at least convince me that it was all in my head.
“I had a lot of fun last night,” I began. “This morning, too.”
Wyatt lifted his focus from the wood, the edges of his mouth turning up in the beginnings of a cocky smirk. “Oh yeah?” he asked. “What specifically did you like the most?”
I let out a little laugh, knowing what he wanted to hear. But that wasn’t where I was going with this. Not exactly, anyway. “I’m not talking about that,” I said, swatting the back of his hand teasingly. “I mean, I did like that part, too. Really liked it. I’m sure you could tell. What I mean is, I liked spending so much time with you. Alone. I’ve never really felt this way about someone before. Like just being with you keeps me safe. Like I can totally trust you.” I really did feel like last night had been the start of a very important connection between the two of us that had nothing to do with the sex.
Well, that wasn’t true. The sex most definitely helped. But it would never have happened in the first place if I hadn’t already felt strongly about him.
Wyatt didn’t reply for a few moments, turning his gaze back down to the crack he’d been working on widening. The silence made my insecurities start to gnaw at me once more. “Do… do you feel the same way at all?”
“What?” he asked, looking up sharply. “Of course I do!” His response was so immediate, so filled with emotion that I knew it to be true. It instantly put my mind at ease. “It’s just that….” He started to say something as he stared into my eyes and then stopped again, trailing off. A sudden gust of wind tussled his dirty blond hair, but I resisted the urge to reach out and fix it.
“Listen, Beth, these last few days have been incredible to me. Maybe even life changing. Meeting you has shown me things about myself, both good and bad, that I’ve been ignoring and resisting for too long. I’ve made a lot of stupid choices and decisions in my life, gone down a bunch of roads that I now know in the end would have driven me into a dark place that I could never come back from. I was lucky to have met you before it was too late, and no matter what happens, for that I’ll always be grateful.” His smile was soft as he spoke. Then he leaned forward to kiss me.
“I mean it,” he continued. “I just wanted you to know how I really felt before… well, just in case there was ever any doubt. You’re my light, Beth. You mean more to me than I have words to describe. Just know that I would never do anything to intentionally hurt you in any way.”
“Of course,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper. “I know that.” I felt the sting of tears burning at the edges of my eyes. I just wanted to grab Wyatt and hold onto him. To kiss him and tell him how happy I was to hear that he felt as strongly about me as I did
him. But then he stood up.
“I’m going to go and help Ash with the barbecue,” he said. “If I let him run the thing, we’ll all be eating charcoal.” He gave me one more quick kiss before turning to join his brother.
Like most men, Wyatt seemed uncomfortable with displays of emotion. Opening up to me like that was probably very difficult for him, and now he needed to retreat to the company of another man so that they could discuss safer things, like the proper way to cook a sausage.
Still, I’d heard what I needed to hear, even if it was so hard for him to say. And I felt immeasurably better.
Then I heard a car door slam.
Moments later, Sarah emerged, charging around the corner and followed closely by Hannah. Neither of my sisters looked happy.
Aside from an icy glare in his direction, Sarah completely ignored Ash’s greeting. Instead, she made her way straight towards me. I had no idea what was going on, looking over to Wyatt for answers. As Sarah passed him, I thought for a moment he was going to stop her, but then he seemed to change his mind.
“Sarah?” I asked, when she was near enough to hear me. “What’s wrong?”
“Everything,” she answered. She grabbed my arm firmly, practically dragging me up from my seat. “Everything is wrong. Come with me. We need to talk.”
My heart felt heavy as I studied her pained expression. The last time I saw Sarah look like that, it was when she learned that Hannah wasn’t coming home after her own Rumspringa. We had both been upset, of course, but Sarah had taken it particularly hard. She admitted later how much it had made her feel betrayed.
Her grip didn’t ease until she had practically dragged me away from everyone, leading us into the wooded area for some privacy. She was kicking angrily at branches as we walked, but so far hadn’t said a word, so I decided to start with what I knew.
“You had a fight with Reid? That’s what Hannah said—”
Now she was ready to speak, jumping in angrily, pacing through the remains of dried fallen leaves and twigs. “Oh? And what else did Hannah say? Did she tell you what we fought about? Or what he did to me?”
“No.” Now my heart felt like a stone, my blood turning cold. From the way Wyatt talked about him, I’d known Reid had a temper but at the same time I didn’t think it was ever something he would turn against Sarah. My hands clenched into fists almost automatically. “Don’t tell me he hurt you, Sarah. If he did, I’ll…” The truth was, I wasn’t sure what I would do. Fortunately, Sarah stopped me before I had to come up with something.
“Not like that,” she said, shaking her head. I was relieved, tension dissolving from my body immediately. As long as she wasn’t hurt, anything else could probably be fixed. Or at the very least, most other things would be easier to heal from.
I waited for my sister to continue, to tell me what happened, but now she seemed conflicted. Some of the fire seemed to fade from her eyes. Instead of furious, she now just looked miserable. Moving to a tree, she turned and sank down to sit at the base. It was a familiar sight. Whenever Sarah was upset back home, she would run into the woods near the edge of the village and plant herself down by a tree to think. I’d found her in this position many a time, when tasked with calling her home for dinner or chores.
“Sarah?” I asked, crouching down in front of her. “Sister, what is it? You look so sad.”
She raised her eyes to look at me, and it took her a moment before she said anything. There was conflict on her face, as if she were coming to some monumental decision. When she finally spoke, it was in our native tongue and with a quiet voice.
“I have to tell you something about Wyatt.”
Wyatt? What could Sarah possibly know about Wyatt that I didn’t already know?
“Something about all the Brodys that you’re not going to like…” She started to continue, but was interrupted by a strange, harsh sounding voice speaking in English. It was coming from behind us.
“Yes, Sarah Miller—tell us all about what you and the Brody Bunch have been up to.”
Sarah leapt to her feet as I turned to see four strange men glaring at us. Each was large and muscled, all wearing menacing looking tattoos.
“Beth!” Sarah’s hand gripped my wrist, somehow holding me even tighter than she had when she’d led me here. “Run!”
I didn’t need to be told twice. I might have never seen these men before, but I definitely knew trouble when I saw it.
The two of us bolted back the way we’d come, through the light trees and bursting forth at the edge of the grassy clearing that led back to the apartment. I could hear the men behind us, shouting as they chased.
They sounded dangerously close.
I immediately looked towards the barbecue, just in time to see Wyatt and Ash start running in our direction. I pulled Sarah’s hand to turn her in their direction as we continued our panicked escape.
They passed us, blocking the men in pursuit as Sarah and I stopped and turned a little bit behind them. Hannah was running towards us as well; she hadn’t been as fast as the men.
I could hear Ash and Wyatt shouting at the strangers, demanding to know why they were chasing us. The way that Ash and one of the men were talking, though, it seemed like they might know each other.
“What’s going on,” I gasped to Sarah in Deitsch, still trying to catch my breath. “Who are they?” But I didn’t think that Sarah even heard me. She was staring at one of the men in particular, the one arguing with Ash, and she had gone very pale.
Hannah caught up to us now, and she grabbed both Sarah’s and my arm in an attempt to pull us further back and out of the way. I followed for only a few steps but then stood my ground, my desperation for answers temporarily eclipsing my fear.
I watched as Ash pushed one of the men back. “Leave them the fuck alone,” he growled. Wyatt was right there, too, joining into the argument and moving forward as if he was ready to take on all four men by himself. For all I knew, that’s exactly what he was thinking of doing.
Still, even with the two of them they were outnumbered. Fear flooded back into me as both brothers straightened up, looking ready for a fight.
That’s when Reid showed up. “The fuck is going on here?” he bellowed as he charged forward to stand with his brothers. “I know you, fuckface. You’re the bastard who grabbed Sarah at the carnival.”
Instantly I turned and stared at Sarah, everything else falling into the background. Hannah was doing the exact same thing. “Is this true?” she asked our sister before I had a chance at the same question. Sarah only nodded, still staring and white as a freshly washed sheet. “Oh, God…” Hannah said, turning almost as white as Sarah.
Was I the only one that had no idea what was going on?
“Beth—dial 911 on your phone.” Wyatt’s voice reminding me of the immediate danger we were all in. I pulled Hannah’s phone from my pocket and flipped it open, unsure what dialing 911 would do but knowing not to ask questions.
“You’re not calling anyone,” one of the men snarled, starting toward me with his dark eyes firmly fixed on me.
Before he made it three steps, Ash grabbed him by the neck of his shirt and yanked him backwards. “And you’re not fucking touching her,” he snapped.
That’s when all chaos erupted.
Within moments the men converged on each other in a mass of flying limbs and shouted curses. Beside me, Sarah was screaming and Hannah was yelling at everyone to stop, but all I could do was stare, hardly able to process what I was seeing.
At first I was scared; there were four of them and only three Brodys, after all. But that advantage didn’t last long. I watched as Reid kicked and punched a man with a shaved head, earning a fist to the nose in return for his trouble, but still standing in the end. I saw Wyatt grab two men at once, punching and kicking like a man possessed, barely taking any hits himself from what I could tell.
And then I saw Ash. He’d already knocked down the one who had been doing all the talking, and was now sitting on
his chest, beating him senseless. There was so much blood, and still he didn’t stop until both of his brothers were freed from their own battles to physically pull him away. Even as they did, he was still flailing around trying to get back, despite his opponent lying on the ground, barely moving.
The whole thing was surreal, at times almost moving in slow motion and at others so fast it was like a blur. I had no idea how long the whole fight lasted. Seconds? Minutes? I just knew that as quickly as it had begun, it was over.
Reid and Wyatt were still holding onto Ash, reminding him to breathe while they attempted to calm him down. They were still keeping a careful eye on the men—all of whom were laying on the ground at this point—but at the same time casting glances over at us.
It wasn’t until then that I realized my sisters were right next to me. Hannah had her arm around my waist, in fact, and I didn’t even remember her putting it there. I had been so focused on watching the carnage unfold in front of me, trying to understand and process all of that violence, that I’d barely noticed anything else.
How could people do that to each other? Who were these men and why were they trying to grab us in the first place? Did living in the English world mean having to deal with this sort of thing on a regular basis? Maybe that’s why learning to fight was so important to Wyatt. It was what he needed to do to survive out here.
I looked over at him, for the first time noticing the blood that was dripping down from a cut over his eye, making a crimson trail all the way down to his chin. I wondered briefly if that would leave a scar to match the ones on his knuckles—the origin of which I no longer had to wonder about. Reid looked even worse—his nose in particular seemed swollen—and blood was dripping down from Ash’s knuckles. Yet none of them seemed to even notice their injuries as they stood speaking quietly to each other.
The Brody Bunch Collection: Bad Boy Romance Page 52
