by V. T. Do
The hostess smiled our way, her eyes lingering on me more than the others. It was obvious that Cole and Joey were here with each other. And maybe if I wasn’t so caught up on one girl, I might be interested.
I waited until the server left with our drink orders before turning to Joey. “How is she?”
Joey let out a sigh. “I knew you would ask about her the minute we were alone. Honestly, I don’t know. She seems fine, and like I said, she’s keeping herself busy, but I’m not so sure that isn’t just another method she’s using to try to get over her grandpa’s death. You knew Joseph, right?”
I shared a look with Cole, before nodding. “Yeah, I knew him. Is she still grieving for him?”
Joey shot a scowl my way. “Of course. He was the only one who took care of her. Do you know how traumatic it is for a child to feel unwanted by their parents?”
“Yeah.”
Joey raised her eyebrows in surprise. “Okay, then. So we all had crappy childhoods. But Emery didn’t. Her childhood was like a fairy tale. Only, that fairy tale didn’t begin until she lived with her grandpa. And I know everyone has always said she was too young to remember the time with her dad, but she remembers some things. I don’t even know if I should be telling you this.”
I placed my hands on the table and leaned forward. “I know we don’t know each other very well, but listen to me. I care for Emery. I do. And I don’t want to see her get hurt.”
Joey shrugged. “I know she’s never reacted to someone as strongly as she reacts to you. And she’s afraid of her reactions. She doesn’t know how to deal with emotions very well, and you... well, you scare her.”
“I won’t tell you what my intentions with Emery are. That is between me and her, and if she chooses to share them with you, that’s her choice. But I meant what I said before. She has come to mean a lot to me.” And that was barely scratching the surface. All this time, I kept asking myself, why this girl? I still didn’t have a clear answer. All I knew was that she scared me too. But I didn’t want to run.
Joey and I had a little stare down. She looked like she wanted to say something to me. That was when Cole stood up and left the table, under the pretense of a call he had to make. Neither of us paid him any attention.
When he was outside, Joey’s shoulders sagged, as if in defeat. “Emery’s reckless.”
I remembered Joey making that very comment the first night we met. “What do you mean?”
“Just what I said. I know it seems like she’s socially awkward and quiet, and that’s because she is.” I smiled at that. I knew Emery didn’t handle social situations well. It was one of those endearing qualities about her. “But she’s also reckless. And very protective. Especially of those she loves. I know Joseph wasn’t perfect, but he was a hero in her eyes. She’ll defend him fiercely.”
I sat back, shocked to hear anything less than good about a man Joey probably only saw the good side of. “Do you know about him? About what he did?”
She shook her head. “No, I don’t. But I’m good at reading people. I know Joseph and her aunt kept many secrets. I slept over at Emery’s house so many times growing up, it was hard not to notice the whispers. And I know you don’t like him. You must have good reasons. I’m not going to ask what those reasons are. I don’t want anything to tarnish the image of the man who saved me as much as Emery has.”
Joey was more perceptive than I had given her credit for. “Okay. But why do you say she’s reckless?”
“I had a crappy childhood. My dad was sent to prison when I was five, for possession of drugs, a robbery gone wrong, and murder. He won’t get out, and he’ll never hold my future children. My mom was an absentee mom. She cared more about her next fix than she did her own daughter. I’m not telling you this to gain your sympathy, so don’t look at me like that. I’m telling you this so you understand that despite all of that, Emery loves me. She more than loves me though—she would give up her life to keep me safe.”
I tensed, not liking where this was going. My fists clenched on the table, and I had to pull them away, placing them on my lap. Joey followed the movement with her eyes, but didn’t say anything.
“My mom has a knack for picking the wrong man to fall in bed with. She was married to a crappy one most of my life, and I’m not sure if she’s still married to him, because I don’t talk to her. The last time I stepped foot in her house was when I was sixteen. Emery was with me. And my stepdad pulled a gun on us.”
“What?” I said, a little louder than I’d intended.
Joey shook her head, indicating that she wasn’t done. “It wasn’t loaded. Of course, we didn’t know that at the time. But Emery stood in front of me the whole time, trying to protect me from his anger. When he pulled the trigger, I swear my heart nearly exploded out of my chest. But Emery didn’t move. She planned to take the bullet for me.”
Joey looked down, playing with the utensils in front of her. “We ran out of there after, and her grandpa took me in. I never looked back.” She looked up and met my eyes. “But that is only one instance. There were so many times in the past when she would say or do something that made me think she didn’t care about her life.
“And now, with you, she’s being cautious? She’s avoiding you because she thinks you might hurt her. Can’t you see how new she is to this whole thing? Be patient with her, but if you even think about hurting her, maybe it’d be best if you let her go. Leave her alone. She’ll get over the heartbreak now before you guys get serious. But the minute she starts to fall for you? You’ll break her if you leave.”
I placed my hand on top of hers on the table. My heart softened toward this girl. She cared about Emery. Just as much as Emery cared for her. Theirs was a true friendship. “Thank you for telling me. I know what I need to do. But I want to tell you now, I won’t leave. Not even when she frustrates me.”
Joey’s lips quirked up in a slow smile. “Good. Then fight for her. Because she’s worth it.”
“I know.”
Cole came back at the same time our server did. We ordered lunch. The topics discussed were less intense, and I had never seen Cole laugh as much as he did then. By the time we got back to the office, I was feeling better. And I knew what I needed to do.
***
The plan to fight for her wasn’t as well thought out as I had hoped. In fact, the more I looked at it, the faultier it became, held together with nothing more than breakable thread and my desperation.
“Wyatt?”
Her voice came out of nowhere. I should have been prepared for the sight of her, considering I was leaning against her car door. But I knew I wasn’t when I looked up and my breath caught. She had her crimson hair down today, the curls falling to her waist. Her cheeks were red from the cold wind, and she barely had on any makeup.
She was absolutely stunning.
Her red winter coat made me think of Little Red Riding Hood. Did that make me the Big Bad Wolf?
I pulled away from the car and walked over to her. I hoped that I looked calm on the outside, even if my insides were a mess. I needed to make her see that taking a chance on me was worth it.
Chapter Twenty-One: Worth the Risk
Emery
It felt like years since I had last seen him, even though I knew it had been less than a week. His hair was untamed, the dark locks fanning over his face. His eyes were bright, glittering with mischief and wonder and standing out beautifully against his olive skin. One of these days, I might be brave enough to ask him what his heritage was, just to find out where he’d gotten his perfect color from.
I watched as he walked over to me, still speechless over my surprise. He was dressed in a suit, which told me he had come from his office. The dark colors did amazing things for his eyes. I got hot just looking at him, despite the cold weather. The dark-blue coat he had on was unzipped, but even it couldn’t hide his huge build.
And when he got close enough, I had to tilt my head back to see him, forgetting just what a big guy he really was until he stood
right in front of me.
“What are you doing here?” I asked when I got my bearings. I wasn’t stupid. I knew Joey had told him where I parked and when I got out of class. Only, I didn’t know why she was fighting so hard for Wyatt and me to get together.
“Waiting for you,” he answered with a smile. “Come on. I didn’t drive here, so you can drive us.”
He grabbed my hand without waiting for a response, pulling me to my car. He pulled the keys away from my mostly limp hand and unlocked it, pushing me into the driver’s seat before walking around the hood of the car and getting into the passenger side.
I looked at him. “What do you mean I can drive us? Where am I taking us?”
“I realized we haven’t been on a proper date. The first one, I was being an ass, so it doesn’t count. And the second time, I tricked you.”
“You can’t ask me first, like a normal human being?” I asked, incredulous. “This all came out of the blue. I might have plans.”
“You would have said no if I asked.” He sounded so serious, I wasn’t sure if I should laugh.
“So you blindsided me into our third date?”
“Is this how it’s going to be in our relationship from now on? I have to come up with clever ways to get you to go out with me?”
“We don’t have a relationship,” I reminded him.
“Oh, baby, but we do. Now start driving. I’ll tell you where to go.”
***
I was an idiot.
A horny idiot, but an idiot nonetheless.
Because I didn’t kick him out of my car. Because I was now driving according to his directions, and even if he was close-lipped about where he was taking me, I was letting him, without any questions.
And the whole time, I kept thinking what I should do if we ended up at his place at the end of the night. Would he even invite me back, since I sneaked out of his bedroom the last time I was there? More importantly, did I want to be back?
The answer was simple enough.
Yes. I really wanted to be back.
Before, I didn’t know what the fuss was all about. It was easy to be celibate when you didn’t know what you were missing. Now, I found myself waking up in the middle of the night with my body feeling like it was on fire.
It was why I didn’t protest when Wyatt told me to drive.
“Turn right at the next light,” he said.
The area was familiar to me, since I’d driven on this street several times before, but I couldn’t think what was here that might be “date-worthy.”
“Are you going to tell me where we’re going now?”
“Hush now. It’s a surprise.”
“Wyatt, I hate surprises.”
I looked over at him long enough to catch his grin. “You’ll like this one.”
“You don’t know me well enough to make that kind of judgment.”
I felt his fingers on my neck then. He probably felt the way my pulse jumped from such a simple touch. I tensed but didn’t move away, nor did I say anything. I had missed his touch.
“I know you better than you think.”
“In the biblical sense, you mean?” I asked dryly.
He laughed. “That too.”
I shook my head. “If I don’t like the surprise, I’m leaving you there. You can take a taxi home.”
“Something tells me I’m not going home alone tonight,” he said darkly.
I squirmed in my seat. “That’s presumptuous of you. Very arrogant, too, if I do say so myself.”
“Not arrogant. Confident.” His entire hand curved around the back of my neck. My breath caught. Then he pulled away and leaned back into his seat. “The light’s green, sweetheart.”
“What?”
A car behind us honked, snapping me out of my daydream. I didn’t have to look at Wyatt to know he was smiling. I pulled the car forward, and ignored the car behind me when the driver switched lanes and pulled up next to me, making a very obscene gesture.
“Maybe I should drive back. You seem a little distracted.”
“I am fine, thank you very much,” I gritted out. I could feel my face heating.
“Okay, we’re almost there. See the entrance there? Pull in.”
I finally knew where we were going. “You’re taking me ice-skating?” He nodded. “Wyatt, I don’t how to skate. I’ll fall and embarrass myself.”
“I’ll teach you, I promise. And I won’t let you fall.”
“You can’t make that promise!”
“Okay, how about I will try not to let you fall?”
“I don’t know.”
“Come, on Emery. Look, we’re here already. Let’s just go in.”
I did as he asked, only because there was a car behind me, and I’d already signaled. I didn’t want to be honked at again. New York was filled with bad drivers with an even worse temper. I found a parking spot near the front, but I didn’t turn off the car.
Wyatt did it for me. “Trust me?” I shook my head. He laughed. “Okay. Do you trust me enough to know that I wouldn’t have dragged you out here if I didn’t think you would have fun?”
“What if I break something? What if someone recognizes me here, takes a picture of me when I fall, and sends it to the New York Post?”
He laughed again. I frowned. “Then they take your picture. Are you going to let the fact that there might be a chance—a small one at that—that someone is going to take your picture and post it all over the internet stop you?”
“I guess not,” I said solemnly. I was already considering it. What would my Aunt Helen say?
He unbuckled my seat belt, then his, and got out into the cold air. I watched as he walked over to the driver’s side and opened the door for me. “Come on, sweets. Let me show you how to have fun.”
I let him pull me out while grumbling, “I know how to have fun.”
“Says the girl who hid in the bathroom at a college party.”
“Hey, that was different.” I tried to pull my hand away. He tightened his hold. Looking back, he winked at me.
The ice rink was an outdoor one, and despite the cold weather, it was crowded. I should probably tell him how much I hated crowds. They made me nervous. But Wyatt walked right into it, and he was big enough that people moved out of the way for him. I wondered if he knew the effect he had on people.
If he knew how much attention he drew just from his size alone.
And then something strange happened. I kept waiting for panic to take hold, telling me I was in a place filled with strangers who could all be a threat to me, yet I felt safe. I didn’t panic. I moved a little closer to Wyatt, loving how free being with him made me feel.
He wrapped his arm around me, pulling me against his body, as we walked over to the stand where we could rent ice skates.
He remembered my shoe size. That shouldn’t be important, but I liked the fact that he’d remembered something as insignificant as that.
And then we walked to one of the benches, and Wyatt helped me put on the skates. People stared at the giant man who was down on his knees in front of me, tying the laces of my skates.
“You don’t have to do that, you know.”
“And miss out on that lovely blush on your face?”
As if on cue, my blush deepened. He laughed. I’d never seen Wyatt so carefree before. It made it harder for me to remember the reasons why I was fighting against this in the first place.
I waited patiently for Wyatt to put on his skates, then grabbed onto his arm as he led me out onto the ice. I stumbled as soon as my foot touched the ice. Wyatt held me up, and while I didn’t want to embarrass myself, I couldn’t make myself let go of the death grip I had on his arm.
“I don’t want to do this anymore,” I complained when he started to skate slowly around the edge of the rink.
“Come on, Emery. We haven’t even been on the ice for five minutes.”
“And you’re lucky we didn’t fall.”
“We?” he asked, one eyebrow raised. I p
oked his stomach. I was shivering, but I wasn’t sure if it was because of the weather or my fear.
“We. Because if I fall, I’m taking you down with me.”
“All right, baby. I can be your cushion.” He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively. I slapped his chest and regretted it instantly when I lost my balance. But he kept me upright.
“Be serious.”
“I am serious. Just skate with me for a full round, yeah?”
“Slowly?”
He nodded in agreement. “Slowly.”
“You promise you won’t let go of me?”
“I promise.”
I tried to see if he was joking. He looked sincere enough. “Okay.”
We skated slowly. The other skaters zoomed past us so fast, it was humiliating. But Wyatt didn’t say anything. Even when a group of seven-year-olds skated around and then in front of us. I could hear their giggles from here. And they were skating like pros.
It was impressive.
“You’re doing good,” Wyatt said when we had skated half the distance.
“Really?”
He tweaked my nose. “Yeah.”
And when we made it a full round, Wyatt shot me a wide smile. I couldn’t help but smile back. “Look, I made it the whole way.”
He laughed. “You did. Now do you want to try it without holding on to me?”
“I don’t know.” There had been a few mishaps with the other skaters during our lap around, and some of falls really looked like they had hurt.
“Yes, you do. You know you’ll beat yourself up later if you don’t try.”
“Okay,” I said, because he was right. I did want to try it, and who knew if I’d ever go ice-skating again?
Slowly, I let go of Wyatt, trying to find my balance as I stood on my own. Then I skated, one inch at a time. I imagined I looked like a baby horse trying to walk for the first time. Wyatt stayed closed to my side, not saying a word. I was too busy focusing on the ice in front of me to look over and see if he was laughing. And I probably didn’t want to find out if he was. If so, I might have to hurt him.
We made it a quarter of the way when Wyatt spoke. “See, you’re doing great. Do you think you can go a little faster?” The laughter in his voice was unmistakable.
