HERO: An Unfit Hero Novel

by Faiman, Hayley

  Thankfully, Exeter’s father has stayed away since the last run-in, at least as far as I know. I’ve checked on her trailer a few times and it looks undisturbed. My parents have also reported that all has been well with her grandmother.

  Maybe I’m being overly cautious, but I can’t help but feel like this isn’t over with him. Sick, manipulative bastards like him don’t just disappear. They regroup and then come back for more. James, Jennifer, and Jacob proved that theory all on their own. I won’t allow it, not with Exeter.

  Not with the woman I love.

  I do too—I love her.

  It happened as easily as our relationship fell into place. I fell in love with her and I know that she’s the one I’m going to spend the rest of my life with. I just need to confess my past, my story, and so does she—at least the rest of it.

  “Dinner tomorrow night, double date?” I ask, looking over to Rylan as I pull up to his home.

  He turns his head, his hand on the handle of the door. A smile breaks out on his face, an expression that used to be far and few in between with him, but somehow comes so fucking easy now, all day long.

  “Been wonderin’ when you were going to ask,” he chuckles. “You know Channing’s been grillin’ me on your girl anyway. She’s dyin’ to meet her officially.” I watch as he jumps out of the truck. “Why don’t y’all come up to the house. I know you’re eatin’ out all the time since you been in the hotel.”

  “Don’t want to put you out…” I say, letting my words trail off.

  “Fuck that. You’re family. Bring dessert,” he calls.

  He slams the door and I watch him walk away, into the home that he rents from me. The home that he shares with his beautiful, heavily pregnant wife. The home where I dreamed I would have everything that he does now.

  It doesn’t matter anymore.

  When this new place closes escrow, I’ll finally get the life that I’ve desired, the life that I should have had fifteen years ago. Except this time, it will be right, the right time and the right woman. Maybe I’m a fucking dick for thinking that about Sammi, that she wasn’t the right woman, but she wasn’t.

  Exeter though, she’s the one. The absolute one for me.

  Shifting the truck into drive, I pull out onto the street and head toward the hotel that I’ve called home for the past three weeks. Just eight more days until I close escrow on the new house and property, I can’t fucking wait. I’m so sick of this hotel, of the minimal space, of everything.

  I want to fuck my woman in my bed—in our bed.

  Pulling into what I’ve claimed as my parking spot at the hotel, I shift the truck into park and climb out. I glance to the right and notice that Exeter isn’t here. It shouldn’t surprise me, she works long hours and doesn’t always get off when she’s supposed to, depending on how busy they are.

  The room is empty, just like I suspected, so I decide to send Exeter a text, asking her where she is. Stripping out of my clothes while I wait for a reply, I start the shower. I need to get the day’s dirt and grime washed from my body.

  My phone alerts me to a text and I grin when I see it’s from her.

  On my way to you, baby. Fuck, what she does to me.

  I jump in the shower quickly, rinsing myself off and washing as quickly as I can. I’m sure that she’s going to be exhausted, but fuck, I can’t wait to have her again. It’s like I can never get enough of her, as if I know that she could leave me at any given moment, and I want to get my fill before she’s gone.

  Because in reality, despite the fact that I’ve fallen in love with her, she could very well walk out of my life and never look back. The fact that I thought I was in love fifteen years ago and it was nothing more than a goddamn tragic nightmare doesn’t make me very hopeful when it comes down to the realization of life and choices that I cannot control.

  Once I’m showered, I slip on a pair of sweats and run the towel over my hair to dry it a bit more, then do the same over my beard. I start to drop the towel on the floor but freeze.

  Looking around the small hotel room, I realize that my shit litters the place. I remember Exeter’s irritation at me leaving my shit all over her house, so I decide to tidy up a bit. Once I’m finished, I look around and cringe, it’s not neat, not by a longshot, but it’s better than it was.

  I’m just tossing the towel in the corner of the bathroom floor, where they’ll stay until maid service rolls around in the morning, when I hear the key in the lock. Turning around, I walk into the room, just as Exeter opens the door.

  She’s standing in the middle of the doorway, wearing her scrubs, turquoise blue with small hot pink bows all over. They shouldn’t make my cock twitch. They shouldn’t make me want to fuck her while she’s still wearing them. But they do. Goddamn, do they ever. Only my woman can make a pair of fucking scrubs look downright sensual.

  “Hey,” she whispers.

  Lifting my gaze from her tits, beautiful round tits that are hiding beneath her scrubs, but not so hidden that I can’t tell they’re there, waiting for me—begging for my mouth. Raising my hand, I point at her and crook my finger.

  “I worked all day, I’m exhausted,” she breathes, but I know she’s not that exhausted, I can hear it in her voice.

  EXETER

  My words are nothing but a feigned protest. Truthfully, I am tired, untruthfully I’m not too tired for him. I don’t know that I could ever be. Even in my haze of exhaustion, my body still ignites for him at just the thought of his touch, his mouth—every part of him.

  Stepping inside the hotel room, I close the door behind me, locking the deadbolt when I do. I let my purse fall with a thud to my feet. Peeking my tongue out, I wet my bottom lip, my eyes taking in all of Wyatt. His hair is damp and messy, his chest bare with his smattering of hair on display.

  When my eyes move down to his hips, then his crotch, I bite my bottom lip. He’s wearing a pair of gray sweats and judging by the outline of his cock, he’s not wearing underwear. I lick my lips again, wondering not for the first time, not even for the twentieth time, how on earth this man is mine—standing in front of me and looking at me the way that I know I’m eyeing him.

  “Sugar, you gotta stop lookin’ at my dick like that or I won’t last long enough to make you come.”

  My heart races against my ribs, my eyes lift to his, and I can feel my face heat at his correct observation. Inhaling a deep breath, I let it out in a long exhale before I close the distance between us.

  “How was your day?” I ask.

  He grunts. “Storms are getting closer. I’m on call to go to the east coast,” he murmurs.

  My heart squeezes at his words. Lifting my gaze up to his, my eyes find his and I frown. “You’re going to leave?”

  Wyatt lifts his hand, cupping my cheek while is thumb runs along my bottom lip. “I don’t know. I never know, not until I’m actually on the road driving. They could call me in, then cancel the whole thing as soon as I show up to leave. Until you’re actually on the way, with a destination dispatched, you don’t really know,” he explains.

  “That’s stressful,” I point out.

  He snorts, lowering his head. My breath hitches when his lips brush against my own. “I know you’re tired, sugar. Do you think you could stay awake for a couple orgasms?” he breathes against my mouth.

  I whimper.

  No words are able to form, not with a question like that. Not when his scent is surrounding me. I want that. I want orgasms, several...dozens.

  Wyatt’s lips touch mine, his tongue fills me at the same time his hand falls from my face and fists in the back of my shirt. I moan, arching my back, pressing my chest closer to him. I feel his hard chest against me, and I regret the fact that I’m not shirtless, that my nipples aren’t pressed against the hair on his chest.

  He breaks the kiss, his teeth nipping my bottom lip, then his mouth moves down the column of my neck. I should take a quick shower, wash the hospital from me, but dammit, I don’t want to move away from him.
When his tongue snakes out and licks the entire side of my neck, I can’t hold back my whimper.

  There’s a knock on the door that causes me to jump. Wyatt curses, lifting his head and looks behind me.

  “Stay here,” he barks, his tone harsher than I’ve ever heard from him before.

  Glancing down, I notice his cock is hard, tenting his sweats. He wraps his hand around it, my mouth watering as he squeezes himself. He inhales a deep breath, closing his eyes as he lets out a long exhale. I stand stock still, the knock on the door repeating.

  “I’m comin’,” he growls.

  Without a glance back, he storms across the room and rips the door open. I turn around, looking over his shoulder, wondering who could possibly be here. The only people that know we’re even here are his parents, my MawMaw and Rylan.

  “What the fuck?” Wyatt hisses.

  The man standing across from him lets out a low chuckle and I just stare at him. He’s big, not just tall but built like no man I’ve ever seen in person before. His skin is a caramel color, his eyes light green, his short clipped hair dark.

  “Ford told me where you were, thought I’d see for myself,” he grins.

  “Well fuck, c’mon in, brother,” Wyatt offers, taking a step to the side.

  The man takes a couple steps into the room, his eyes find me and his lips tip in a grin. “And this must be who Ford said was making you all twisted up in knots,” he observes, lifting his chin toward me.

  “Louis this is Exeter. Exeter, Louis Kingston,” Wyatt introduces, making his way toward me.

  My lips turn up into a smile when his arm slides around my waist. Something fills my chest, something that I can’t quite make out. His hand slides lower, wrapping around my hip, his fingers gripping me tightly.

  “It’s nice to officially meet you, you know, when you aren’t rescuing pregnant women.” Louis grins with a wink.

  My face heats, thinking about a time that feels so long ago but was only a few weeks. So much has changed, my life has completely changed since that day. Never did I imagine I would be standing next to Wyatt, being introduced to his friends, and being his woman.

  “When’d you get in town?” Wyatt asks, lifting his chin toward the small table and chairs.

  Louis sits down, Wyatt sits across from him and without asking me, he arranges me on his thigh. My face feels hot, and I’m sure it’s bright red. If Louis notices, he doesn’t say anything. Instead, he focuses on Wyatt and explains that he’s going to be here for a few months, that he needs the peace and quiet.

  There’s something he isn’t confessing to and I’m not sure if it’s because I’m here or not, but this man is hiding. “Goin’ over to Rylan and Channing’s for dinner tomorrow, bet they’d like to see you,” Wyatt explains

  “I don’t wanna impose…”

  Wyatt pulls out his phone, and Louis rolls his eyes, but I can see a smile on his lips. “Ry?” he waits a beat. “Change of plans for tomorrow. Louis and Ford are joinin’. I’ll buy the meat, you and Channing take care of sides and Louis will do dessert. Okay. See you then.”

  “Brother…” Louis’ words trail off.

  Wyatt shakes his head. “Family, Kingston. This is family and if Beau were here, he’d be joining us too. We’re a ragtag fuckin’ group, but we’re a family nonetheless.”

  Louis nods. “Yeah,” he says softly.

  There is something, something that I can’t read working behind him, but I see his long exhale and then he lifts his head and his eyes look about a hundred times clearer. He needs Wyatt and his friends. Wyatt knows that he does, and without having to say a word, he gives Louis what he needs, just like he does to me.

  Turning my head, I press my lips against his cheek. “Why don’t you guys go out tonight? I’m beat. A shower and the bed are calling my name,” I murmur against his ear.

  Wyatt grunts, he turns his head to look at me. Lifting his hand, he cups my cheek. “Be ready for me, I’ll wake you up when I come home,” he mutters.

  My entire body shudders as a shiver of excitement rolls through me. A few moments later, Louis and Wyatt are out of the hotel room. I shower quickly and climb into bed, completely naked, ready and waiting for Wyatt’s return.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  EXETER

  We’re the last to arrive, again. It seems as if it’s a trend with us. Though, I can’t deny that I don’t mind, especially since the reason we were late both times was because Wyatt was delivering some of the best, almost earth-shattering, orgasms I’ve ever had.

  Walking toward the front porch, I can’t help but blush. I remember the first time I spent the night here, it was as a one-night stand. I didn’t know what would become of that night, I assumed absolutely nothing. Little did I know that it would bring me a man who means absolutely everything.

  Inwardly, I cringe. I need to tell him. I need to tell him all of my past, all of my truths. If I don’t, then we’ll never be more than we are right now, we can’t. I know that he hides some of himself from me as well, I can see it behind his eyes, sitting there, begging to be let free. He’s like me, he’s keeping it back, probably afraid that it will run me off.

  He doesn’t know that there is nothing he could say to me to push me away.

  I love him.

  All of him.

  “You okay, sugar?” he asks as we walk up the steps to the front porch.

  I look at the front door, then back up to him. “Yeah,” I murmur.

  Tonight is the night. I can feel it. He’s received the call that they will most likely leave in a couple of days. He needs to know the complete truth before he goes. I owe him that much. I need him to know everything before I move in with him. That way if he doesn’t want me, then I’ll still have my trailer to go back to.

  The door swings open and Rylan stands in front of us. He’s got a grin on his face, and a bottle of water in his hand.

  “Got the meat in the truck,” Wyatt says as his greeting.

  Rylan lifts his chin. “I’ll help you, ‘bout time you showed up.” He looks over at me and gives me a wink.

  My face feels hot, as if he can read my mind and knows exactly why we’re late. My eyes move from his to his neck, unable to look in his brown gaze for fear of expiring right on the spot with embarrassment. Rylan skirts past me, and Wyatt releases my waist when he does.

  “Channing’s inside, only woman in a house of men, probably needs to be saved,” Rylan chuckles.

  The two of them walk toward Wyatt’s pickup, so I decide to go inside and see if Channing needs any help. There is a loud television on in the living room when I enter. I freeze at the sight. There is Louis and Ford, two men I’ve only seen a couple of times, but that isn’t what has me frozen. It’s the fact that this living room looks almost the exact same as it did the last time I was here.

  Meaning, Wyatt didn’t take much of anything when he moved out. The same sofa is facing the same oversized television on the wall. The men don’t realize I’m standing, staring at them like a weirdo. Turning, I make my way toward the kitchen. I can hear low country music pouring out of the room when I enter.

  Channing is standing at the stove, her back to me, and working between two different pots and a pan. “Hey, can I help you?” I ask. She jumps, then turns to me with wide eyes. Slowly her face softens, and a smile replaces her startled gaze.

  “Exeter,” she says. “I’m so glad y’all made it. Could you maybe throw the salad together? Everything is on the top shelf of the fridge.”

  Walking over to the fridge, I begin pulling the veggies out for the salad. I bite the corner of my lip, wondering if I should ask about the television, about the furniture, and then I decide against it. I’ll bring it up with Wyatt, if I bring it up at all. I don’t want her to think that I’m judging or anything. I’m not. In fact, I think that if Wyatt left it for them, knowing that they didn’t have much, that it makes me fall just that much deeper in love with him.

  “Did you have to work last night?” Chan
ning asks, interrupting my thoughts of love and Wyatt.

  I clear my throat. “No, I was on day shift,” I say with a nod as I begin to chop up the veggies. “How’s the baby?” I ask.

  She hums, her hand automatically touching her stomach and something inside of me twists and my entire body aches at the simple gesture. I bite the inside of my lip and go back to the veggies as she goes about answering my question. She gushes about the new life inside of her. It’s beautiful, to see a woman so excited about having a baby, to see her just so damn happy.

  “I’m a little nervous about these hurricanes though. If they’re gone for months, I’m afraid that I’ll be giving birth to this one alone,” she confesses.

  “You have me,” I state without even thinking about it.

  She does have me. She’s Wyatt’s cousin by marriage, obviously important to him, but also very kind and sweet in her own right. I nod, licking my lips and continue to cut the tomato that I’ve been working on.

  “Really?” she breathes.

  I hum. “I’m down there more often than not anyway, I would be more than happy to stay with you and the baby to help.”

  There is a beat of silence, and I’m afraid that I’ve said something wrong, so I stop chopping, set the knife down and turn around to face her. She’s got tears streaming down her cheeks and I blink, unsure of what to say, or do. She closes the distance between us and wraps her arms around me.

  “Thank you, Exeter. I didn’t know, after everything that happened with Emily and that day, I wasn’t sure if you’d really want much to do with me,” she admits.

  I jerk my head back slightly. “What do you mean? It wasn’t your fault what happened to Emily.”

  She looks down at her feet, then brings her watery eyes back to me. “I just wasn’t sure. I know she’s your cousin and you love her,” she murmurs.