Making Her Mine (Finding Love Book 1)

by Heather Young-Nichols

  “Where next, Mystery Date?” I asked ribbing my hands together to warm them from the Michigan February wind.

  “Ah, you’ll see.”

  He came to a stop at our next location before the car had a chance to truly warm up. The movie theater was only about half a mile from the restaurant

  “Now come on,” I said after a groan when he opened my door for me. “This is totally V-day date stuff. Are you trying to woo me?”

  “Oh please.” He brushed me off with the wave of his hand as we walked toward the theater. “If I were wooing you, you’d know it.”

  “And then Riley would kick your ass.” I giggled at the thought. I couldn’t imagine what scenario would make my brother all right with his best friend and me being together.

  But Wyatt shrugged and said, “I wouldn’t be too sure about that.”

  Something in his body language hit me as odd. Not weird odd but more of a confidence about my brother that I wouldn’t have had given the fact that I was his baby sister. There was something different in that shrug. That much I knew for sure.

  Wyatt left me by the usher to go get the movie tickets without telling or asking me which movie we were going to see. When he got back to me, I grabbed them out of his hand.

  “Furious Danger Part 2?” Again, I raised an eyebrow at him as a question.

  “Been wanting to see it,” he said back but I continued to stand there and look from him to the tickets then back again in confusion. “I told you. This is not a Valentine’s Day thing. This isn’t even a date thing. A date doesn’t happen at six forty on a Saturday evening. Now come on. I don’t like to miss the previews.”

  He grabbed one of the tickets out of her hand then turned away and handed it to the usher. Once through, he stepped to the side to and waited. I shook my head walked past him toward the correct theater.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Wyatt

  Watching Zoey Goodrich walk away confused might’ve become my new favorite view of her. Hell, confused, happy, something with a little angry pop to it would work just as well for me. But I had to control those thoughts so things didn’t become obvious south of the border. A raging hard on wasn’t exactly what I needed… yet.

  Inside the theater, she climbed all the way to the top which brought a smile to my face. I shook my head but the smile wouldn’t leave my face as I made the trek up the stairs to plop my ass into the seat beside her.

  “You’re not even out of breath,” she said.

  “Sweetheart, do you know what I’ve been doing for the last ten years. This climb is nothing.”

  She rolled those beautiful blues at me. Sure, it sounded a little cocky but it was the truth none the less.

  “Do humanity a favor and take it down a notch,” she said. “Get a dad body or beer gut or something.”

  “Dad body?” I asked with a chuckle.

  “When dad’s let their body go and they get the spare tire.”

  Yeah, I knew what it was. “Not gonna happen.”

  The preview music had already started when I realized I’d let the sweetheart slip. Either she didn’t hear it, didn’t notice it, or decided to just let it drop. Which, I had no idea. At least we weren’t going to address it right then.

  The movie turned out as expected. An action adventure that most girls would hate but Zoey seemed into it. Still not a date movie in my book. But feeling her move beside me when she jumped at the little scares they put into the movie… that alone was was worth the price of admission alone.

  “So, is that it?” she asked on the way back to the car.

  “Yep. Need to turn in early so I can work on keeping that dad bod at bay.”

  She snorted. It wasn’t a loud sound actually. More like she made it under her breath but I knew when I heard it, I always wanted to hear it again.

  I drove her home more quickly than I would’ve liked but I also didn’t want to tip her off that this was anything more than me driving her home. However, she surprised me by hopping out of the car before I had it in park in front of my house.

  “Well, thanks for hanging out with your friend’s loser sister tonight. It was fun.” She dipped her head in an appreciative nod then pushed the door closed.

  Ok, maybe I played it off too well.

  I quickly turned the car off and hopped out to catch up with her. When she looked back with a confused face, I said, “Making sure you get inside ok.”

  “Oooo… kaaayyy… ” She dragged the word out and got the security door unlocked then flipped the light switch inside the door so they could see our way up the stairs. I followed her as she made the climb then unlocked the upstairs door. “All set.”

  But the moment I’d been waiting for all night finally happened when Zoey turned into the apartment. The moment when hopefully everything would come together.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Zoey

  What the literal hell?

  It honestly looked like a flower shop had fornicated all over my living room. There were so many daisies of every color that I didn’t think I’d ever be able to count them all. I could only stand there with my mouth hanging open in a soft “O”, trying to put some sort of thought together. Had Wyatt taken me out for the day so someone could vandalize my home with beautiful flowers? Was he in on this? Who helped in?

  When I turned toward him, he was inside and quietly shutting the door.

  “What’s going on?” I asked. “Who did this to my apartment?”

  He didn’t answer right away. First, he stalked slowly closer to me and took my hands in his. A movement that brought warmth to her hands and her heart while making my stomach flip.

  “I did,” he said quietly. He slumped slightly to catch my gaze before standing tall again. I hadn’t realized I was still taking in all the beauty but now my eyes had no choice but to follow him. “I did this to your apartment. Well, really Harper did it but it was my idea. I couldn’t be in two places at once.”

  “How did she get in here?” Probably the dumbest question to ask in the moment.

  “My mom has a key.”

  “Ok, but why? This isn’t anti-Valentine’s Day. There’s no way you can—”

  “I love you, Zoey.”

  Any reply became caught in my throat. My brain wouldn’t form a retort. He didn’t really just say that, did he? I had to have misheard his, right?

  I’d been in love with Wyatt McCann since I was fourteen years old. Schoolgirl crush, I’d told herself back then. Then when he’d goaded me to an orgasm in the garage I’d let myself hope we could be something more than friends. The letdown that came with the realization that he’d never feel love for me was crushing. Actually it was crushing both times I had to come to terms with that. I couldn’t… wouldn’t do it again.

  “That’s not funny,” I said while trying to pull my hands form his.

  Wyatt only tightened his grip.

  “I love you,” he said again. “I want to be with you.”

  “That’s what this has been about?” I asked. “Showing me the opposite of Valentine’s Day to prove you love me? That doesn’t even make sense.”

  “That was to get you out of here for a while and for us to spend some time together when you didn’t think there was some motive behind it. So you could see me for me. See that I’m not an asshole.”

  “But there was a motive behind it.” This time he let me yank away from him and I paced back and forth in front of him. “Your motive was to get me away so you could woo me on the sly. That’s what you were doing today, wasn’t it?”

  His face fell. “I was showing you me. Showing you us.”

  “What about Riley? He’d hate you for this.”

  Now his face slid into a sly grin. “I already talked to Riley. We’re good.”

  “You… already… why would you do that?”

  “Because I’m in love with you Zoey and this isn’t going away. We’re not going away. The right thing to do was talk to your brother man to man.”

  “Wh
at’d he say?”

  Wyatt ran his hand through his hair. “Well, he’s okay with it minus the part where we get naked.”

  I groaned and slapped a hand over my face causing him to chuckle. Wyatt crossed the room to where I had stopped pacing.

  “There’s nothing standing between us except you, Zoey. Either you love me back or you don’t. It’s that easy even if I haven’t exactly made it seem that way.” His tongue shot out to went his bottom lip. “I thought I was doing the right thing, for Riley, for you, but it was the exact wrong thing for me and I’m hoping it was the wrong thing for you.”

  I couldn’t breathe for a few seconds. Everything he said settled in my chest heavily. Still, I had one question that needed to be asked before this went any further. It shouldn’t have mattered to me anymore but it did and I deserved to know.

  “Why’d you do it, Wyatt?” I asked. “Why’d you walk away because I was a virgin? Was it because you didn’t think I’d know what to do? I mean, I wouldn’t have, obviously. Or I wouldn’t be good enough?”

  “No, Zoey. None of that.”

  His Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed hard.

  “I would give anything to have been able to be with you then. To be the one to teach you what you needed to know. To share that with you.”

  “Then why didn’t you?” My eyes burned with tears I would refuse to allow to fall.

  “I had already been deployed once and was about to be again,” he said. “I knew what I was getting into. If something happened to me… ” He sighed and scratched the back of his head hard. “If I died, I would’ve preferred you think of me as the asshole who humiliated you than your first anything. You could have gotten over it a lot quicker that way. You could’ve gone on to have a great life.”

  My gaze caught his as I nibbled on my bottom lip and wrestled with what he’d said. I couldn’t have gotten over Wyatt’s death easily no matter what he thought he was to me. What mattered was what I thought he meant to me.

  And to me, he meant everything.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Wyatt

  Those seconds watching Zoey bite her bottom lip, considering everything I’d said were the longest moments of my life. Not walking down some desolate path between mountains waiting to see if someone shot at us. Not laying in what passed for a bed staring at the ceiling, always thinking about Zoey and what she was doing. None of that compare to the seconds ticking by and not knowing what she was going to say.

  I’d seen horrible things up close but waiting for Zoey Goodrich to decide if she loved me back was the worst thing I’d ever been through. Now that was the worst torture.

  “I love you, Wyatt,” she said in almost a whisper. “I’ve always loved you. That’s never been a question.” She swallowed hard. “What if you change your mind again?”

  The doubt she had… I’d put it there. And I silently vowed to spend the rest of my life proving to her that nothing could make me stop loving her. I could’ve told her. Said it right then and there but saying it just wasn’t good enough. Instead, I brought my hands up to cup her face and let my lips do the talking.

  Our mouths came together, each trying to claim the other. Thankfully, she conceded and let me win because I’d been thinking about how I’d do this for a really long time. Longer than she’d ever know.

  When her mouth opened just enough for me to taste her, I groaned. It may have been out loud, I couldn’t be sure. But honestly, I didn’t give a fuck if she knew how much she turned me on. The opposite was true. I wanted her to know my feelings.

  Zoey pressed her body against mine, her breasts brushing against my abs which sent a shock of desire straight to my cock and this time, I didn’t bother trying to hide it. In fact, I pushed against her even harder.

  “Whoa.” She jumped back. “We’re just kissing.” The tone went up at the end like she was confused. As if it was unusual for just kissing to cause that kind of reaction. She didn’t know that I’d gotten hard before just by seeing her across the room or by simply thinking about her when I’d been overseas.

  “Can’t help it,” I said making sure she could hear every ounce of the desire I felt. “A man knows when he wants something.”

  She smiled and brushed a lock of hair behind her ear. A movement that I had to mimic. Touching her skin and silky hair was a small gesture but one I wanted to repeat over and over.

  She smiled and said, “So, about that getting naked with Riley’s sister thing… is that something you were thinking would happen tonight?” She bit that bottom lip once more which made me want to copy her again.

  “That’s your call,” I answered honestly. “I want it to happen now, tomorrow, and every single day after that.”

  She let the smile that had become a fixture on her face spread widely. “Now seems good,” she said with her head tilted to the side.

  As soon as the “Now” came out of her mouth, I hoisted her up over my shoulder and almost jogged off to her bedroom. I’d been thinking about this moment for so long that the catalog of what I wanted to do was almost overwhelming. But we had time. All the time in the world and I vowed that I’d get to check every single one off the list.

  But this time… this time was going to be slow, showing her every single thing I felt for her. I tasted her skin, savoring it until I thought I might explode. Licked and nipped at her neck then trailed down her body, removing clothes and sucking on her skin gently until she was naked and writhing under my hands. I let me fingers and tongue work in tandem to bring her to the point of no return. My stomach tightened as her body tensed. Holy hell I wanted inside of her. That would be my version of Heaven.

  Being the person to bring her that kind of pleasure was the stuff legends were made of. Now that it’d happened, I was ready to see if Heaven really existed. Once I got a condom in place, something I’d made sure to have just in case, I slid into her and every muscle in my body tightened. It was almost too much please. Zoey felt like home. With her was where I was supposed to be.

  I wanted to go slow, take my time, savor the moment, the feeling, and her but I couldn’t I just couldn’t. I hadn’t had sex in a while but that wasn’t it. Waiting so long to be with Zoey pushed my control too far. We’d have more time, I reminded myself. More time to discover every inch of each other. This was the first time not the only time.

  “I’m really glad you didn’t get your dick shot off,” Zoey mumbled into her pillow as I trailed my fingers down her side once we’d finished.

  I chuckled tiredly and remembered when she’d said that not too long ago. Being with her sapped me of every ounce of energy I had but it was the best kind of exhausted. The sweetest pain. Lying next to the woman I loved, holding her close with nothing between us qualified this as the best Valentine’s Day ever. Every year on that day, I’d give her the best Anti-V-day day I could.

  Epilogue

  Wyatt

  The weather thawed and with that thaw came the beautiful warm Spring that turned into the end of the school year summer. Spending every night in the bed that now belonged to Zoey though was once mine, I still couldn’t get her off my mind even as I lay under a car, grease covering my hands and sweating like a beast. I just wanted to go home, which was what I called the apartment because that’s where Zoey lived, and get that girl naked. Unfortunately, I needed to work instead because that’s what responsible people did. Responsible adults didn’t hang around making love to their girl all day forgetting that the rest of the world existed. Though as far as I was concerned, we should.

  Riley opened the shop right after Zoey and I got together and it’d taken off pretty well. At least we were always busy, always had other cars in the lot waiting to be worked on. Not a bad start. People came and went all day, which Riley had anticipated so he’d hired a couple of people to take care of the paperwork and customers so that we could focus on the cars. From my perspective, the guy had made his dream come true.

  So it didn’t seem weird when I heard the slap of flip-flops on t
he hard cement floor. Someone came in to drop off or pick up, I assumed. What did surprise me was when the sound stopped beside me and something nudged my leg. After sliding out, I came face to face with the most mouthwatering set of legs. That I hadn’t been expecting. Smooth, creamy skin covered the toned muscles that I already knew would feel amazing wrapped around me.

  “Hey.” I pushed off the ground so I could stand beside her. “What are you doing here?”

  Zoey smiled and pushed an errant piece of hair back behind her ear. “Brought you two lunch. You’ve been so busy and I don’t really have much going on for the next couple of months. I’m starting to feel useless.”

  Zoey had gotten a couple of months teaching under her belt before getting a nice long break. Almost like a practice run. She’d start fresh next year already knowing what worked for her and what didn’t.

  “I kind of like the idea of having you at my beck and call,” I told her. She snorted as I wiped my hands on a rag while backing her against the car I’d been working on. “You know, I could always come home for lunch.”

  Shaking her blond head she grinned. “I don’t think there’d be much eating.”

  I cocked my head to the side and raised my eyebrows at what she’d just said. It was enough for her to realize how she’d sounded.

  “Oh god.” She slapped a hand over her face.

  As she did that, Zoey had opened her neck enough for me to be able to sneak in and brush my lips along her neck. Above the thumping pulse that had been calling my name. I sucked gently then move to cover her mouth with mine. Our kisses were almost never soft and sweet. On those rare occasions that they were, things usually escalated quickly even when we were in public. Though I was very careful not to touch her with my greasy hands. The last thing I wanted was to mark her lightness with oil or the pretty dress that I planned on ripping off her later.