Worth the Wait

by Rhonda Laurel

  “Yes, really.”

  “I thought you…” He waggled his eyebrows. “You were with your high school boyfriend…”

  “You mean Steven, my prom date? We were just good friends before we went to prom. We didn’t sleep together.”

  “Then why does he call you so much? And he’s always trying to hang out with you when you go home to Philly.”

  “He’s a nice guy.”

  “He still wants you. Going to the prom was a ruse to get next to you.”

  “If he has feelings, I don’t return them. He took one look at my dad cleaning his gun and almost peed himself. I can’t date somebody scared of my dad.”

  “I know the feeling,” Wyatt murmured.

  She bit her lip. “Can we talk about this some other time? I thought we were having a moment.”

  He looked at her for an interminable amount of time as if he were trying to figure something out. Finally he leaned forward and kissed her again. Avery’s heart began to beat as Wyatt’s hands caressed her shoulders and dipped down to her waist.

  But it all went to hell when he pulled back to stand, bringing her with him. “I’m taking you back to the party.”

  “Are you serious?” She glanced down. He was still rock hard.

  “Yes.” He looked up at the ceiling like he was in disbelief too. He straightened his clothes. “Let’s go back.”

  She bit her lip to stop it from trembling. “I can find my own way back.”

  “Avery, wait.”

  “For what? I want to be as far away from you as possible.” She stormed out of the bedroom down the corridor and slammed the front door shut.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Wyatt slumped back down on the bed to compose himself. He would have been totally bummed that he had a raging boner if his heart hadn’t been in such bad shape. He hadn’t wanted Avery to leave, but there was no way of salvaging the fact he’d almost taken a virgin to bed for the first time. Now that he thought about it, it was foolish to think she would’ve slept with that guy Steven. She’d totally friend-zoned him several times, but the guy wouldn’t give up. Wyatt had assumed the would-be suitor was crazy about her and was still sentimental of the night they’d shared after prom, but it turned out he’d been wrong.

  He had to admit he was a little relieved she hadn’t been with someone else. After all, she belonged to him. It was quite archaic and egotistical, but she brought out those primitive feelings in him. She had every right to be mad at him, but knowing that she’d never been with anyone…well, he didn’t want her first time to be rushed while a family gathering was going on a few yards away.

  He went into the bathroom and splashed some cold water on his face. He wished there was an easier fix for his raging libido. He’d get a hold of himself and join the party in a few moments. He had to talk to Avery. Fix this. He’d intended on telling her before she’d stormed out that he valued their relationship too much to botch up something this special. He’d been thinking about the two of them a lot lately, hence the avoidance while he tried to sort out his feelings and his future. But suddenly it looked like he didn’t have that time on his side.

  A half hour later his clothes were straight and he was pretty sure he could pretend everything was all right. He blended back into the party. Bo was having a good time talking to J.J. and the gang. Avery was nowhere in sight.

  “Wyatt!” Cal said. “Your mama has been looking for you.”

  “I bet.” He tugged on his shirt collar. “Did I miss anything?”

  “Corbett and Courtney had a blow up. She said something crazy to Anna Beth, and J.J. had to step in and calm everyone down. When Corbett asked her to apologize, she stormed off and he went after her.”

  That wasn’t anything new. Courtney had a short fuse and was becoming less gracious with every family event she attended. “Sounds like Courtney.”

  “We have to get together and discuss that theme night you want to do at the Bright Star for your college friends.”

  Right now he couldn’t have cared less about any theme night. But he politely said, “Want to meet sometime next week?”

  “Sure.”

  Parker joined them and kissed both men on the cheek. “Hey Wyatt. Cal.”

  “Parker, you get more beautiful every time I see you.” Cal smiled.

  “Thank you, Cal. You get more charming and handsome every time I see you.” She smiled back.

  “Don’t let Jenna hear you say that,” Wyatt replied.

  “Speaking of which, I better go find my lady. She must be exhausted from all the coordinating she did today.” Cal gave them a little wave and walked away.

  Parker turned back to Wyatt. “Where have you been? Your—”

  “I know. I know. My mom and who knows who else has been looking for me.” His jaw ticked. “Have you seen Avery?”

  “She was just here.”

  “Really? Where did she go?”

  “She said she wasn’t feeling well and was going back to the house. She looked pretty pissed.”

  “We had a disagreement.” He felt like an idiot. He’d ruined the rest of her night. “I have to go talk to her.”

  “You know what? Why don’t I go check on her? I heard Bonnie say she was going to send out a search party to wrangle you up for those pictures. If you both disappear I’m pretty sure they’ll assemble a posse to come after you.”

  “But—”

  “And it will give Avery a chance to calm down.”

  He looked at Parker. She was right. “Thanks, Parker.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  Wyatt watched as Parker walked toward the driveway and got into a golf cart. Great. He’d just cut short someone else’s fun tonight. But Parker seemed to be a good sport about it, and he could tell she was concerned about her friend. At first it had looked like Avery and Parker were an unlikely pairing for friendship, but it worked. Parker smiled and gave him a reassuring thumbs-up as she drove off.

  After that, he found his mom and gave her a big hug, knowing that would negate any chastising she’d intended to do about his disappearance. She pulled him over to the table where Bo and Summer were talking to more well-wishers. The floating cameraman came and took a few shots of them, including Bo and Corbett. He knew this was a proud moment for her. After years of being apart, their family was finally together again. Everyone was in a great mood except him. He couldn’t stop thinking about what had happened with Avery. He hoped he hadn’t bungled things too badly with Avery. He needed a chance to explain his actions tonight and for the past few months.

  If only he knew what to tell her.

  * * *

  Avery wiped the tears from her eyes as she parked the golf cart and went into John Jacob and Teri-Lyn’s house. She hoped the family had bought her line about having a headache and needing to lie down, because she didn’t feel like talking right now. How could she be so stupid to have feelings for that idiot? She swore and kicked off her heels, sending them flying through the air until they hit the hallway wall and left a mark.

  Now would be a good time for a good stiff drink, if only she knew what to drink to chase her troubles away. Right now she didn’t care if she got busted for drinking. She wanted to erase the last hour with Wyatt from her mind.

  She marched up to the bar in the living room and had a look around. They’d had a lot of parties the last week and the bar was bare. There was beer on tap, but she’d tried it once and didn’t like the taste. She continued her search for some tequila or rum but no luck. She turned to the bottles on the high shelf on the wall. The bottle with the skull and crossbones was surely Bo Sr.’s moonshine. The moonshine would be a drastic last step to get hammered, as she was sure the moonshine was the reason all of the Blake men had hair on their chests. There was plenty of scotch though. She opened the bottle of dark liquid in the expensive decanter with John Jacob’s initials on it and took a whiff. Yep, that was scotch all right. She slammed a glass on the bar counter and poured.

  She held the glass up
in a salute. “Here goes nothing.”

  “Avery?” a familiar voice called out. It was Parker.

  “I’m in the living room.” She nervously shelved the scotch and hid the glass.

  “Are you OK?”

  “No, not really.” She bit her lip. “What are you doing here?”

  “I talked to Wyatt when he came back to the reception. He was upset and looking for you. I told him I would check up on you.” Parker took off her heels.

  Avery held up the glass of scotch. “Want to share this with me? I’d love to forget this evening with the exception of how perfect Bo and Summer looked together.”

  “No, thanks. I’m pretty sure you slam back scotch to get drunk when you have CEO kind of problems. And you’re not old enough to drink.” Parker smiled and took the glass out of her hands. “We can pig out on junk food and watch an action flick instead.”

  “Don’t tell me you’re part of the campaign to keep me on the straight and narrow?” Avery rolled her eyes. “Because I have a whole ranch filled with people trying to tell me what to do every second of the day.”

  “I’m a cop. It’s kind of my job to discourage under-age drinking.” Parker gave her a knowing look. “Besides, it’s not like I don’t have anybody telling me what to do either.”

  Avery suddenly felt like an idiot. Parker might have been a few years older, but she still felt the pain of overprotective relatives. “That’s right. I have you to thank for shifting Uncle J.J.’s glare from me to someone else.”

  “That’s right.” Parker grinned. “Besides, getting drunk off your ass seems like a good idea in the moment, but it always ends badly. There’s the awesome hangover, apologies for the drunk dialing you did. That’s the worst part. Saying sorry for the most embarrassing things blurted out while your filter was off.”

  “OK.” She sighed. “Since you put it that way. Let’s pig out.”

  They went into the kitchen and rummaged through the fridge. There were tons of goodies inside, so they took a little of bit of everything and put it on the counter. After making sandwiches and putting chips in a bowl, Avery stacked the food on a giant serving tray.

  “Something’s missing,” she said, eyeing their work.

  “A stomach pump?” Parked mused.

  “No, we need something sweet to offset all the savory stuff.”

  Parker opened the freezer and retrieved a gallon of double chocolate fudge ice cream. “So where were we? Things didn’t go well with Wyatt?”

  “No, they didn’t.” Avery pulled the bowls out of the cupboard and sagged against the counter. “Can I tell you something?”

  “Sure.”

  “We were this close to…” Avery widened her eyes. “And he stopped.”

  “Oh.” Parker made an exaggerated O sound with her lips. “Maybe he was scared. That’s a big step.”

  “Excuse me. Anybody who wears a T-shirt around campus that says ‘I was born ready’ shouldn’t have performance issues.”

  “There was a wedding in progress. Passions run high at these things. Maybe he was caught up in the moment and didn’t want to do anything the two of you would regret the next day.”

  “That train has already left the station.”

  “I wish I knew what to say,” Parker told her with a shake of her head. “Men are a headache and a half.” She grinned. “So let’s watch a movie and forget about our troubles.”

  “Still no news about your suspension?”

  “No news is good news.” She shrugged. “And I thought I said ‘forget about our troubles.’”

  Snacks in hand, the ladies retreated to the family room and leafed through John Jacob’s DVD collection until they found The Knock Around Boys, the flick that featured Seth’s friend and Hollywood heartthrob Chris Cavanaugh. They settled down on the couch and got comfy. This isn’t how she wanted the night to end. She would have loved to be with Wyatt right now, but maybe it was for the best. They hadn’t been on the same page for a while now, and she was beginning to think they’d never be going in the same direction again. It made her sad to think that the hot, fun-loving, protective man she’d spent her life with for the past three years was running away from her. Maybe he wanted someone more experienced with sex. Goodness knows there were a bunch of girls throwing themselves at him on campus. She definitely wasn’t the go-to person for cheap thrills. Still, it saddened her that nothing magical had happened tonight. She put her head on Parker’s shoulder and fought back the tears that were welling up inside her.

  CHAPTER THREE

  The sound of his instructor coughing snapped Wyatt awake just as he’d begun to nod off. Maybe he should’ve taken a rain check on taking an art class that started at eight in the morning. Today they were using watercolors to paint a vase filled with flowers, a far cry from the nude models he thought he’d be painting when he’d signed up for the class. He’d marched to the registrar to drop the class, but Avery had cut him off at the pass. She’d convinced him that it would be therapeutic to focus on something creative for a change. Besides, he loved to draw and paint, a byproduct of having a hobby-oriented mother. Ceramics, woodworking, you name it. His mom made sure they were well-rounded young men. Avery had even convinced him to be part of the set design crew when she got a part in a play. He’d had a good time helping construct the set while keeping an eye on her. She’d also reminded him that he was a role model to Colby and Matt, who thought it was cool and helped them embrace their artistic natures. She made sense, like she always did.

  It had been weeks since he’d seen Avery and he was pretty bummed about it. He’d called her last night, but she didn’t pick up. He thought about going to see her but he still didn’t know what to say. Which was terrible, because they’d never had that problem before. One look into those warm, caring eyes and he’d blurt out secrets he’d never tell another living soul. He’d confided in her that he was happy Bo was back in his life. Getting reacquainted with his oldest brother helped him understand his mom more. From outward appearances, she was a free-spirited flake, but after spending time on the ranch with Bo Sr., a lot of his mom’s idiosyncrasies had become clearer to him. She’d been living in two worlds for years. The one she had with Bo Sr. and Bo. And the one she’d created with his dad Buck after she’d left Texas. Avery had helped him understand that he had nothing to do with the thing that happened a million years ago. What mattered now was that everyone in his blended family was making an effort to get along and leave the muddled past behind.

  She’d listened and comforted. She didn’t tell him he was a slacker who wasn’t concentrating on his future. She never cared that he didn’t focus as intently on his studies as she did. He partied hard, but when it was time to get his schoolwork done, she’d be there pushing him to buckle down and get good grades. She’d told him one day during a horseback ride around the ranch that she knew he’d be his own man some day. He didn’t have to be a carbon copy of his overachieving brothers. He could be himself and retain those charming quirks that made him unique. It had meant so much that she had faith in him.

  The instructor’s voice snapped him out of his reverie. “OK, class. Good work today. I’ll see you on Wednesday.”

  Wyatt cleaned his workspace, then proceeded back to his apartment. He had a meeting with his career counselor later in the day, which meant he could catch up on the missed sleep. His schedule was pretty light for the rest of the week, and he’d be working at the Bright Star over the weekend. He made the obligatory calls to his parents, but he’d been ducking Bo’s calls since he’d returned from his honeymoon.

  While he appreciated big brother’s worrying about his future, he still didn’t have any good answers. Thank God, Corbett was too distracted fighting with Courtney to lecture him. The fight they had the night of Bo’s wedding had blown up into a big deal.

  Wyatt got a whiff of cotton candy perfume when he put the key in his apartment door, distracting him from thoughts of his brother. That scent could only belong to Kelly Burton, his neighb
or down the hall. She was sexy, fun, and wasn’t subtle about her interest in him. She also had an uncanny knack for greeting him at his door.

  “Hey, handsome.”

  “Hey, Kelly.” He plastered on his best smile and turned around.

  “I can’t believe I haven’t seen you around lately.”

  “I house-sat for my brother when he went on his honeymoon.”

  “Corbett finally got married?”

  “No. My brother Bo.”

  “That’s right. The other sexy, nerdy one that runs some big corporation.”

  “He’s just big brother Bo to me.” He shook his head, not wanting to think of his brothers that way. “Is there something you want Kelly?”

  “Well.” She licked her lips in a seductive way and put her hand on his shoulder. “What do you have in mind?”

  He let out a dry laugh and moved away. “If you’re looking for food, I have some leftover pizza in the fridge and a yogurt.”

  “No, thanks.” She pouted. “I need your big dry-erase board. The one we use to play Pictionary sometimes.”

  “Oh.” He opened the door and dropped his bag on the couch and headed toward the closet. “What do you need that for? You stink at the game.”

  “No, I don’t. I lose on purpose so I’ll have to take a shot.” She grinned. “I’m practicing for a presentation I have to give in my communications class.”

  “Good luck.” He handed her the board.

  She put it down near the couch. “So how are your career plans going?”

  “I’m still working that out.”

  “I can’t believe how time has flown. I know you transferred as a sophomore, but I feel like you were part of the freshmen class with the rest of our group.” She winked. “It helped that you were really cute and cool. No one can resist you.”

  “I like to think I just have an easy going personality. I adapt to change quickly.” He shrugged.

  “I have a confession to make.” She came closer. “I’ve had the biggest crush on you since we had that bonfire at the lake during sophomore year. We have so little time left before we graduate…and you’re one of the things on my to-do list.”