Chapter 23
EDEN
“I had a really nice time tonight,”Wyatt says as he walks me from the restaurant to my car.
It takes several seconds before I register what he’s said.
“Oh yeah, I had a nice time too.” I hope my smile doesn’t look as forced as it feels. Poor Wyatt. I actually had a wonderful time with him. This first date is one of the best first dates I’ve ever had. He was engaging and sweet and attentive. And I was totally planning on asking him out on a second date until Danny showed up, kissed me, and threw everything I was thinking about doing completely out the window.
It’s wild how a bit of groveling from him has changed how I feel. Five minutes ago, I was livid with him. But now? Now, Danny is all I can think about.
“This is me.” I point to my car that’s parked along the street.
Wyatt and I stand on the sidewalk, doing that awkward end-of-a-first-date shuffle where we quietly look at each other, wondering how it’s going to end. A kiss? A hug? A request for a second date?
“I had a really nice time,” I quickly say as my nerves whirl inside my stomach.
Wyatt chuckles. “You already said that.”
“Oh! Right! I just…really mean it. Thank you again for dinner.”
“It was my pleasure.” Judging by the smile on Wyatt’s face, he’s unfazed by my awkwardness.
He takes a step toward me. “Can I kiss you?”
Inside I deflate. I normally think it’s cute when a guy asks if he can kiss me on a date. But after the way Danny grabbed me and kissed the ever-loving hell out of me before whispering about the filthy things he’s dying to do to me, everything else kind of falls flat in comparison to the outright hotness of that.
If you change your mind, you know where to find me
I halt the storm of naughty thoughts that Danny’s growled words from minutes ago conjure up inside of me. This isn’t fair to Wyatt. I actually really like him. I should give him a chance. If Danny hadn’t so rudely—and hotly—interrupted, I’d be giddy at the thought of kissing him.
“I’d like that,” I say to Wyatt, who flashes a sweet smile before taking a single step into my space. He cups his hand gently over my cheek and presses his mouth to mine. And then he moves his lips softly, gently against me.
He ends this impossibly sweet kiss after a few seconds.
Together we stand and look at each other. His expression is expectant, like he’s waiting for me to say something, anything.
“That was nice,” I finally say.
Wyatt’s smile falters a bit before he recovers. “It was.” When he shoves his hands in his jacket pockets, I notice his shoulders slump the slightest bit. He’s clearly disappointed by my tepid response.
It was sweet. So ridiculously sweet. And that’s the problem. Because as nice as this date and that kiss with Wyatt were, they don’t compare to what Danny did to me.
Yeah, he messed up. He hurt my feelings. But he apologized. And he showed me what a demon he can be with this mouth. And as much as I love sweetness—as much as I like Wyatt—I want Danny. I always have.
I lean over and pull Wyatt into a hug. He breaks the embrace a beat before I do, a clear indication that he’s ready for this to be over. Part of me is relieved about that honestly.
“I’ll call you,” he says as I round the car to the driver’s side.
A polite smile and nod is my silent response. I take in how his own smile is slight and reads a mix of polite and disappointed. It’s clear he’s disappointed. There’s a strong chance he’s just saying that to be polite and will never text or call me again, which is totally fine. I deserve that.
He waits until I’m in the car and start it before he waves and walks off. As I drive off and ease to a stop at a traffic light, I pull out my phone and type Danny’s address into my map app.
I put my phone on speaker, my heart racing as I follow the commands to his place.