Hard Pass (Saints of Love Book 3)

by Elizabeth Perry

  “Listen, give me details, and I’ll shut up about it. But until you spill it, I’m going to keep pestering you. Was the picture enhanced? It’s a simple question, Gia. Real or fake?”

  The dimensions that she gives me with her fingers make me blush. The last thing that I want to think about right now is the size of Wyatt’s dick.

  “I don’t know why I’m friends with you.” I glare at her. “You’re annoying as hell.”

  “Inquiring minds want to know.” She shrugs. “I mean, I’ve heard that he’s hung. I’ve read all about him on the internet, but women lie so they’re hard to believe. But you my friend, you know the truth. And frankly, it’s shitty that you’re not sharing that bit with your very best friend.”

  “Ex very best friend.” I flip her off and turn my attention back to my computer. I spent the rest of yesterday and most of this morning finishing up the final details for Willow’s wedding. I unpacked all of the boxes that were sitting in my showroom, inspected every piece of merchandise delivered for her big day, before finally repacking it and organizing it so that when the wedding day finally arrives, setting up for it will be a breeze.

  I finalized her fitting for her wedding dress which will be delivered this week, making sure that both the seamstress and Willow will be available for any last-minute alterations. I double checked the venue, finalized the playlist with the DJ, and listened one last time to the demo tape from the band that we hired, making sure that all of the songs we selected will be sung to perfection. There’s really not much else to do until the week before the wedding, but I’m trying to stay as busy as possible, so that my mind doesn’t wander back to the other night with Wyatt and cause me to do something stupid.

  Like answer his phone calls.

  “Ok so you won’t talk about size, but how about orgasms? Just one? Multiple? Or my favorite,” she purrs, plopping her annoying ass on the top of my desk and shutting my laptop. “The constant?”

  “Constant?” I raise a brow.

  “Yes. The kind that last all night long.”

  I try to hide the expression on my face, but it’s no use. She claps her hands together and squeals. “Omigod,” she beams. “I fucking knew that man was a constant. I mean, he should be, after all. He’s had a lot of practice.”

  “Exactly.” I glare at her, wishing that she’d get an emergency call from work and have to leave. She’s been sitting here all morning pestering me, while I try to work. All that she’s managing to do is annoy me at his point. “He’s a whore, and I shouldn’t have slept with him. I’m trying to forget about it, but it’s impossible to do when you won’t shut up about it.”

  Delilah, bless her heart, picks that exact moment to burst into my office, her curious eyes and ears picking up every single word.

  “What’s a whore?” She blinks at me with her huge blue eyes. I glare at Serena.

  “It’s a bad word that Mommy shouldn’t have said, sweets.” I hop to my feet and pick my daughter up, swinging her around before enveloping her in a huge hug. “Are you feeling better?”

  The last year has been rough on my baby, and every once in a while, she complains of a tummy ache and asks to stay home from school. Of course, I know that her belly doesn’t really hurt, but sometimes stress and anxiety can present as physical symptoms, ones that I’m all too familiar with. While Cole often doesn’t let her stay home when she’s with him, I always do. She’s in first grade for goodness sakes. I’d rather have her home with me than with the vultures at Cambridge anyway.

  “Yeah,” she smiles. “Do you think that we could go to the park and play basketball?”

  When I nod my head, her entire face erupts into a smile.

  “Can Aunt Serena come too?”

  Before she can even answer, I interrupt. “Nope. Aunt Serena was just leaving.”

  Serena smothers Delilah with goodbye hugs and kisses while I slip my shoes on, but as the three of us step outside onto the front porch, my world completely stops spinning.

  As Wyatt makes his way up my front steps, my cheeks flame. My lungs seize in my chest, and my eyes practically bug out of my head. Delilah looks at him, and then glances back at me.

  “Wyatt!” She runs right to him, which startles me more than it should. She’s only met him a handful of times, and for the most part, has referred to him as the underwear guy. To be honest, I didn’t even realize that she knew his name, since I’m the one that has had to remind her of it on more than one occasion. But apparently, the fact that he played basketball with her has resonated with her more than it should have. Watching her run to him with open arms bothers me the most.

  “Hey, D.” He gives her a quick hug and then fist bumps her. “I didn’t expect you to be here, otherwise, I would have brought two bouquets of flowers.”

  “Are those for my Mommy?” The floral arrangement in his hand is gorgeous, but even though I’m a sucker for flowers, still. He shouldn’t be bringing them to me.

  “Hey, Serena.” He beams at my friend, who is practically purring like a kitten.

  “Hey Wyatt. I’m continuously happy to see you.”

  I mouth some words of hatred at her, but she just shrugs.

  “Well, I was just leaving, but it’s really nice to see you again.” She starts down the stairs, but once her feet reach the sidewalk, she turns back around and makes another obnoxiously large measurement with her hands. My face flames.

  Wyatt’s eyes roam over me, causing my body to erupt like a flame. I inhale and exhale, trying to get a grip on my emotions, but dammit, I can’t. It’s easy to avoid a phone call, but when he’s standing in front of me, in all of his sexy male glory, my willpower begins to fade and the dull ache between my legs intensifies.

  As if he reads my mind, his eyes dilate, darkening to a fierce navy blue, the exact same color as his t-shirt. It does nothing to calm the need building inside of me. He lifts one tan, thick arm in my direction, and hands me the bouquet. The scent of him smacks into me, the weight of him like a freight train. And while I’ve tried to block out the visions of the other night, the second that he’s back in my space, I’m no longer able to. I remember the way that his skin felt as it brushed against mine, and the need to feel it again overwhelms me.

  I hate the way that I feel right now. I hate how I wish Delilah wasn’t here so that I could march him right back inside and strip every inch of clothing off of him, all while letting him bring me back to that place, over and over again.

  I suck in a ragged breath and force my eyes down to the porch boards. This is not going to go well for me. That much, I’m certain of.

  “These are for you. For ah,” he glances down at Delilah. “Planning Willow’s engagement party. Thanks again.”

  “You’re welcome.” My lips are tight, as I desperately try to regain control. “You shouldn’t have.”

  You really fucking shouldn’t have.

  “Do you want to come to the park with us?” Delilah interrupts, and my stomach drops. “We’re going to play basketball and no offense Mom,” she glances up at me, “but you’re not much fun to play with. You’re not very good.”

  Wyatt chuckles, but I can’t find any part of it funny. Not that I’m offended by any stretch. I know I suck at shooting hoops. But I don’t need him around me today. I’m having a hard enough time keeping my feelings in check.

  “Actually, I’d love that. I mean, if it’s ok with your mom.”

  As my daughter looks up at me, with her huge, expectant eyes, I stumble over my words, trying to come up with a reasonable excuse.

  “Wyatt’s so busy, Delilah,” I’m stuttering at this point. “He really shouldn’t…”

  “He already said yes,” she argues, looking up at Wyatt for reassurance which he gives her, by nodding in agreeance.

  “I did say yes,” he replies, that delicious smirk of his now present on his face. “I’m actually free for the entire day.”

  “Free for the entire day,” I repeat, grumbling each word. “That’s just gr
eat.”

  25

  Wyatt

  I like kids.

  I never really thought that I did until I started hanging out with Damien, but I quickly realized that most are pretty fucking awesome. They’re funny and cute. They like to laugh and have a really fast rebound time. But the thing that I like most about them, is how they’re always down to just have fun.

  “D!” I call out to her, and quickly bounce pass the ball to her. The kid is small, but she’s definitely got game. She grabs the basketball and then with perfect for, releases it. Of course, she’s about three-foot-tall, so it doesn’t even get near the rim. Not that it matters. I high five the shit out of her anyway.

  “When I’m bigger, I’m going to learn how to dunk,” she tells me, flashing me the cutest toothless grin that I’ve ever seen. “My mom says that I’m going to be tall like my daddy, so I’m going to learn how to do it.”

  “Heck yeah you are.” I fist bump her again, even though just the mention of Cole grates against my skin like a blade. “You want to do it now? I can lift you up.”

  She nods enthusiastically, and I lift her, listening to her cheers of joy as the ball swishes through the net.

  I let her down and she runs right to Gia, who is sitting on a bench off to the side of the court, currently faking an injury. She ‘twisted’ her ankle at the very start of the game, but is now sitting leisurely with her feet crossed, watching us closely. I have no doubt that she pretended to get hurt to put some distance between us. She’s been acting cold to me since the second that I showed up on her front porch today, despite the flowers in my hand. She hasn’t laughed at any of my jokes and has frowned over every interaction that I’ve had with her daughter.

  Willow’s words come flooding back to me, suddenly making complete sense.

  Gia’s hesitant to let me in, because she has more than just her own feelings to think about. I understand it, because I see the way that her daughter stares up at me.

  I have no experience with dating, let alone, trying to date a woman who has a child. But Delilah’s a great kid, even if she shares half of her dad’s DNA.

  “Can I go play on the playground for a little bit?” Gia looks over to the playset, where just a few toddlers are running around, since all of the other kids Delilah’s age are currently in school.

  “Sure,” she tells her but grabs onto her hand before she runs off. “But if you can’t see me, remember that I can’t see you. Keep me in your sight the entire time.”

  I wait until I see Delilah run towards the playground. Once she’s out of earshot, I plop down next to Gia.

  “I tried to call you a bunch of times.” I lean into her, nudging her with my shoulder. Her entire body stills, and she quickly scoots further away from me.

  “I know,” she mutters, not even bothering to look up at me.

  “If you would have just answered, I wouldn’t have had to show up unexpectedly today.”

  Her head snaps in my direction, her eyes finally meeting mine. I’m not prepared for the anger bubbling just under the surface of the pools of blue that always seem to suck me in. In fact, my stomach drops at the sight.

  “You should have just let it be.” Her eyes narrow into slits. “I don’t know what kind of game you’re trying to play, Wyatt, but involving my daughter in it is not ok.”

  I point to the basketball court and raise a brow. “Really? You don’t know what kind of game basketball is? That’s pretty sad, Gia. You should turn a television on every now and then.” My attempt at humor falls short. In fact, it only intensifies her anger.

  “That’s not what I meant, and you know it. What is this, anyway? An attempt to repair your broken ego? I didn’t answer your calls so now you’re wounded or something? I didn’t answer because I have nothing to say to you. We hooked up. We had sex. We don’t need to do this.” She motions between us angrily, finishing off her dismissal of me with an eyeroll.

  Earlier my ego was just bruised, but now it in fact might be a little broken.

  I’ll be honest, I don’t really know what this implies, but the way she’s acting, you’d think I was trying to cause harm to both her and her kid. In fact, I want the exact opposite. I thought long and hard about what my sister said to me. The truth is, I still don’t know what these feelings inside of me are for Gia, but I know damn sure that I didn’t feel right about hopping on a plane tomorrow without seeing her one more time.

  Of course, I figured that Delilah would be in school this morning, which is why I chose to abruptly show up on her doorstep. The kid ended up being the plot twist that I wasn’t expecting, although she certainly allowed me more time to explain myself.

  “If by this, you mean sit on a park bench at ten o’clock in the morning, I’d have to argue that it’s a perfectly normal thing to do. I mean, I’m not sure what you normally do at a park, but this is really all that I had in mind.”

  “Oh my God.” She leans back against the bench and shakes her head. “You just don’t get it, do you?” Irritation is rippling off of her skin and smacking into mine. “My daughter likes you, Wyatt. And she’s going to continue to ask about you, long after you lose interest in whatever this is. It’s my job as a mother to protect her, which is precisely why I don’t want to do this with you!”

  “For fuck’s sake, Gia,” now I’m the one who’s irritated, “what is this? You keep referring to this, but I don’t even know what you’re talking about!”

  “That’s the problem.” The laugh that leaves her lips is the first one that I’ve heard all day, but it’s not the kind that I want to hear. It’s icy and bitter, leaving her even more sour than she already was. “You don’t see things the way that I do. I’m not someone who just frolics through life, fucking this person and then that person, spreading my legs for any Joe Blow who comes my way.” Well honestly, thank god for that.

  “When I finally decide to give a relationship another shot, I’m going to want to be with a man who is good. Someone who I can trust with not only my heart, but my daughter’s heart. That person will not be you, because you aren’t capable of that.”

  Fucking ouch.

  “We had a thing in high school. It obviously didn’t work out. We had a single sexual encounter as adults, and then I tried to put it behind me. That’s all that our story needs to be, that’s all that this is. Why can’t you just leave it alone?”

  Well at least I finally know what this is. Why didn’t she just start with that?

  “Ah,” I nod in understanding. “You wanted me to play you.”

  “No, Wyatt.” She hops to her feet, standing pretty fucking securely on her twisted ankle, by the way. “I wanted you to fuck me, which you did. I didn’t intend for it to happen, but frankly, I needed it. Unlike you, I don’t have a huge roster to go off of, you were available and willing, so I figured, fuck it.” Literally. “I needed more than one notch in my belt, some no strings sex. So, thank you but can we be done with this now?”

  This.

  I don’t think that I’ve ever hated a word more.

  26

  Wyatt

  “Dude.” Declan leans back on his barstool and rubs his eyes. Likely, they’re sore from how many times he’s rolled them at me in the last thirty minutes. “Just shut up about her, alright? This bar is filled with women who have been eye fucking the shit out of you. Go grab one of them and then fuck this girl out of your system.”

  It’s solid advice, but I’m afraid that in this case, it’s not going to work. I walked back to my car from the park earlier today with my tail between my legs. Officially wrecked and ruined, all by Gia’s harsh words.

  I know, I know. I’ve got no right to complain, especially when I’ve done exactly what she’s doing to so many women. The only problem is, I’ve never been on the receiving end, and it’s a shitty feeling. So shitty in fact, that I almost sent an apology text to my entire contact list. Jude stopped me right before I hit send. Now here I sit, at the bar with Declan, who is equally sick of hearing me m
oan and groan over the fact that I, for once, was used for sex. He’s less than sympathetic.

  “Do you think that the sex wasn’t good?” I drain my beer and signal for another one, silently hoping that he won’t answer yes. My wounded ego can’t take any more hits today.

  “That’s it,” Declan slams his beer on the counter, spins in his seat, and nods his head towards a woman standing just a few feet away from us.

  A brunette. Young enough that she’s likely still in college. A co-ed type. The kind that will fuck you all night long, and then wake you up by sucking you off before the sun has even risen in the sky.

  “That one’s got a great set of tits on her, Wy.” Declan smiles appreciatively at her. “I bet they’re all natural. They look like the kind that bounce all around when you lay the pipe.”

  Damned if he wasn’t right. The girl had a body that was made for fun.

  My dick twinges in my pants, but not over the auburn-haired fox now smiling seductively at me. It’s because of Declan’s comment on bouncing breasts. Of course, my mind traveled back to two nights ago, when I jerked Gia’s dress off of her, only to be met with the lushest set of tits that I’d ever had the pleasure of wrapping my mouth around. And when I plowed into her, damn it all if they didn’t bounce with every thrust. I pull my eyes off of her and spin back around in my seat.

  “Damn, bro,” Declan sighs, shaking his head. “You just totally dissed her. Now she just looks sad.”

  “Well, then you should go and make her day,” I grumble, and glance at my phone for the hundredth time since I left Gia’s and drove home in silence, to see if by the grace of God, she decided to apologize.

  I have ten unread texts, but not a single one from the woman that I want to hear from. I smack my phone back onto the bar top with a thud.

  “It’s going to be alright, buddy.” He pats me on the shoulder. “Tomorrow we’re going to be in the sunshine state, soaking up every second and having women throw themselves at us. You’ll forget all about this chick. I promise.”