Chapter 19
Surprise Boyfriend
Wyatt
I had this insane notion that I could get some paperwork done. But after leaving the friend zone I could barely concentrate. I texted Caroline around midnight.
Wyatt:
You up?
Her Majesty:
Yes. Can’t sleep. I have so many questions
Wyatt:
Such as?
Her Majesty:
Are you my boyfriend?
Wyatt:
Absolutely! Are you my girlfriend?
Her Majesty:
I am! So you need to tell all those girls giving you their numbers to back off
Wyatt:
You overestimate the number of women who give me their numbers
Her Majesty:
Tell them you’re taken!
Wyatt:
I will. I am. Can I see you tomorrow?
Her Majesty:
Yes! Wait no! It’s my dad’s birthday. I’m going hiking with him in the morning and then making him a cake ??
Wyatt:
Can I help with the cake?
Her Majesty:
That would be amazing!
And you should come with me to his birthday dinner.
Wyatt:
Hype
Her Majesty:
I like being your girlfriend ?
Wyatt:
I like being your boyfriend ?
I hate that I’m leaving for two weeks
Her Majesty:
Ugh! That’s right the reunion is next week
Wyatt:
Maybe I should skip it?
Her Majesty:
Will Emma be there?
Wyatt:
I think so
Her Majesty:
Definitely skip it
Make sure she knows you’re taken
Wyatt:
Trust me. I won’t be able to stop talking about my new girlfriend.
My new girlfriend is so smart
My new girlfriend is so hot
My new girlfriend is hilarious
Her Majesty:
My new boyfriend is a simp ??
Wyatt:
You have no idea
***
Caroline answered her door wearing a floral apron as well as her pearl earrings and necklace. I greeted her with a kiss, and she kissed me back as if I were a soldier returning from war.
“Hmm... Caroline?” Her mom stood in the doorway. We parted, but I quickly caught Caroline’s hand, entwining my fingers with hers. She looked up with a delighted smile.
“Hi, Valerie!” I greeted her mom.
“Wyatt! So good to see you. Let me be the first to welcome you to the family.”
“Mom!!!” Caroline’s face turned as pink as the roses on her apron.
“You said he was serious,” Mrs. Bingham said to an adorably embarrassed Caroline.
“I am,” I answered with a firm head nod.
I knew I was being bold, but after all the on-and-off BS Greg put Caroline through, I wanted to be as upfront about my intentions as possible.
“Mrs. Bingham, I really like your daughter. I’ll do everything I can to make her happy.
” Caroline’s mom put her hand to her heart.
My eyes drifted to Caroline; her eyes were wide.
She looked stunned. Had I said too much?
“Excuse me, Mom, I really need Wyatt’s help alone in the kitchen.”
“Of course!” Mrs. Bingham smiled knowingly while Caroline practically dragged me to the kitchen. I followed her, matching her pace. Her face turned serious. I feared I had spooked her.
“Wyatt! That was . . .”
“Sorry if I said too much.”
“Are you kidding? I loved it. No one’s.
.. ever... ” She looked up, her eyes brimming with tears.
“I didn’t realize how much I needed to hear that.
Dating Greg, I never felt like he was all in—even when we were engaged.
And you just boldly told my mom that you like me.
I can’t even.” A fat tear rolled down her cheek.
I stepped closer and with my thumb I wiped the tear away.
“Caroline, I promise I’m not going anywhere.”
“I believe you... I mean, I want to.”
I pulled her into my arms and gently kissed the top of her head.
She looked up, now all smiles. “Thank you,” she said before pulling my mouth down to hers. Caroline kissed like she jumped off cliffs. She was absolutely all in but not one bit sloppy. Every movement of her mouth, her lips, her hands, was precise, effective, and thrilling.
“Wyatt,” she said as she placed tiny explosive kisses along my jawline. “Why do you even like me. I really have been such a brat to you.”
“The heart wants what the heart wants,” I said before claiming another kiss.
“I wish we didn’t have to make a cake,” she said, a little out of breath.
“But I promised Carmen. She even asked earlier this week if she should buy one, and I said no. I didn’t realize I would need every spare moment this weekend making up for lost time.
” We kissed a little more. Before Caroline finally pulled away.
“We better stop. Time to make this cake.”
She bossed me around the kitchen, sifting flour, separating eggs, and washing berries. The finished cake was impressive—like a professional had baked it.
“I knew your brownies were amazing,” I said as I carefully handed the cake to Caroline who had climbed into the ‘56 Chevy, “but this is next level.”
“I have many hidden talents,” she said with a smirk. She wore a sundress that I hadn’t seen before. This one seemed a bit fancier.
“You look beautiful,” I said because I could. It was such a relief to compliment Caroline openly. She had often complained about what a huge flirt I was. But she had no idea how much I’d been holding back.
“Thank you! I always worry about what to wear when I go to my dad’s. You know how I like to be the best-dressed one in the room?”
“You always are.”
“It’s not even possible with Carmen. She goes all out. And for dad’s birthday... just wait, she’ll look like a pageant queen. Whenever I see her, I wear my best dress and put on extra makeup and my best shoes.” I glanced down at her spiky heels. “No one appreciates shoes as much as my stepmom.”
“Sounds like you two get along.”
“I wanted to hate her because my mom did. But Carmen is hard to hate. She was the first person who understood my love of clothes. My parents were always just humoring me. My stepmom is the only one who buys me clothes now.”
“I bet your mom hates that.”
“Maybe at first, but she’s happy to have someone else spend the money. She’s truly mystified by how much I spend on clothes. And she likes Carmen now. No one can hate my stepmother for long. She has Charlie and Jane’s energy. Come to think about it, you’re a little like that.”
“But you hated me for years,” I reminded her.
“Wyatt, we both know that the main reason I hated you was because of that kiss. I had to hate you. It was the only way to stop thinking about it.”
“Did it work?” I asked.
“Not at all!” She laughed.
“If I weren’t getting on the freeway and you weren’t holding that cake, I would do my best to mess up your hair and makeup right now.”
“Maybe later,” she said with a promising smile.
“Definitely later.”
“Keep your eyes on the road, Knox,” she scolded.
“Have you told Charlie?” I asked.
“No, I wanted it to be a surprise. All I’ve told them is that I’m bringing my boyfriend to dinner.”
“What if they’re disappointed I’m not Ed?”
“Are you kidding? Charlie is mildly obsessed with you.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
“Nah, it’s good. Though I kind of fear that someday you two will gang up on me.”
“Gang up on you?” Where was this coming from?
Caroline was outwardly so confident that I felt a little blindsided by her insecurities.
Perhaps she was just kidding. But after what she said to me in the kitchen, I felt she needed more reassurance.
“Caroline, you should know that I am always on your side.”
She took a minute to answer. “You know... I think I’ve known that for a long time.”
***
Charlie and Jane pulled up right as I opened the passenger door for Caroline. I took the precious cake from her so she could get out.
Charlie rolled down the window of the Porsche he had bought from me. “Wyatt, what are you doing here?”
Caroline stepped out of the car, looking divine.
“Hey, Charlie!” She waved to her brother before taking the cake back.
“Sticky, I thought you were bringing Ed.” Her brother got out of his car.
“I told you I was bringing my boyfriend.”
That was my cue to drape an arm on Caroline’s shoulder. She turned up to me and smiled. For a moment, we just admired each other.
“Holy Hell!” Charlie crossed the distance in a flash.
“Wyatt, are you dating my sister?”
I nodded. For a moment, I was lost for words. Charlie’s genuine excitement about this development moved me. He gave me a massive hug. When he finally let go Jane hugged me, whispering in my ear, “My Fair Wyatt worked.”
“Faster than expected,” I answered.
“This is the best news!” She squealed. “Charlie! Take the cake. I want to hug your sister. We all took turns hugging and passing the cake around. I was left holding it when Caroline’s dad came out on the doorstep.
Mr. Bingham looked a lot like Charlie, just shorter and grayer.
And to Caroline’s dismay (and possibly Carmen’s), he had the fashion sense of your average middle-aged dad.
“What are you all doing?” he asked.
“It’s just the best news,” Jane said. “Wyatt and Caroline are dating. Oh, excuse me!” She ran to the side of the house to throw up in privacy.
“Is she okay?” a concerned Caroline asked Charlie.
He tried to shrug casually, but I could see his concern. “She does that. They say it means the baby’s healthy. I’d better go check on her.”
Caroline introduced me to her dad and Carmen, who appeared in the doorway, drawn by all the happy squeals.
Caroline was right. Carmen was the best-dressed one at the party, though she looked more like a movie star than a pageant queen.
She hugged me, and so did Mr. Bingham, who made me feel welcome at first sight.
He seemed truly pleased with the hiking socks I got him for his birthday.
Dinner was so much fun; everyone was in good spirits, except maybe Jane, who didn’t eat much but nursed a ginger ale.
Still, she enjoyed passing around the fuzzy ultrasound photos, which Caroline admired with far more enthusiasm than I could muster for a series of black and white smudges.
I asked her on the way home how she felt talking about the baby.
“After Jane and Charlie, I’m the most excited for this baby.”
“I didn’t think that was an act,” I said. “But I’m still learning how to read you.”
“That was definitely not an act. I’m so excited. I knew I would be. I just... you saw me on a bad night. Honestly, I can’t believe you still like me after that.”
“We all have bad nights. I’ve known you long enough to know there was a lot more to you than high heels and snark.” She cackled.
“I don’t know. That about sums me up. I’ve been complaining that life was unfair,” Caroline said, reaching for my hand, “not realizing how unfair it was in my favor. I don’t deserve you.”
“And I deserve you?”
“You deserve so much better. But don’t you dare change your mind and fall for Emma.”
“Caroline, I have no interest in Emma, and she knows it. She knows all about my huge crush on you.”
“Really? And I was so jealous.” A primal part of me loved hearing her say that.
“Don’t be. I like you, not Emma. Besides, she did her best to convince me that you actually liked me.”
“She was right,” Caroline said as we parked my car outside her town house. “I’ve been thinking. If we’re going to be dating, maybe I should just go to your family reunion.”
I couldn’t believe she was saying that. Of course, I wanted her to come with me.
I hated the idea of spending two weeks apart.
But after everything she had said about hating my family, I wasn’t sure it was the best idea.
And she wasn’t wrong about not wanting to see Greg. He was guaranteed to be a jerk.
“Are you certain? I mean, I’d love to have you there. But you don’t have to go.”
“I’ve been thinking about it, and you said you’re in this for the long run.”
“I am.”
“So am I... and if that’s the case, sooner or later, I’ll be going to a Scott family reunion. Maybe I should just get it over with.”
“That would be amazing! But seriously, I don’t want you to do anything you don’t want to.”
She twisted her pearls. “I just can’t imagine going two whole weeks without seeing you. I want to spend every minute with you.”
Yeah, My Fair Wyatt worked.