Chapter 16
Chapter sixteen
Wyatt
Whether or not Rory would show tonight was the toss of a coin.
Ever since he’d left my house after Harper had shown up, the whole week had been a series of lighter, more distant responses. The need to have a real conversation burned in me as much as the need to see him again. I didn’t like things being unresolved, and we’d clearly left them that way.
And Harper had been dropping me more texts this week, poking around to try to find out about the woman I was dating. Of course, that just piled on more complicated emotions.
The digital numbers glared at me from my oven clock. Still an hour before our date. He’d agreed. I’d cling to hope, because I’d asked him to meet me at Stateline Woods Preserve when we were done with work, since he had an earlier shift today.
My phone buzzed with a call, and I leapt to answer.
The name “Susie” flashed on the screen, but I picked it up anyway.
“How’s it going, stranger?” Her familiar voice offered a comfort that I appreciated after spending so long in each other’s company. Yet nothing existed between us beyond that, no matter how hard we’d tried over the years.
“I call as much as I usually do,” I teased back.
“Which is minimal at best,” she responded. “Harper’s been telling me things, though, and I can admit I’m curious.”
I found a lean against the kitchen counter, my heart speeding up a bit. Had Harper figured out who I was seeing? Was she furious? The thought of disappointment or disgust on my daughter’s face made my stomach drop to the floor. “Oh? What sorts of things?”
“You’re starting to see someone? I want details,” Susi said, the excitement clear in her voice.
“How’s the relationship with Zack?” I asked back, in a feeble attempt at deflection.
“Really good,” she responded. “He’s going to be moving in next month.”
Jealousy socked me in the gut. Not like an ounce of competition existed between us post-divorce, but hearing about how she’d found what I wanted made the loneliness slice a little sharper.
Except the reality was, I had potential right in my hands, but I was too much of a coward to grasp it.
I might not be ready to face that yet, but I could maybe take a first step…
“I’m bisexual,” I blurted out.
Silence echoed on the other side of the phone, which clearly made me feel great.
“You still there?” My palms were already sweating.
“Yeah, just processing for a second,” Susie said. “This new? Or have you been bisexual for a long time?”
“Uh, the discovery is new, but I’m assuming it was latent there for a long while, not some flip of a switch.” I squeezed my nape with my sweaty palm, regretting the move at once.
“So the person you’re dating is…” She trailed off, as if she wanted me to fill in the blank.
“A man,” I clarified, my heart thumping so hard I was pretty sure she could hear it over the phone. “Though we’re not officially dating yet, uh, just…”
“Does Harper know?” she asked. Her questions weren’t offering the reassurance I needed right now that she wouldn’t see me differently.
“Not yet,” I said, tipping my head back to look at the ceiling.
“I won’t say anything yet, then,” she said, still not clarifying. I hated this, feeling like I danced on the edge of a knife. If this was what Harper had dealt with in coming to us, I had that much more respect for her.
“But…” I continued, waiting for Susie to drop the gut blow somewhere here.
“But what, Wy?” she asked. “You remember that Harper’s bi, right? I’m not unused to the whole coming-out thing.”
The relief I’d been waiting for rushed through me. I let out a heavy exhale. “Thanks, Sus. It was a bit unexpected, and he’s…young.”
“How young? Please tell me this isn’t some midlife crisis where you’re dating a pre-college guy.”
“Twenty-five,” I said, bracing myself.
“That’s old enough to have the basics figured out,” Susie said. “I wouldn’t sweat it. Yeah, he’s closer to Harper’s age than yours, but we also had a kid early, you know? Our timeline was always a bit discombobulated.”
“I wouldn’t change our past for the world, though.” I clutched the phone a little tighter, my chest warming.
“Neither would I,” she said. “But do me a favor and tell Harper sooner rather than later. She’ll probably be ecstatic you’re part of the rainbow mafia like her.”
That I wasn’t sure about, because even if she was fine with that, fine with the age, Rory was still her coworker and friend. Some lines were too complicated to cross.
“I’ll tell her soon,” I said because that was the damn truth. I was fast reaching the point of no return. The more time I spent around Rory, the more certain I became that what I felt for him was more than desire or curiosity.
He was the combination of Susie’s comfort that I missed and the thrill of attraction I’d long-since given up on. And god, I’d put my dating life on pause for so damn long, I didn’t want to miss the chance for the potential that percolated between us.
Yet if it broke Harper’s heart, I wasn’t sure I could continue.
All I knew was that Rory and I needed to sort things out. “Talk to you soon, okay? I’m heading out for a date with him now.”
“Have fun, Wy,” she said. “I’m glad you found someone.”
If only I could keep him.
Even though tension simmered inside me, a lot of the weight had disappeared after my talk with Susie. Which was good, because I wanted to enjoy every ounce of this evening with Rory.
We’d hung out several times already, but all of them had been casual and none of them an actual date. Mostly because I hadn’t realized my immediate attraction at first, just the craving to be by his side.
I hopped out of my truck, even though it was cold.
The brisk air would help me right now anyway.
I’d showered and thrown on some cologne, but dressed for a hike in jeans, a flannel, and a sturdy coat, along with the backpack I’d brought.
Sure, this wasn’t the club where we’d be able to get hot and heavy with each other, but damn, I wanted some time alone with him, to see if this truly had the potential I thought it did.
The parking lot wasn’t full with the crisp temperatures, so when Rory’s car entered the lot, he pulled right up next to mine.
The quick flash of his grin from the car was all it took for my heart to start racing.
Rory slipped out of his car and strode up to me, and just…goddamn.
The late-afternoon sun did him all the favors, and I couldn’t look away.
His dark hair swept across his forehead, styled with some product, and the black tank top paired with the leather jacket only enhanced his bad-boy look.
However, I knew Rory well enough to understand that despite the brazen comments, the lack of impulse control, and the snark, he was genuine and fun in a way I’d been drawn to from the start.
“You trying to give me literal blue balls?” Rory asked, tilting a head at the trail up ahead. “What about me says I’m the outdoorsy sort?”
“What if I promise to warm you up plenty later?” I asked, my voice coming out husky.
Rory’s eyes flared. “Sold. The only way I could be even more on board is if you promised an all-night exploration.”
I leaned against my car, slipping my hands into my pockets. “What, you want me to fuck you the whole night long? What about bend you over my knee again?”
“That’s what I’m offering,” Rory said with a lascivious wink. “And bend me over any time you like.”
Fuck, everything about him was so damn alluring that I couldn’t resist. I pushed off from my car, closed the space between him, and pressed my lips to his.
The fact we were doing this out in the open, where anyone could see us, settled in my veins, but even the slight edge of worry didn’t conquer the lust burning through me, the need to claim this man any way I could.
His lips were soft against mine, and he melted at once.
I tugged Rory’s body to me and slid my tongue into his mouth, set on devouring him.
The heat of him offset the cold from the breeze perfectly, and I savored the velvet feel, the taste.
He let out a soft moan, and it shot pure electricity through my veins.
God, I couldn’t get enough of him. My cock had already woken up at the feel of his body, the sweet surrender he offered.
My balls throbbed, the memory of our last orgasm together too strong.
I pulled back, my breaths coming out a little unsteady. “If we don’t get moving, I’m likely to fuck you right here against my truck.”
“Sounds good to me.” Rory fluttered his lashes, a constant flirt.
A wave of self-doubt rushed over me. What the hell was I doing with him?
This was a guy who went to the club on the regular, who could have any guy he wanted.
And I hadn’t planned anything exciting like…
sky diving or some shit. No, I’d dragged him out to a trail because I’d wanted to share a piece of myself with him.
The urge to run back to my car reared in a big way.
My brothers had called most of my ideas dull over the years, so I’d gotten used to doing things on my own.
And after I married Susie and had Harper, my siblings had been eager to add to the reasons I was boring, ignoring the fact that having a kid was all-consuming, especially at the young age I did.
“This is probably the lamest date you’ve ever been on,” I muttered, clutching the back of my neck. “I won’t blame you if you skip out. Not like you can pull the restaurant trick of disappearing into a bathroom, but if you get a sudden call from a family member, I get it.”
“Whoa, where is this coming from?” Rory asked, placing a palm on my chest. “I like hiking, which we’ve discussed.
Pretty sure the whole point of a date is to spend time together, yeah?
You’ll need to clarify, though, because I haven’t been on…
well, any that weren’t just a precursor to a hookup.
” He glanced away, and that melted any hold my worries had over me.
I leaned in and stole a quick kiss from him again. “Mine haven’t been for a long, long while, so maybe we can fumble through together.” So easily, he’d just dispelled those ghosts from the past. So easily, he’d made me feel light, joyous, interesting.
“Sounds perfect.” Rory flashed me a brilliant grin, and my heart thundered.
I slipped my hand into his, and together we took the first steps down the winding trail at Stateline Woods.
“What’s in that pack of yours?” Rory asked, nudging my backpack.
“A few snacks and a handle of rum,” I said.
“That sounds anything but boring, Wyatt Anderson,” Rory said, swinging our hands back and forth as we walked down the path.
The winter had carved the landscape in harsher tones, skeletal branches and barren grounds, but there was a beauty here too. Endings held promise too, which was proof positive in Susie and me getting our divorce.
I thought my life was like the winter, where I was hitting the fallow ending of my cycle after raising a daughter.
Yet Rory had swept in with the promise of spring. With the promise of starting over anew.
And if he was willing to take the chance on me, I wanted to offer him the world.