“Why don’t you want the surgery?”
“I don’t know. Past issues.” The words came out breathless. I forced my nose to take in tiny gulps as his fingers remained on my skin.
“Issues?”
“I had the first surgery when I broke my leg. And it ruined my life in some ways.” I closed my eyes for a second, steadying my thoughts. “I didn’t go to school, but I lived in a college town. I missed out on all those next-step pieces. I didn’t make new friends or go to exciting date parties. I floated around, living on the fringe of what was supposed to be my life.”
“You missed out on all that crazy college shit. That’s your sad story?”
“I didn’t say that. I know my story is not exactly tragic. People have way worse stuff than some busted-up knee derailing them. I guess mine is more of a detour. And I just haven’t found my way back on the road.”
“I get it, but that doesn’t really explain why you won’t have the surgery.”
“I don’t know. Maybe it’s the idea of having this stupid injury control my life again. Or maybe . . .” I grinned at him. “I don’t have a good reason, and I’m just stubborn.”
“I never would’ve guessed that one about you.” His lips curled up at the corners, letting the dimples settle on his cheeks. Wyatt stopped moving his fingers, but the flutters in my stomach remained just as intense. I focused on breathing as our eyes held in the rare humorous moment that was laced with the achy desire, pulling me to him. I glanced at his lips, wanting him to kiss me again.
Wyatt swallowed hard, reading my thoughts. “Let’s see if you can stand.”
He shuffled up from the floor, holding out a hand. Clasping his fingers, I used his strength to maneuver up from the carpet without putting weight on my leg. Testing the water, I put my right foot on the floor. The pain remained pretty strong, but I didn’t crumple to a pile on the ground. “I think it’s better. I should be able to drive.”
“I’ll walk you to the car.” And then before I knew what happened, Wyatt scooped me up in his arms.
“What are you doing?”
“Walking you to the car.” He carried me out the front door. The flutters in my stomach got stronger as he clutched me tight against his hard chest. Circling my arms around his neck, I held onto Wyatt as his bare feet went down the steps and across the path to my car. He set me down next to the driver’s side door.
He shuffled around, digging his bare toes into the dirt before saying anything. “All joking aside, you really need to go back to the doctor. That knee is a damn mess.”
“I know.” I nodded in agreement. The summer air pressed against my body, making sweat trickle down my back as I struggled to keep the weight off my knee.
“Well, bye, Emma. And um . . . thank you.” The words came with a surge of emotions he tried to push down. “You know, for last night.”
“You’re an easy patient.” I joked as the nervous energy bounced between us. Our parting moment, for now or forever, depending on how he reacted to kissing me. I might return only to find him back behind the curtains. “Promise me something, Wyatt. Promise me you won’t sit here all day regretting that you kissed me.”
“I can’t promise that.” His raspy voice hung on the words. It took everything in me not to sling my arms back around his neck and do the very thing that caused him so much agony. I wish he would just let me in, let me help.
“You want to know why I was so good at running cross country before my leg got busted up?” I gave him an even stare. “My coach always said that I was small, but I had the determination of ten people. Running trails is not for the splash-in-the-pan runner. It’s for someone who is willing to stick with it for miles. Someone who has to pace herself and keep going despite the blisters and the bugs flying in her teeth. That’s who I am. I trained for years to be that person, and it doesn’t just disappear. Yes, I’m stubborn, Wyatt. And I have determination. There’s nothing you can throw at me that will shake that. So I want us to talk more when I come back. I promise. I can handle it.”
His hands balled into twitchy fists as fear settled in around his eyes. I had pushed him. I wanted him to know despite my appearance, I was solid on the inside.
“Fine,” he grunted.
I let a deep breath trickle out my nose, trying to calm the excitement of a possible breakthrough. “I’m not sure when I can get back out here. I have to cover at work again this week. A girl quit, and I need the extra hours before classes start back.”
“Well, I’ll be here. So whenever you get back.” His jaw gritted up in a death grip like he swallowed acid. “We can talk.”
It was hard to leave him. My phone dinged again. Without taking it out of my pocket, I knew my sister was having another fit about me coming to get her. I got in my car, driving away as he stood in the yard looking guilty and tortured. My heart felt a thousand different emotions as his face disappeared in my rearview mirror.
WITH EACH MILE I TRAVELED down the road, her temper hit me with little stabs in the chest. My sister was angry. The sensation grew stronger the closer I got to my apartment.
My car rolled into the parking lot. I slammed on the brakes, coming to a stop right beside the stairs where Blair sat on the bottom step, waiting with her arms crossed. I tossed the door open with an apology on my lips.
“Don’t even.” Her fingers flicked up, dismissing me.
Hitting the trunk button, the flap popped up, allowing her to put the tuba case inside the back of the car. “Come on, Blaire. I really am sorry. I didn’t mean to . . . to spend the night.”
“I don’t give a shit that you spent the night.”
“Then what’s wrong?”
“I texted you almost two hours ago. I know it doesn’t take that long to get here from his weird compound. Then I felt all those butterflies and shit. You’ve been cramming your tongue down his throat while I missed rehearsal.”
“I really am sorry. I made progress with him and I just couldn’t leave.”
“Just where have you been, Emma Sawyer?” The deep voice came out with a nasty twist. I spun around, seeing Kurt next to Blaire. He was too close to her. Glancing at my sister, she grew flustered at his sudden presence.
He spit tobacco straight on the cement, which splattered a little on Blaire’s foot. His beady eyes drifted slowly back and forth between us. The little brain in his head still couldn’t get over the fact there were two of us. His other little brain got it very clear, which made the sick feeling creep inside the pit of my stomach.
“What do you need, Kurt?”
“I’m just asking the same questions as your little sis here. We were both so worried that you didn’t come home last night. I’m getting a little concerned. You’re always coming and going . . . somewhere.” He shut the trunk on my car. Kurt looked at the red dirt on his hands that came from the white paint. Watching my reaction, he smeared it across the thighs of his jeans.
“Bye, Kurt. We are in a hurry.” I ran to the driver’s side as Blaire climbed in the passenger’s seat.
“You just had to provoke him over some dog.”
“Stop it.” I put the car in drive, speeding out of the parking lot. “I didn’t know he would get all crazy about it.”
“I told you stuff doesn’t seem right about him.”
“I know. I know.” I blew a blonde curl out of my eye as I came to a red light.
“By the way, I did a search on Wyatt.”
“You did?” I glanced over, bracing for whatever incriminating information she’d found on him. “I didn’t even think about looking him up.”
“I figured. And no. I didn’t find anything. Are you sure that’s his name?”
“Yes. I saw it on a Bible in his dresser. People don’t make that kind of stuff up and stamp it in gold on a Bible.”
“Well, I guess whatever is wrong with him is personal and not criminal.”
“This has never felt like something criminal. He’s hurting. I just don’t know why.” I parked in fr
ont of the building, clicking the trunk button. I thought my sister would jump immediately from the car, but she stayed in her seat, staring blankly out the window.
“That’s your heart talking, Emma. Not your common sense. But I get it. I felt it from you today.” She hesitated, letting the words form in her mind before speaking. “Do you think I will ever feel something like that? Am I capable of it?”
My heart broke a little for Blaire as her voice betrayed her true emotions. My sister wanted something she couldn’t even understand. I hoped one day it would be true. I hoped Blaire Sawyer could experience everything in life.
Reaching over, I grabbed her hand in mine. “I think you are. I believe you are. Those feelings only exist when you meet someone who makes them happen. I believe it’s possible. You just need to meet the right person.”
“I don’t know. We both know I’m not like other people.”
“There’s love inside of you, Blaire. But love is not the same for every person. It will be different for you than me. But it will make you happy.”
“You love him?” Her identical eyes caught mine.
“I-I don’t know.” It wasn’t exactly love, but I sure felt something for him, especially since I was so close to a breakthrough. I think Wyatt was finally going to let me help him.
THREE DAYS LATER, I DROVE down the trail to the kennel. Three agonizing days of wishing I could see him and worrying that everything would blow up in my face when I finally had the opportunity to return. What if I went two steps forward only to fall five steps backward when he tried to shut me out again?
I got out of my car, seeing Wyatt in the distance. His gaze followed me as I walked the path to the fenced-in play area. Gus and Gatsby were inside, waiting for him to throw the tennis ball again.
His soft lips turned up on the corners, just briefly, just enough, which caused his dimples to slowly roll into place. Pausing with my hand on the gate, a rush of anticipation shot through my chest as his green eyes bore into mine.
“Hey.” I moved the latch, letting myself inside the fence. I fought the urge to run across the grass and throw my arms around him.
“Hey.”
This was far better than I’d expected today. In my absence, I’d assumed Wyatt tortured himself into some level of a fit. Instead, he seemed okay. Yet I planned to proceed with caution. His promise of talking would come at his own pace.
I wish he would just trust me. There was nothing Wyatt could say that would make me leave at this point. I knew the inside of his heart. I saw the deep compassion that encircled the broken pieces, holding it together. I saw it very clearly as he clutched a worn tennis ball, grinning at two very impatient animals.
“Gatsby is like a whole new dog.” I went for the safe topic, the one I knew would be easy for him without ruining his current mood.
“You should watch this.”
Wyatt tossed the ball across the grass. Gus ran beside Gatsby as the yellow fabric rolled in front of them. Moving into the lead, Gus stopped right beside the ball. The little Jack Russell waited for the old Labrador to grab it between his teeth, never darting for it himself. Once Gatsby captured the tennis ball, the pair returned to Wyatt.
“Did you teach Gus to do that?”
“No.” Wyatt tossed the ball again. It was sweet, seeing the little dog guide the older one to where it landed in the grass. “I think Gatsby has bad eyes. That’s why he’s gotten better with Gus. He stays glued to him now.”
Walking over to the dogs, I rubbed the older one on top of his head. His brown eyes were glazed over like he was in a far-off place, but his tongue hung out the corner with the impression of a smile. Sweet, old Gatsby. Sometimes this place was just too much.
“You kinda work a little magic out here with the dogs.”
“Maybe.”
“I mean, you are really good at this. I hope you know that. You’re making a difference with them.”
Wyatt didn’t respond. He went over to the water faucet, refilling their bowl. The dogs made their way to the large plastic container. Gus let Gatsby get a drink first.
I walked across the pen in my tennis shoes. His eyes drifted down to my swollen knee. “You talk to the doctor?”
“Yes. I’m having the surgery in September. I’ll have to be off my feet for several weeks, which is good for homework. But not for summer and working. This way, I’ll have more study time while I’m banished to my apartment.”
“You got a date for it?”
“You don’t believe me?” I flashed a mischievous grin at him.
“Not when it comes to you and whatever stubborn shit is keeping you from getting it fixed.”
“Not stubborn. Just . . . unwilling to be controlled by it. My surgery. My terms. Besides it’s more practical in September. I’m taking more classes this fall.” I stepped a little closer to Wyatt. “You feeling better?”
“Yeah.” The gruff word rolled off his lips. I slipped a look at them and then back to his eyes. I wanted to kiss Wyatt again. I wanted to taste his lips.
I touched his freshly shaven cheek with my fingertip before cupping his face with my hands. Leaning up on my tiptoes, I pressed my mouth over those soft lips. I kissed Wyatt. My pulse moved in anxious beats with my brazen action.
Releasing my hold, I backed away a few inches, waiting for his reaction. The battle raged right behind his green eyes. He swallowed hard before slipping his hands around my waist, pulling me tight against his chest.
He needed to feel me. I knew from the desperate way his hands clutched my body. And a strange realization settled just inside my heart. Wyatt may have a past, but I don’t know the last time he’d felt the touch of another person. Not even in a sexual way, but just in the casual emotional embrace.
Wyatt held onto my body, digging his fingers into my lower back. He pulled me tighter and kissed the side of my head. And then his lips drifted to my cheek before coming to rest against my mouth.
Wyatt kissed me slowly and deliberately. I had never met a guy who focused so much on using his lips. The soft movements caused a ripple of burning agony under my skin. I was alive and tortured by the desire he ignited. If Wyatt was this good at just kissing, the feel of his hands on my bare skin might just push me over the edge into oblivion.
“You’re a good kisser,” I whispered as he lifted his lips from my mouth.
“I’ve never taken the time to enjoy it before. I always rushed through that part. Or I guess I never cared enough about another person to enjoy it.”
“So you’re enjoying it with me?”
“Yes. More than I should.” His eyes glazed over for a moment before he pushed back whatever tormented thought that plagued his conscience. Wyatt rested his forehead against mine. “I feel it too, you know. This thing . . . pulling us together. But what I’m doing to you isn’t fair. I know you want me to talk, but I just don’t know what to say or think.”
“Then don’t think right now.”
I kissed him again, holding onto the taste of his lips. I ran my fingers through his soft hair. Pressing myself against him, I wanted to reassure the broken man that his feelings were safe with me. Not talking was just as good as talking. He uttered not a single word, but shared so much of himself in the way he took over the kiss.
His tongue touched mine like a match to a firework. The sparks ignited as his right hand moved over my butt, pushing me tighter against his hard body, tighter against his hips.
I couldn’t get close enough to Wyatt, and he needed to hold on to me too. As he pressed us together, I melted against him, letting his lips take control of my thoughts. I drifted away. Kissing Wyatt was erotic and intoxicating and pure agony—and then he was gone.
He pulled back, staring out in the distance. I closed my eyes for a moment. My heart beat so fast in my chest that I was getting a head rush.
“What’s wrong?” An ashen color slipped over his cheeks as his jaw clenched tighter. “Wyatt?”
Looking in the direction of his piercing eyes
, I saw a trail of dirt before I saw the car. Someone was coming down the trail. Someone was coming here.
“Go inside the trailer.” The bite to his words caught me off guard.
“No.” I wasn’t going to miss this piece of the puzzle. I should wait for him to tell me on his own terms, but I couldn’t wait for that to happen. I needed to know this information. I needed to crash down the wall that held him captive. Whoever was inside the car was a key to the secrets he kept locked inside his heart.
As the car got closer, Wyatt shifted a few feet away from me. “Get inside the trailer. Now!”
A small trickle of fear trailed like sweat down my back. I wasn’t budging, and he knew it. This person in the car was causing Wyatt to slip into a borderline panic attack. He looked at me with wild eyes and then back to the Tahoe. The SUV with blacked-out windows parked in front of the trailer.
Wyatt ran a hand through his brown hair, gripping the short pieces in a tight wad. His shoulders went ridged as he braced for the driver’s side door to open. I waited to see the face of the man who had scared Wyatt into practically shaking in his boots, but a lone girl stepped out in front of us.
Her tall, slender figure paused, glancing at the trailer before surveying the rest of the property. She noticed us standing in the fenced-in play area. Even from a distance, I knew their eyes locked tight on each other. I knew because the contact made his body shudder.
She stepped across the dirt with the grace of a dancer. The mysterious stranger came closer and closer as the silence from Wyatt filled the space with his visible anger. The girl paused at the gate, taking in the scene in front of her.
Looking from Wyatt to me, she eyed my presence with open curiosity. The girl brushed a few pieces of brown hair from her shoulder, making it fall in long strands down her back. She was beautiful in that natural sort of way, the kind that graced face wash commercials.
A white and brown blur went past me in the grass. Her face lit up bright, flashing a stunning smile as she came inside the fence. Bending down on his level, her delicate hands touched the little dog who was just short of passing out from excitement.
Waiting for Wyatt (Red Dirt #1) Page 12
