Chapter 15
Bryn
“Are we the first ones here?” Wyatt asks, looking around the entire park for any sign of the rest of our friends.
Quinn snorts. “Probably. We’re the only ones not coupled up.” Then she glances between Wyatt and me. “Actually, what the fuck are you guys doing here? You should be fucking somewhere in some trees.”
“You’re cockblocking him,” I tell her dryly. “You needed a ride.”
Her teal eyes go wide with horror, darting between the two of us. “I did not. Fuck. Did I? That’s the worst… I would never do that. What the fuck? Why didn’t you tell me?”
Wyatt and I burst into laughter. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen Quinn look so stricken, but it makes sense this would be in a category of worst nightmare for her.
“Oh, fuck. You guys aren’t screwing yet, I keep forgetting that. That’s why I asked you two for a ride in the first place,” Quinn says, shaking her head with disgust. “Let’s go down closer to the water. I don’t want to walk a million miles if we’re getting in the river.”
It’s Fourth of July, and this morning we all headed up to Bear Creek to watch the annual parade.
Now we’re spending our afternoon at The Channel, a large park that drops down to the river.
The water winds through the mountains and leads into the ocean.
It’s a popular spot for locals up here, but tourists don’t know about it.
It’ll be better than the beaches near the ocean, which will be crawling with a million humans with the holiday heat.
I said yes to coming with everyone weeks ago when Savanna refused to schedule me at 10-42 and basically said I had to.
With the massage clinic fully closed for the holiday, I didn’t have any reason not to.
Having Wyatt here is an added bonus. We hadn’t even gone on our first date when I said yes to the invitation.
God, how has it already been two weeks since our date?
The three of us make our way to a grassy area Quinn picks and we spread out a big blanket Wyatt brought, plus Quinn’s oversized towel, then we block off more space with the rest of our stuff so no one can take it before everyone else gets here.
“Did you bring me wine?” Quinn asks when we’re finally settled.
“In the cooler.”
Though she just laid down on her stomach to tan her back, she sits up and reaches for the small hard cooler I packed this morning. It has some snacks, but mostly it contains multiple bottles of wine.
“What’s so special about the wine?” Wyatt inquires, still standing to peer out over the river. “I noticed it in there earlier.”
“It’s from Bryn’s—”
“It’s from my Gran’s personal stash, and everyone loves her wine,” I interject before Quinn can say another word, shifting in my cross-legged position.
Because I know what she was about to say.
It was from Bryn’s family estate winery.
In Sonoma. Which will make him curious, and I haven’t gotten around to telling him that part of my life because I know it’ll lead to questions.
Not that those are bad, but Wyatt has this way of looking at me that makes me want to tell him everything.
I felt that the first night I met him, and the feeling has only grown.
He notices things. Sees things I don’t say.
Like he’s doing right now. The intensity in his green eyes has me plastering on a smile I don’t feel and turning to Quinn. Who, unfortunately, is staring at me like I’ve got three heads.
“Do I have something on my face?” I ask, sliding a hand down my cheek. “Oh my god, is it a bug? Are the ants out already?”
She ignores me. “Have you not told him?”
Dropping my hand to my stomach, I smooth it along my pale blue tank top, shaking my head subtly.
It’s not that I’ve kept all my family stuff from him; he knows that my Gran means the world to me, though he hasn’t figured out she’s the one that creeps in the windows when he picks me up and drops me off.
He knows I grew up in the country. And… well… that’s what I’ve left it at.
“Whatever I don’t know, we don’t need to talk about,” Wyatt says gently. It’s a tone that makes me want to lift my eyes to his, to confess everything he doesn’t know. “We’ve been on one date, I don’t expect to know everything about Bryn yet.”
Pressing my hand against my stomach, I fight the emotion welling inside of me. The soft defense that he’s taking on my behalf against Quinn. Asserting that there’s no shame in him not knowing whatever this is.
“Of course not,” Quinn says flippantly, like she doesn’t notice the battle raging inside of me, or the one Wyatt is fighting for me. “I just thought… doesn’t matter.”
I can’t find the nerve to look up at either one of them, but I have the sense that there was some kind of silent or mouthed conversation between them for her to say that. I should excuse myself. Go find the restroom. Give myself a minute. Reset.
Things have just been so fun between us. Everyone always tells me I need more of that in my life, and I deny it. I convince myself that I do have fun, because I do. I love my time with Gran, because despite her good health, I know I only have a certain amount of time left with her.
With Wyatt, though, it’s a different kind of fun. I get to be a version of myself that feels carefree and happy. Not the girl I was growing up. Not the one my parents see me as. Not the one I am in my devotion to being with Gran.
Just Bryn.
“What up, Trip?” Liam’s voice calls from behind me.
Good, distractions.
From where I’m staring at the blanket, I can see Wyatt’s sandal-covered feet.
Very, very white feet. He pretends to trip on the spot and really commits to the part when he falls forward next to me, catching himself with his arms in a push-up position.
My gaze shifts to peer at him, but he’s looking in the direction of Liam, and probably Jordan.
“That video was pure gold,” Jordan tells him, confirming she’s with her boyfriend.
“I’d bow, but I tripped,” Wyatt says with a chuckle, unexpectedly rolling towards me, his head landing in my lap, face up. I bite down on my bottom lip when he comes fully into my view with his cheesy grin. “Hi, gorgeous.”
“They calling you Trip instead of Cowboy now?” I ask, a slow smile spreading despite the emotions roiling inside of me. When Wyatt’s face is lit up like that, it’s contagious.
He nods. “At least this one has a story.”
“Technically so does Cowboy.”
“More our story than theirs though, ain’t it?”
I run my fingers through the soft curls at the top of his head, my stomach doing that swoop thing again, chest filling with warmth. I don’t dare say a word, so I just quietly nod my agreement.
He reaches his hand to my face, fingers stroking my cheek. “Wanna show me the water?”
I do. I want to be out of my head, but I don’t know how to do that surrounded by everyone. It’s like he can sense that and knows what I need.
Or maybe I’m just making it all up in my head.
Wouldn’t be the first time I’d made shit up that wasn’t there. So I’ve been told.
Wyatt flings himself forward and then gets to his feet, turning towards me to reach both hands out. I take them, letting him pull me up, and then look at the newcomers. A hello isn’t even out of my mouth when Liam is putting his hands up to shield his eyes.
“Fucking hell, man.” He squints. “Have you ever heard of the sun?”
Following Liam’s stare, I’m not sure whether to laugh or drool. Wyatt has taken his t-shirt off, and the sight of him in the sun is as comical as it is hot. This poor man. I hope he doesn’t think the nickname Trip is bad, because I’m almost positive it’s about to get worse.
His legs, which I noticed earlier, are ghastly white.
Like they haven’t seen the sun in…ever. His forearms, up to where his t-shirt lies, are tanned golden.
But the rest of his arm and his entire chest are just slightly less pale than his legs.
Like he’s been working on figuring out what the sun is.
Jordan looks him over, bursting into laughter. “It’s not the worst tan I’ve seen.”
“But damn, it distracts from the muscles and tattoos,” Quinn adds with her own laughter. “You need to work outside with your shirt off more, man. Bryn, please teach him California life.”
“I figure it makes you look, and then you get to stare at all the fine muscles I’ve built,” Wyatt says, flexing both of his biceps for us to admire.
Which are very, very nice. Especially the one covered in tattoos that I have yet to fully inspect in great detail, though after seeing him on my table, I know that there’s a hummingbird and bear that his sleeves usually cover.
His pecs and his abdomen are free of ink but are all just as nice to look at.
I haven’t been able to admire any of it close up since the day he was on my massage table. Hard.
Pulling my tank top off, I reveal my emerald and white daisy bandeau top.
I strip out of my jean shorts next, exposing the matching bottoms. Wyatt’s arms drop, along with his mouth, as he takes me in from head to toe.
His blatant appreciation for what he’s seeing has my cheeks flushing with heat that has nothing to do with the sun overhead.
“Bryn, you better take your boy down to that freezing water before we see something we shouldn’t,” Liam tells me from behind. “He’s gonna pitch a tent.”
“Fuck off,” Wyatt responds without taking his eyes off me. He holds out a hand. “But you should take me. Away. Take me away. Or take me. I’m yours to do with as you please.”
With a giggle, I place my hand in his for the second time in a few minutes and lead him down to the water. He follows behind me, and I have this one moment where I wonder if he looks a bit like a puppy following me around. In a very endearing kind of way.