He touched my arm and tried to make me face him. I shook off his hold and I tried to put my hair back up
“Hey, what's the matter?” he asked.
“Grab your clothes. I’m leaving and I don’t think you want the whole library seeing you naked,” I told him.
“Let’s talk about this, Hailey. What’s bothering you?”
I cut him a cruel look. “That sounds awfully emotional, Wyatt. No emotions. Just fucking, remember?”
His face shut down, becoming void of all emotion and I instantly felt terrible for my words, but it was better this way.
“I remember,” he said finally and reached for his clothes.
A minute later, we walked out of the room, the air between us as cold as if we were strangers.
I didn’t look back as I grabbed my belongings from my study table and left without another word.
Chapter Eleven: Wyatt
The phone rang until it went to voice mail.
The recording played in my ear.
You have reached the phone of Hailey Clark. I am unable to take your call right now. Please leave a message and I will get back to you as soon as I can. Beep…
I hung up without leaving a message. What was the use when the others I left had gone unanswered?
Hailey was ignoring me.
It had been two days since the hot session in the library. Two days since she left me in the building watching her walk away and not knowing what to do to stop it.
Two days since I felt like a part of me was missing.
Two days of trying to find a way to stop caring so much.
It was so much easier to be a playboy and keep my heart unattached, that was for damn sure. Being the guy I was before would make this situation so much easier to handle.
I had never cared for woman like this until Hailey. Even after we broke up, I had never connected with another woman like that and I was beginning to think that I would never again. My mind was settling into the fact that Hailey was it for me.
She obviously didn’t feel the same way about me though.
She couldn’t wait to get away from me every time we made love and damn, if her running out on me didn’t make me feel cheap and used.
The guys on my old military squad would have laughed their asses off if they heard that particular thought.
I should stop beating myself about this and let it go.
For a little while I had even convinced myself that I this was just a momentary bout of craziness I was feeling. It would go away soon. Maybe this distance was a good thing for me.
All that self-talk didn’t change the fact that I missed Hailey. Not just her body and the things it did to mine, but her smile, hearing her talk, her scent. Everything. I missed everything about her.
No matter how much I wished it, these feelings were not going to just disappear. I was forced to stop bull-shitting myself and man up and admit I was all kinds of messed up over Hailey.
If I knew where she lived, I would have gone and knocked her door down. I would have talked her ear off and forced her to listen to what I had to say.
It was probably a good thing I didn’t know her address then because I would have just looked like a damn fool.
I put the cellphone away before I dialed her number again and pulled out a text book instead. I would try to get some studying done before I headed to bed. It was Monday evening. Hailey and I had Biology labs in the morning. I would confront her then and lay my feelings on the line.
***
Saying my piece was a lot easier said than done when I was confronted with a cold and aloof Hailey the next day.
I sat next to her in what had already become our usual spot.
“Good morning,” I greeted and was answered with an uncommitted nod.
She didn’t look at me directly. I may as well have not existed in the moment for all the attention she paid to me.
Ouch.
The professor came in before any more could be said and the lecture began.
My attention was mostly on the woman next to me for the next two hours but her eyes remained trained on the lecturer. She only moved them to take notes.
When the professor announced the end of class, she immediately started to pack up her stuff.
I stopped her as she stood to leave. She looked at where my hand was on her upper arm like the touched offended her and I removed my hand, that look hitting me in the gut.
I waited until the last student had filed out before speaking. “We need to talk.”
She lifted emotionless eyes to meet mine. “I cannot imagine what we have to talk about Wyatt.”
Even her tone was void of feeling. Fuck.
I tried to lighten things with a carefree tone, ignoring her immediate denial.
“There is plenty to talk about. Like the fact that you’ve been ignoring me. That’s not very nice of you, study partner. How about dinner tonight?” I asked. “You can apologize to me and I’ll pretend to be mad for a few minutes before we make up.”
I smiled to end my teasing speech but she remained as aloof as ever. It was like being confronted by a brick wall.
My smile fell and I became series once more. “Come on, Hailey. Meet me half way here. We can talk this out. There is no reason for things to be tense between us.”
She looked away from me and sighed impatiently. She added insult to injury by looking down at the small watch on her wrist.
“Look, Wyatt. This is not going to work out between us. Not as friends or as study buddies. We should just be classmates from now on. I am here to work hard and I do not have time for messing around with you. I cannot afford to be distracted right now.” My heart fell into my stomach.
“I disagree,” I said quickly. “We’re both smart people. If we put our minds to it I know we can make it work so that we both do great at school and maintain a stable, healthy relationship,” I said. “We were great together before, Hailey. I think we should give this thing between us a chance. We obviously have the chemistry. I know I hurt you before. I should have never shut you out like that. Things will be different this time. I will-”
She cut me off and stated, “What we had was in the past and we should have left it there. I want to leave it there. Do you understand what I am trying to tell you? I don’t want to do this. Please respect my decision and leave it alone.”
God, this rejection felt like someone had just pushed a fist through my chest and pulled out my beating heart.
Old habits die hard and I pulled my playboy cloak around me to hide my hurt.
I pulled forth a cocky grin even though I was hurting on the inside and said, “If you change your mind, you know where to find me. I will even reinstate our friends with benefits arrangement if you ask real nicely.”
I wiggled my eyebrows suggestively at her.
She just rolled her eyes at me and said, “Is sex all you think about?”
The question was rhetorical because she turned her back without waiting for an answer and left me standing there alone.
Chapter Twelve: Hailey
I was in the kitchen making dinner while Noah babbled on about his day at daycare and the new friend he made that day.
It hadn’t been long since we got home and I was so very glad that Noah was able to be on campus with me. It made my life so much easier because I didn’t know how else I would have been able to juggle classes, mothering and working part time.
I savored spending the quality time with my son, treasuring the minutes because they were becoming rarer with the demands of school.
Dinner was a simple pasta fare with cleverly cloaked veggies that Noah downed without realizing. We had his favorite desert – a slice of chocolate cake.
He helped me clean up afterward. In the way of kids, he made more of a mess in the process but I had fun watching him have try.
Next, we moved to the bathroom and he had a bath. I would have to clean up after that too because he got to rigorous in his splashing.
Aft
er Noah was all cleaned up and dressed in Spiderman pajamas, we read a bedtime story and tucked into in to his bed.
“Good night, baby boy,” I said, smoothing his hair back to kiss his forehead
“Good night, Mommy,” he returned, speech slurred.
He yawned and I knew that his droopy eyes meant he would be fast asleep within minutes.
After cleaning up the bathroom and tidying up the living room, I pulled out my books and knocked out some homework before studying up the chapter that would be discussed in one my classes tomorrow.
I yawned and wiped my sore eyes after some time had passed.
Looking at the clock on the wall, I saw that three hours had already passed in what felt like the blink of an eye.
I put my books away and got up to stretch the kinks out. I checked on Noah, confirmed that he was sleeping peacefully then went to take a shower.
I dressed in an old tee shirt and a cotton panties. I pulled my hair up into a messy bun then patrolled the house one last time to make sure everything was secure.
I was about to turn into bed when my cell phone rang.
My heart jumped in my chest thinking it might be Wyatt despite the horrible way the talk we had had gone a few hours before. I had mostly been successful in keeping my mind off him and what had transpired between us earlier but there was no avoiding it now.
I was resolved in keeping my distance from him.
For a moment while we talked earlier I had faltered, thinking I saw pain his eyes at my words but the imagined emotion was gone as fast as I thought it appeared. He had been his old, no-care self.
I was slightly disappointed. A small part of me had harbored a secret desire that he would have fought to convince we that we could be more than fuck friends. His phone calls after we had parted ways at the library made me think he might want more than “benefits”. But when his last words to me have been about sex in bio class, I knew it was hopeless for us.
Our talk just convinced me that I had made the right decision.
A clean break from Wyatt was for the best.
Still, I was frozen for a moment as I watched the phone vibrate on the bedside table.
I slowly reached for it and looked at the caller ID.
I released the breath I had been holding as I read the name.
It wasn’t Wyatt.
It was my dad.
I answered, “Hey Dad, what’s wrong?”
It was minutes to midnight. He wouldn’t have called so late unless something was wrong.
“Hi honey, I’m sorry to call so late but I just had to talk to someone. I just had a big blow out with Joe and he ran out. I’m worried about your brother. He has been hanging with bad crowd lately and he gets testy every time I try to talk to him about it. I’m just worried he will end up in trouble.”
I bit back a sigh.
My parents adopted a very overprotective style of parenting and Joe hadn’t been reacting to the helicopter parenting well lately. He was a young man starting to form his own opinions about the world and their attempts to figuratively keep him protected in bubble wrap was causing tension.
They had had several blow ups as of late and if Dad didn’t let up, it wouldn’t get better any time soon.
Dad was most likely worried for nothing. Joe had a good head on his shoulders and wasn’t easily swayed by others. Still, I told my father what he needed to hear.
“I’ll talk to him, Dad.”
He made a sound of relief and replied, “Thanks, sweetie. If anyone can get through to him it is you.”
***
That next morning, Joe and I were seated at Angie’s Bakery having scones. I had kept my promise to my father, I’d check in. We’d eat some delicious baked goods and Joe would tell me he was fine and then we could all move on. I was sure of it.
Except when I arrived, it looked like Dad had been a least a little bit right. I noticed how tired Joe looked. Haggard even.
Finally, Joe broke our carb induced silence.
“Let me guess? Dad asked you to speak to me.”
Looking even closer, I saw that he had lost some weight and his movements were a little nervous in nature.
I frowned. Dad may be right to worry this time.
“He is just worried about you, you know,” I said.
Joe made an exasperated sound and put his scone down as if it suddenly left a bad taste in his mouth.
“God, not you too,” he groaned.
“Why are you being so defensive?” I asked him. “I just want to know how my little brother is doing. Why is that wrong?”
“I do not need you to look out for me. I’m a big boy,” he replied.
“You’re never going to be too old for me to look out for you. I’m your big sister. It’s what big sisters do.”
I reached out and took a hold of his hand. “You would come to me if something was wrong, right? You can trust me with whatever.”
I was suddenly worried that I had been so wrapped up in my own life that I had been neglecting on my older sis duties. My family may have their annoying moments but I loved them with all my heart and would do anything for them.
Joe rolled his eyes like I was being dumb, pulling his hand away. “Of course I know that.”
“Then talk to me,” I said and I remembered someone else besieging me in a similar way not too long ago.
I pushed that thought back.
“There is nothing to talk about,” Joe said and that response sounded hauntingly familiar too. “I have everything under control.”
Joe wiped his hand on a napkin, most of his scone left untouched.
His last statement didn’t sit well with me and I opened my mouth to grill him more but he beat me to the punch. He stood, towering over me. I stood as well.
“Look, I have some place I need to be. See you later, sis,” he said.
Although he leaned over to kiss my cheek, our meeting ended far from satisfactory.
I watched him leave the bakery and hated to agree with my father by my brother was definitely hiding something.
I was going to find out what.
I grabbed my book bag and headed back to campus. I still had one more class for the day before I had to pick up Noah from daycare.
As I drove, I was plotting how I would uncover what was up with my little brother.
Chapter Thirteen: Hailey
I kept hitting a road block in trying to get my brother to confide in me.
A week had passed since meeting up with Joe at the bakery. And I was no closer to finding out what he was hiding now than I was then. In fact, I felt like I had taken several steps back on that front.
He had started avoiding my calls and another one on one talk had resulted in him clamming up on me and walking off angry.
I swallowed a sigh as I walked the hallway of the campus, heading for the organic chem lab. I needed to fit in some studying before I had to pick up Noah in a few hours. I was behind on the material with dealing with my family drama.
The lab was usually empty around this time and I wanted to take advantage of the quiet space.
My mind was on my brother and I wasn’t really seeing where I was going, my body moving on autopilot when I stepped into the lab.
I abruptly stopped as I noticed that I wasn’t only one who thought to use the empty lab to study.
Wyatt was seated in his usual seat, his head bent over an open text book and headphones plugged into his ears.
My eyes couldn’t help trailing over him in appreciation of his own unique brand of male perfection. Shit, why did he do these things to me?
His hair was mussed as if he had dragged his fingers through it a few times. It was getting longer as the days passed and falling over his brow. My fingers itched to push it back.
He wore a simple tee shirt and full-length cargo pants over brown boots. The fabric clung to his hard body. The muscles his arms looked like one good flex would tear the clothes off him.
Yum, came the unbridled thought e
ven as I fought to control my hormones.
He had respected my wish to keep things plutonic between us. Apart from a few teasing comments that were rather tame for him, he had made no moves toward me. We still sat next to each other for bio labs but he kept his attention on the lecturer during those times and left with an impersonal smile and goodbye after the professor dismissed us.
We were just as I demanded – classmates and nothing more.
I couldn’t explain why the fact left me feeling annoyed when I should be ecstatic. He listened to me, he never fucking listened to me. Why now?
Yet…
Yet my heart was silently asking that he ignore my words.
I should not be here with him. Alone.
I had a feeling I would do something stupid if he even just looked my way.
He looked up just as I was about to turn and leave. Of course.
For a moment, we just looked at each other. So much was said with that lingering look yet nothing at all.
He pulled the wires away from his ears and the movement mesmerized me. I watched his big hands and remembered the pleasure they could inflict.
“Don’t leave,” he said eventually and even though I knew I should, I found myself stepping deeper into the room.
I settled next to him without a word and pulled out my books. He turned his attention back to his books but left the headphones off.
We were quiet for a time, each of us looking down into our books. There was only the sound of a ticking clock and paper being turned.
My cell phone beeped. With a few swipes of my finger, I unlocked it and saw a text from my dad, telling me Joe had skipped school today day. Again.
He was thinking we needed to have an intervention as a family.
I frowned, thinking that would only push Joe further away.
“What’s the matter?” Wyatt asked, pulling my attention toward him.
He was watching me, concern marring his forehead.
“What do you mean? Everything is fine,” I said, trying to downplay the whole situation. He didn’t need to hear about my family drama.
“Something’s bothering you. I can tell. What’s up?”
I hesitated. I did want to talk to him about it but it felt wrong after I had been so harsh with him over the last two weeks.
Baby Makes Three: A Brother's Best Friend's Secret Baby Romance Page 63
