Waiting for Wyatt (Red Dirt #1)

by S. D. Hendrickson

  “So you’ve watched it?”

  “Well, not exactly.”

  “I didn’t think so, you little liar.” He smirked. “Well, I may not have seen the movie either. But I read the book.”

  “Ha. I knew you were a fan.” I leaned up on my tiptoes, laughing right into his face. He leaned forward, capturing my lips with his mouth. And then his hands pulled my body to him.

  Everything between us did a one-eighty from sweet and joking to a needy burn. His lips moved slowly, drawing out each pass so they took twice as long. Every tiny movement amplified as Wyatt took his time, touching my mouth, stroking back and forth with his tongue.

  I leaned into him, wrapping my arms around his neck, digging my fingers into his shoulders as I tried not to fall over from the cloudy thoughts in my head. I turned my cheek to the side, gasping for air. I knew he did it on purpose. The more I was wrapped up and consumed with the taste of his mouth, the slower it took for me to get in my car—to the point I almost forgot about even leaving.

  Wyatt rubbed his hands over my waist, pulling me tighter against his chest. I took a step back and gave him a sly grin. “Hold on.”

  His fingers clenched into my skin before releasing my body. Reaching behind me, I opened the door to the backseat of the car. I sat on the edge of the soft cushion with my feet dangling outside. I tugged his hand.

  His eyes held my gaze as a thousand thoughts circled around inside his head. “Come on. Don’t overthink it. Just get in here with me. I don’t bite.”

  Letting go of his hand, I scooted inside the car, lying down on my back. Wyatt hesitated in the doorframe before climbing inside. Our bodies shifted around in the tight space of the backseat. My elbow hit the seatbelt buckle, causing me to squeal. And I couldn’t help myself from giggling as Wyatt’s head whacked the side of the other door before we got situated, but that didn’t stop our lips from finding each other again.

  They moved softly over my cheek, nibbling on my ear as he whispered, “You may not bite, but I do.”

  His teeth teased at my earlobe, making me smile. My fingers traced over the side of his jaw as Wyatt kissed me full on the mouth, sucking on my lower lip. It was easy to get lost in these feelings. These moments of abandonment, the overwhelming physical pull that came alive as our bodies squirmed to get closer.

  Wyatt slid his hand up the side of my black yoga pants, pulling my leg over his thigh. “I like these.”

  “Because it lets you grab my butt easier.”

  “I don’t do that,” he whispered with a hazy grin.

  “You do too. And when I first started coming out here, you used to watch me walk to the car, staring right at it. Even when you acted like a jerk, you still liked to look at my butt.”

  “I’m not an ass man. I was afraid you would fall down on the driveway.”

  “And I look at your lips because I’m afraid they are going to fall off your face. And I kiss them like this.” I pressed my mouth to his. “To make sure they stay on tight.”

  His lips latched onto mine as his fingers moved over the soft fabric of the pants until he grabbed my round butt cheek, squeezing lightly. Wyatt pulled me tighter against his hips as my leg curved around his thigh, keeping me in place.

  In the nights I’d slept beside Wyatt, he’d held me, but he didn’t touch me. Not like this. Those moments were different because he needed someone to chase the ghosts away. But in the backseat of my car, I closed my eyes and let him touch me, feel me, want me with the burning desire of a person craving another person.

  And I liked it. I liked it so very much that I forgot about the kennel and my study group. I forgot everything except the touch of his lips and his hands as they rubbed against my body.

  Wyatt traced his nose down the side of my cheek, leaving faint kisses on my neck. His hands ran under my shirt. They trailed over my breasts and stomach. Every brush of his fingers caused warm sparks to shoot under my skin. I wrapped my legs around his hips as he rocked slowly, back and forth against my body. Each time he made contact, I let out a faint little gasp. I had on every stitch of clothing, yet I was about to lose my entire sense of time and place.

  His breath floated over my skin as his mouth found mine again. Wyatt slipped his tongue inside my lips. And he was touching me. Each place registering separately until my senses exploded and I felt him everywhere. A faint gasp escaped my lips. And I couldn’t get enough. I wiggled as close as I could to his body as he rubbed against me.

  Wyatt pulled back a little, staring me in the eye. I didn’t want him to stop touching me. I needed him to keep touching me. He held my gaze, and then his hand slipped slowly over my stomach and down between us. My eyes closed as his fingers moved against the yoga pants, touching me, over and over again, and then I lost it altogether. As my body drifted away, a smile formed on my lips. I relaxed, savoring the moment. And then I got embarrassed. And then I was falling.

  My eyes shot open, and I grabbed at his body, but my hip whacked the back of the front console and I landed on my back in the floorboard. Wyatt looked down at me and started laughing. I tried to rise up, but I was stuck. The more I tried to move, the louder he laughed until I was giggling with him.

  “Stop laughing. You have to get me out of here. I’m stuck.”

  He climbed out of the car and extended a hand down to where I was lying on the floor. After a couple of pulls, he had me dislodged from the disgraceful pile of twisted limbs.

  He wrapped his arms around me, staring in my eyes as his tried to hold back the laughter. “You okay?”

  “Yeah.” I nodded.

  He grinned, rubbing his nose down mine until the ends touched.

  “I like this before stuff,” he whispered.

  “Me too.”

  The longer we stared at each other, the more his lips turned serious. “You’re going to be late to your study group.”

  “I know,” I whispered.

  But we didn’t let go. We held on for another five minutes until I was the first to break contact. I didn’t whisper goodbye. And neither did Wyatt. Sometimes saying goodbye was harder than saying nothing at all.

  MY EYES GLAZED OVER AS I stared at the empty bookstore. The last customer had left thirty-seven minutes ago. I knew because I’d watched every tick of the clock on the slow Tuesday afternoon. My thoughts slipped away to Wyatt and my visit yesterday. So many emotions rushed through all at once like a tidal wave from the memories of his confessions and his kisses. I think he was my addiction in more ways than one.

  And I loved him. Every day, I loved him a little more than the last—a little more completely and wildly and deeply. And I wanted to do something for him, something for Wyatt, but I wasn’t sure exactly what I could offer that he wouldn’t reject.

  My mind toiled over my thoughts. I shifted on the stool by the register, looking around the room. On the shelf in the back, projectors were lined up for student groups to check out for presentations. I smiled as the idea formed in my head.

  I crawled off my perch and went in search of my manager. He was a nice guy who wouldn’t mind me borrowing a few things.

  I pulled into my apartment complex with my backseat full of everything I needed for my surprise. I just had to run upstairs and change clothes before going out to the kennel. Tonight wasn’t going to be a T-shirt or sweatshirt visit.

  After taking a shower, I curled my hair into precise ringlets and coated them with a layer of hairspray. I ran my fingers over the soft waves to make sure they were not sticky. After applying an intricate layer of eye makeup, I covered my lips with a faint coating of clear cinnamon gloss. Looking out the window, I noticed the afternoon sun was going down slowly.

  I wanted to get out of here before Blaire came home. We had barely spoken to each other over the last couple of weeks. I hated that our relationship was in such turmoil. We used to have such a deep-rooted connection to each other—one that lacked human explanation. But now even that rarely sparked. The closer I got to Wyatt, the less I felt my twin.<
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  I needed to come up with some sort of plan to fix this with Blaire. I just didn’t know how to communicate with her anymore. We had ridden in silence to our weekly dinners with our parents. Lucky for us, my mom and dad liked to talk. And lucky for me, Blaire had decided not to reveal my relationship with Wyatt.

  I wasn’t sure how to explain our situation to them. He wasn’t dangerous. I wasn’t doing something unsafe by being with him. He just was . . . tied up for the moment and lacked the ability to do most of the things my parents would expect from a guy—like, come to their house for dinner and shake my dad’s hand.

  I had no idea what kept Blaire silent. Maybe she didn’t hate me as much as I imagined. Or maybe she was waiting for the right moment to drop the brick on my head.

  I didn’t even know where she went every day since my sister no longer required me to drive her places. Over the last few weeks, she had skipped her scheduled days to use the car. I had no idea how she got around town.

  I let out a deep breath—another problem for another day.

  I slipped on a pair of spandex leggings and a deep-purple dress, which fell mid-thigh. I added my short black boots and smiled in the mirror. Sexy yet warm. Digging through my top dresser drawer, I looked at scarves until I found the one with gold embedded sparkles that matched my gloves. Draping it around my neck, I left the ends hanging down next to the scooped neckline of my dress.

  Grabbing my keys, I went bouncing down the stairs as I thought about my surprise for Wyatt. I hoped it all came together once I got out there. The excitement sent chills down my back.

  “Weeell, look at you, Emma. You’re like some pocket-sized Barbie.”

  My feet stilled on the cement by my car, hearing his voice get a little lower with a chuckle. “I sure as hell wouldn’t mind having you down there in my pocket.”

  He didn’t really just say that to me. Did he? The words seemed to hang in the air around us. I continued the last few steps to my car. I had my hand on the door handle before I looked up.

  “Hey, Kurt, gotta run.”

  “Of course you do.” His eyes traveled over my clothes, touching each piece. I couldn’t move. I knew I should get in the car. But the leering glint was so unnerving that I froze as he mentally peeled the dress from my skin. “Guess that guy of yours is waiting for you.”

  I nodded quickly and ducked inside the cab. My fingers hit the lock button before I ever put the key in the ignition. I threw the car in reverse. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Kurt walking back to the manager’s office. He picked up a dog crate and carried it inside.

  Oh no. He got another one.

  My hands shook on the steering wheel as I drove out of the parking lot. I couldn’t tell Wyatt anything about Kurt. It might just push him over the edge into some meltdown. He would want to drive over there and do something about it. But yet, he couldn’t go any farther than a precise radius from the trailer.

  And I couldn’t tell Blaire. Even if we were still talking, my sister would freak out. I couldn’t tell anyone. And what was there really to tell?

  So this Kurt guy said he wanted to stick you down in his pocket. Did he touch you? No. Did he actually try to stick any part of your body down in his pocket? No. So he really didn’t do anything to you? No.

  I let out a heavy breath, trying to shake the rattled thoughts. Kurt didn’t really do anything to me. Not really. It was just Kurt being Kurt—airing his colorful thoughts. But I knew something he would actually touch, and it was in that crate. I had no idea what I was going to do about his new dog.

  My excitement had dimmed some after my run-in with Kurt, but the long drive helped settle my nerves. Wyatt came out of the trailer as my headlights touched the windows. And I forgot about everything in the outside world as his smile melted my heart.

  “I didn’t think you were coming tonight.”

  I got out of the front seat and walked slowly to him. “Well, the bookstore was boring so my boss let me off early for date night.”

  “Date night?”

  “Yep.”

  “Hmm. I like date night if that means you look like that.” Wyatt gave me a sweet kiss, lifting me up from the ground. I wrapped my legs around his waist. Letting go of my lips, he whispered, “You are so beautiful.”

  My arms held on tight around his neck as I got sucked into the heated gaze from Wyatt’s eyes. He kissed me again and then smiled. “So what is date night exactly?”

  “I brought you something. And before you say anything, it’s not a present that stays. And you have to help me set it up.”

  “A riddle.” He chuckled, setting me back down on the ground.

  “Come on. It’s all in the backseat.” Lacing his fingers between mine, I pulled Wyatt over to the car.

  “The backseat?” He grinned. “You do like that backseat. Or maybe it was the floorboard.”

  “Stop it.” I swatted his arm. I opened the door and pulled out the projector. “Carry this and don’t drop it. I don’t want to know how much that costs to replace.”

  “What is this?” He held the bulky box in his arms.

  I grabbed my laptop bag, slinging it over my shoulder. Picking up the extension cord, I stacked the orange wad on top of the projector and lifted the giant speaker to carry myself. “Let’s go. I’ll come back for the extra-special part. I know it wasn’t your favorite part, but it’s mine. And I couldn’t stop thinking about it after yesterday.”

  Wyatt’s face glazed over for a minute. I guess my surprise had finally made sense. I waited for him to process the thoughts.

  “You okay?”

  He nodded, holding my gaze. “So . . . um . . . I guess you brought the movies to me.”

  “Yeah. And this is a subwoofer. Not sure it will make you shake, but it should be loud. We need to get this set up before it gets pitch black out here.” I started walking toward the back side of the kennel and he followed slowly behind me.

  We ran the large cord from inside the building. Wyatt took the coffee table from the trailer for the projector, and I hooked up my laptop with the speaker. He pulled out some old blankets and pillows to put on the ground while I got the popcorn out of my car. Not just any popcorn, but actual buckets from the movie theater in town. They had even given me a few containers of butter to warm in the microwave.

  I went inside the kennel and pulled Charlie out of his pen. He got in a few good licks to my face as I carried him outside to the blanket.

  Wyatt was sitting there, staring at the bucket of popcorn that was dripping in butter. “Are you not going to eat any of it?”

  “Oh,” he muttered, looking up at me. “I was just um . . . waiting for you, Emma.”

  “Okay, well, you don’t have to wait on me.” I put Charlie down on the blanket and he cuddled up next to Wyatt’s leg. He absently ran his fingers over the little dog’s fur. “You get to pick. I’ve got several movies loaded on the laptop.”

  “What are my choices?”

  “The Godfather.” I let out a faint laugh, seeing his eyes roll. “And I saw that you had some Michael Crichton books on your shelf. So I have the classic Jurassic Park movie. Have you seen it?”

  “No.”

  “And I have a couple of Stephen King thrill-ers.” I let my voice get a little crazed on the end, which made him smile. “Let’s see. I have The Mist, Carrie, and The Shining.”

  “Holy shit. You want to watch The Shining?”

  “Have you seen it?” I crawled down on the blanket next to him, making sure my dress was smoothed down.

  “Yes. It’s awesome. And um, intense, but it’s different than the book. And I don’t think you will like it. Let’s do a different one.”

  “You pick.” Reaching into my bucket of popcorn, I took a handful and munched on the puffy kernels. The butter melted on my tongue. Wyatt’s eyes trailed up my legs and over my dress and stopped on my lips as I pushed in another bite of popcorn. I poked his leg with the toe of my boot to get his attention back to the movies.

 
; “Okay. Okay.” He let out a deep breath. “Well, I have also seen Carrie. But not The Mist. And I don’t know about watching The Godfather out here.”

  “So it’s a toss-up. Jurassic Park versus The Mist. I have an idea.” I gave a flirty grin. Leaning over, I took a giant piece of popcorn from his bucket—the one he seemed conflicted to eat. “I’m going to throw this in your mouth. If I miss, then it’s The Mist. If I can make it inside your mouth, then it’s Jurassic Park.”

  I scooted back a couple of feet, but Wyatt rolled his eyes like I was crazy. “Either you participate, or we watch Twilight because I have that movie on there too.”

  Wyatt’s jaw immediately dropped open. Our eyes held on to each other as I took aim. The soft piece of popcorn traveled between us and my eyes became huge as it landed on his tongue. I fell over laughing. “I really can’t believe I made it.”

  Rolling over on my side, I saw his face relax into some euphoric haze as he chewed on the buttery popcorn. Wyatt looked so incredibly sexy in his black sweatshirt and the black wool hat, which covered most of his head. It made his dark eyebrows and soft lips stand out. As I watched him lick the salt off of those sexy lips with his tongue, the warmth in my chest expanded through my whole body. I loved him. I wanted him. I craved him.

  His gaze drifted down to where I was lying on the blanket. And I smiled, not bothering to hide a single thought in my head. “How does it taste?”

  “Incredible.” He dipped a hand inside the bucket, shoveling a whole fistful into his mouth.

  “Good.” I grinned at him, feeling my own euphoric rush. I wanted nothing more than to just stay in this very spot, watching the happiness as it radiated across his cheeks. But I knew we should get the movie started or it would end late.

  I crawled off the blanket and went to the laptop. After a few clicks, the projector broadcasted on the back of the white metal building—the only wall without pens or doors attached to the sides. I adjusted the picture as the sound boomed out of the speaker. It remained slightly crooked. Fiddling with the lens, I just seemed to make it worse until I finally gave up.