Chapter 15
Wyatt
The next morning, I'm in a conference room with the camera pointed at me, praying I don't look as terrified as I feel. My palms are sweating. I wipe them on my jeans and force myself to meet Rachel's eyes.
"Ready?" Rachel asks.
"Let's do this." My voice comes out steadier than I expected.
She starts recording. "Wyatt, yesterday in your interview with me, you said Merri Gallagher was 'just your best friend's little sister' and that your relationship was 'only for the competition.' Was that the truth?"
"No. It was a lie. A stupid, cowardly lie." I look directly into the camera. My heart is hammering so hard I can feel it in my throat.
"Why did you lie in the original interview?"
"Because I thought I was protecting her.
I didn't want to expose our relationship to public scrutiny.
I thought if I downplayed it, I'd be shielding her from pressure and attention, which is stupid because everyone in town already knows about us.
" I run a hand through my hair. "Instead, all I did was hurt her.
I made her feel like she didn't matter to me when she's actually the most important person in my life. "
"So you are dating."
"Yes. Or we were. I'm not sure where we stand now."
"How do you actually feel about her?"
I take a deep breath. "I love her. I'm completely, hopelessly in love with her. She's brilliant and passionate and stubborn and funny. This collaboration with her has been incredible, and it’s not just about the beer."
"What would you say to her if you could?"
I look into the camera as if I'm staring into Merri’s eyes.
"I'm so sorry, Merri. You're not just Danny's little sister. You’re so much more.
You're the first person I think about when I wake up and the last person I think about before I sleep, the reason I smile for no reason in the middle of roasting coffee.
I was wrong for not saying this the first time. I love you, Merri. Please forgive me."
Rachel stops recording. "That was perfect. I’ll give it a quick edit and send you the file. You can post it to your channels as well."
Thirty minutes later, my thumb hovers over the "post" button on Instagram. The video is captioned: The truth about how I feel about Merri Gallagher.
I tag Merri, The Sassy Siren, and Recon Roasters, and hit post. Then I call Danny.
He answers on the third ring. "Let me guess. You're calling to ask how to grovel."
"How did you know?"
Danny snorts a laugh. "Because you're predictable, brother."
"What should I do?"
"Put on body armor and bring flowers and chocolate. Merri's a sucker for good chocolate."
"That's it? Flowers and chocolate?"
"Don’t forget the body armor," he teases.
"A sincere apology on your knees would go a long way.
Merri likes grand gestures. She'll never admit it, but she does.
" He pauses. "Don't worry too much. She'll see reason soon enough.
She's crazy about you and just needs to know you’re serious, and not trying to save face for the competition. "
"I'm completely serious."
"Then show her, man. Go big. Make it count."
Outside The Sassy Siren, my stomach tightens at the thought of my video, the comment section, and its climbing view count. It went viral, at least according to Rachel. The light ocean breeze does nothing to dry the sweat soaking my shirt.
The heavy bouquet of sunflowers and roses I’m holding feels awkward in my hands, and the box of chocolates Danny recommended suddenly seems inadequate. Over 10,000 people have seen my apology online, but there’s only one person's response that I care about.
I take a steadying breath before pushing through the door, bracing myself for whatever comes next.
The moment I step inside, the entire taproom falls silent.
Every single person turns to stare at me, their conversations dying mid-sentence.
The place is absolutely packed; I've never seen it this crowded on a Thursday afternoon.
Locals fill every table and line the bar, some even standing in the back with their arms crossed like they're settling in for a show.
Of course they are. Nothing brings people out like small-town drama, especially when it involves someone making an ass of themselves.
Merri's behind the bar, and when she glances up, everything about her goes rigid. Her eyes are rimmed with red, the kind that comes from crying and trying to hide it, and guilt hits me so hard I nearly turn around and walk back out.
"Merri." I move toward the bar, and the crowd melts out of my way without me having to ask. I can feel every gaze tracking my movement like I'm the main event at a prizefight.
"Wyatt." Her tone is so carefully neutral it might as well be a wall between us.
"I came to apologize," I answer, the flowers feeling heavier by the second. "And to tell you the truth. The real truth, not the bullshit I said in that first interview."
"I saw your video," she says, the words coming out in a rush like she couldn't hold them back.
"You did?" Hope flickers in my chest before I can stop it.
"Heather sent it to me about thirty seconds after you posted it." She crosses her arms over her chest, vulnerability flashing in her eyes. "It was very dramatic."
"I meant every word of it," I say, needing her to understand that much at least.
"Did you?" The question hangs between us, and I can hear the doubt underneath, the hurt she's trying so hard to hide.
I set the flowers and chocolate down on the bar and move around to her side. The crowd's murmuring grows louder as I cross into her space, but I don't care about any of them right now.
"Yes." The word comes out rough, scraped raw.
"I love you, Merri. I'm in love with you.
I think I have for years. I was just too stupid to admit it to myself, let alone to you.
" I reach up and cup her face in my hands, my thumbs catching the tears sliding down her cheeks.
"You're everything to me. You have been for longer than I realized, and I'm so sorry I ever made you feel like you were anything less. "
"Wyatt—"
I kiss her before she can finish, before I lose my nerve or she can tell me it's too late. I pour everything into it, all the years of wanting her, all the regret for hurting her, all the desperate hope that maybe she can forgive me for being an idiot.
For one terrible second, she doesn't respond, and my heart stops. Then she melts into me, her hands fisting in my shirt as she kisses me back with the same fierce intensity. My knees go weak when I realize we're going to be okay.
Applause and cheers shake the rafters, someone lets out an ear-splitting whistle, and over the noise I catch fragments of "Finally!" and "Took you long enough!" and "I had money on this!"
I can hear phones clicking, people taking pictures and videos, but I don't care. All I care about is the woman in my arms.
When we finally break apart, both breathing hard, I bury my face in her hair. "I'm sorry," I whisper. "I'm so, so sorry."
"You're a total jackass," she whispers back.
"I know."
"But I love you anyway."
Relief crashes through me. "Thank God," I breathe. She pulls away to meet my gaze, and despite the tears still clinging to her lashes, she's smiling.
"That video was way over the top, you know."
"I had to match your interview," I reply, unable to stop grinning. "You set the bar pretty high with that confession."
"I set the bar?" She laughs, the sound watery but genuine. "You're the one who just declared your love for me in front of half the town while holding a bouquet the size of a small child."
"You're worth it," I tell her, brushing a strand of hair away from her face. "You're worth all of it."
Another wave of cheers rises from the crowd, and when I glance around, I count at least twenty phones pointed in our direction, all recording.
"We're definitely going viral again," I say, shaking my head at the absurdity of it all.
"I don't care." She slides her hands up my neck and yanks me down for another kiss, and the taproom erupts again.
Tommy appears next to us, grinning. "Congratulations on finally getting your shit together."
"Thanks, Tommy," Merri deadpans, not taking her eyes off me.
"Now get out of my bar and go be disgustingly in love somewhere private. I've got customers to serve, and they're all too distracted by your romance."
Merri laughs. "Give me five minutes to grab my stuff."
"Take Admiral, too," Tommy calls out. "He's moping in the back room."
We barely make it through my front door with our clothes intact.
The moment the lock clicks behind us, Merri is on me, her mouth claiming mine with an urgency that sends heat straight to my groin.
I walk her backward until she hits the wall in my entryway, pinning her there with my body weight.
The sound she makes—low and needy—vibrates against my lips as I grind my hips forward, letting her feel the hard length of me pressing through my jeans.
"We should go to the bedroom," I manage between kisses, but my hands are already sliding under her t-shirt, finding bare skin.
"I don't want to wait that long." She's already tugging my shirt up and over my head. "I need you right now."
That snaps the last thread of my control. I hook my fingers into the waistband of her shorts and yank them down along with her underwear, dropping to my knees on the hardwood. The scent of her arousal hits me first, then I'm spreading her thighs wider and settling my mouth against her slick heat.
The first touch of my tongue draws a sharp inhale from above.
Her fingers thread through my hair, tightening almost painfully as I lick into her, tasting the salt-sweet evidence of how badly she wants this.
I work her with long strokes, then focus on that swollen bundle of nerves, sucking until her hips start to roll against my face.
"Wyatt! Oh god, that's—" Her words dissolve into incoherent sounds as I push two fingers inside.
She climaxes with my name breaking from her throat, her inner muscles clenching around my fingers in rhythmic pulses.
I don't let up, don't give her a chance to catch her breath.
I'm on my feet in seconds, fumbling with my belt and zipper while she watches me through heavy-lidded eyes, chest heaving, bottom lip caught between her teeth.
I grab the condom from my wallet with shaking hands, barely managing to tear the wrapper open. When I roll it on, she reaches down to help guide me, her hand wrapping around my length.
"I need to be inside you." The words come out rough, almost guttural.
"Then stop talking about it." She pulls me closer by my hips, her legs already parting wider.
I hoist her up, her back pressed against the wall for leverage, and position myself at her entrance. The head of my cock nudges against her, slick and ready, and then I'm pushing inside—slow at first because she's still pulsing from her orgasm, impossibly tight around me.
She wraps her legs around my waist, her ankles locking at the small of my back as I sink deeper.
The angle lets me bottom out completely, and the sensation draws a groan from somewhere deep in my chest. Her nails rake down my shoulders hard enough to leave marks as I start to move, each thrust driving her higher up the wall.
"Don't hold back." Her breath is hot against my neck, teeth scraping my skin. "I want to feel you tomorrow."
That permission unleashes something primal in me. I pull almost all the way out and slam back in, setting a punishing rhythm that has her crying out with each impact. The obscene sound of our bodies meeting fills the entryway and mixes with our ragged breathing.
Her second orgasm builds faster than the first. I can feel it in the way her muscles start to flutter, in the increasingly desperate sounds she makes against my shoulder. When it hits, her whole body goes rigid, inner walls clamping down on me so hard I see stars.
The pulsing pressure pushes me over the edge. My hips jerk forward in sharp, uncontrolled thrusts as release barrels through me, white-hot pleasure radiating outward from where we're joined until I can barely remember my own name.
We stay locked together for several long moments, both slick with sweat, hearts pounding in tandem. Her forehead rests against mine, and I can feel the small tremors still running through her legs.
"Take me to bed." Her voice is hoarse. "I'm not done with you yet."
Two hours later, Admiral is sprawled on the orthopedic bed I bought for him while Merri and I lay tangled together in the sheets, our clothes scattered across the floor.
"That was…" Merri trails off, her fingers tracing patterns on my chest.
"Amazing? Incredible? Mind-melting?"
"All of the above." She props herself on an elbow. "So what happens now?"
"Now we figure this out. Together." I cup a soft breast, molding my hand around it. "We finish the competition, win with our amazing coffee blonde ale, and make this permanent."
Her cute nose wrinkles. "Permanent?"
"Yeah. Because you're stuck with me now."
She smiles. "What if we don't win the competition?"
"Then we still have a great beer that we should put on rotation. You make the beer, and I'll supply the coffee. We split the profits."
"A real partnership."
"The best kind, business and personal."
She's quiet for a moment, thinking. "You know what else we should talk about?"
"What?"
"Living arrangements."
My heart kicks up. "Yeah?"
Her teeth worry her bottom lip. "I mean, we're still in the early stages of our relationship, but we've known each other forever. I love it here and Admiral really likes his spot in the corner."
We both glance at the dog, who's snoring contentedly.
"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" I ask carefully.
"I'm saying maybe Admiral and I should move in with you. If you want us to, that is."
"If I want you to? Merri, I've been trying to figure out how to ask you that without sounding like I'm moving too fast."
She grins. "So that's a yes?"
"That's the biggest damned yes of my life." I pull her in for a kiss, slow and deep, savoring the taste of her.
She settles against my chest, fitting perfectly as if she was designed to be there. My muscles have gone loose and heavy, that bone-deep contentment and relaxation I haven't felt in a very long time.
Through the window, moonlight spills across the water in a silver path. Admiral's snores rumble from his bed in the corner, steady as a metronome and Merri's breath warms the hollow of my throat with each exhale. I close my eyes, letting the steady weight of her body anchor me to this moment.
"Hey, Wyatt?" she says softly.
"Yeah?"
"I love you."
I kiss the top of her head. "I love you too, Merri. Always have."
And for the first time in my life, everything feels right.