Chapter 10 Wesley
WESLEY
Caitlin snuggled into my chest as I pulled her closer, one arm around her waist and the other tangled into her mess of morning hair.
We had woken up only a few minutes prior, and I was just enjoying the feeling of her lying on me before we got started with our day.
She mentioned something about going on a walking beer tour.
It sounded fun, but it also sounded like it went all day, and sometimes, I just wanted to lie in bed and do nothing.
But as always, she was very persuasive. She just wasn’t a sit on the sofa kind of person.
I used to not be, but I swore once I hit thirty-one that the only thing I wanted to do most nights was eat dinner and kick back with a beer and a good movie.
“Last night was fun, don’t you think?” she asked as she traced her fingertips over my stomach.
I wanted to agree with her because it had been a good night. Nothing had gone wrong. In fact, everything went really well. But there was something about the entire night that irked me. I just couldn’t put my finger on it.
It might have been the way that Rosie’s smile didn’t seem to extend across her entire face like it usually did.
Or it might have been the way that she seemed to skirt around me, barely making eye contact and focusing the majority of her attention on everyone else.
Even Caitlin. She spent a lot of time getting to know her and engaging with her.
It also didn’t escape me that Lake seemed rather flirty with Rosie, and that was something I needed to ask them both about…Is that a thing? How does Megan feel about that? What would that mean for everyone if they did start dating?
Why am I sweating?
“Babe?” Caitlin asked as she propped her head up on her hand. I realized I hadn’t answered her yet.
“Yeah, it was good. I’m glad you had a good time.
” My mouth was dry, and I found myself looking at the ceiling, going over the night before again, and becoming increasingly annoyed at how Rosie seemed to be distancing herself from me, but not anyone else.
Is this just because I had a girlfriend?
She seems to really like Caitlin, so what is her problem?
I would have to talk to her about it. She would have to get over whatever this was, so we could get back to normal—so my life could get back to normal.
“Can I ask you something?” Caitlin asked as she lay back down on my chest.
“Of course.”
“Why is it that everyone calls you Wes, but Rosie only calls you Wesley?” I heard the tremor in her words, like she was scared to ask me because she was scared of the answer.
And I knew that I had to sort whatever it was out with Rosie.
She must also have been feeling some of the awkwardness that had settled between us and our new dynamic.
It didn’t help that her question sat in the silence between us.
If I were being honest, I’d never noticed it before.
I never noticed that Rosie only called me Wesley.
I racked my brain, trying to figure out why that was, only to come up empty.
“I don’t…I don’t actually know. She just always has.”
“Hm.” She rolled away from me and onto her back.
“And you’re sure that…That there isn’t anything there?
That you’ve never…” Her words faded into a whisper, yet they echoed all around us.
I could feel her panic from where I was, and I knew she was feeling insecure.
I just couldn’t understand why. I was there, with her.
I chose her. Although it wasn’t a choice, was it?
Rosie was just Rosie. Always had been, always would be.
“Caitlin…there’s nothing going on between Rosie and me.
Never has been, never will be. She even refuses to come over for morning coffee like she used to, and forget about our game nights or movie nights in.
She hasn’t been available once in weeks.
” I tried to keep the irritation from my voice, but I knew some slipped through because of how quiet Caitlin became.
“Wes, that…That would be extremely rude of her to come over in the morning, and it would be weird for you guys to spend evenings together, playing games or watching movies. You get that, right?” Caitlin whispered, like she couldn’t believe we were having that conversation.
I realized I had made a grave miscalculation. “What do you mean?” I asked, because I wasn’t sure I understood.
“Would you be okay with me spending nights alone with a male friend, playing games and movies all night without you? Would you be comfortable if a male friend of mine swung by, unannounced, for coffee in the morning?”
“I don’t know. I mean, probably not, but it’s just…”
“I swear to god, if you say, ‘It’s just Rosie,’ one more time, Wes, I’m going to smack you upside the head.
You keep saying, ‘It’s just Rosie,’ like that explains everything!
It explains nothing. Rosie is smart, and funny, and she’s pretty.
Like pretty-pretty. In the way that she doesn’t need makeup and can probably get away without showering for days and still look good.
And now you’re explaining to me that she’s also a pretty kick-ass person, respecting someone else’s boundaries, and that’s exactly my point.
It’s Rosie, and from where I’m standing, she’s pretty fucking awesome.
” In her rant, Caitlin flew out of bed and started getting dressed.
“Babe, come back to bed.” I reached for her.
“Listen, Wesley. I like you a whole lot, but I don’t like you right now. I need some space, and I think you need to reevaluate some things, and maybe talk to Rosie. Because she seems to get it, but you don’t.”
Caitlin had barely gotten her shirt on and pants zipped before she was out of my room, and I sat there, trying to digest what the heck just happened.
For some reason, my irritation with Rosie only seemed to grow.
Caitlin was right; I needed to talk to my best friend.
Something had changed, and I needed to figure out what it was.