Chapter 4 #3
“Mine,” Wyatt said, throwing his second dart into the wall. “Can’t wait to hear what jobs Aiden assigns me next week.”
I’d forgotten that extra bit of complication. Wyatt worked for Aiden’s construction company.
Cammie cringed. “Yeah, let’s hope he cools off by Monday.”
“This is ridiculous,” Theo said, rubbing his forehead.
“I’m going to head out,” I said. “My partner is coming over with his niece early tomorrow.”
Wyatt paused mid-throw, looked at me, and frowned. “Come on, man,” he said, tossing the dart toward the board without a glance and scoring higher than his other throws. “Have a beer with me, and then I’ll walk you out, so you don’t have to pass their table alone.”
I fought a laugh. I had several inches and twenty pounds of muscle on Wyatt, not to mention years of hand-to-hand combat training, so the idea of him protecting me was a little funny. “You think I need a bodyguard?”
“Maybe,” Cal said with a shrug.
“Aiden won’t do anything in front of Lauren, but Poppy’s another story,” Theo added.
“Noted,” I said. “Have a good night, y’all.”
“Nice to finally meet you, Levi,” Maddie said. “Hope to see you again.”
It could have sounded flirtatious, but something in her tone and expression told me it wasn’t. Wyatt was quiet while we walked to the bar, but as soon as he’d ordered our beers, he turned to me and burst out laughing.
“Of all the cops in town to arrest Theo,” he said, his shoulders shaking. “It had to be you.”
Leave it to Wyatt to find humor in the situation. “Sorry I made things uncomfortable,” I said.
Wyatt waved his hand and picked up the beer the bartender placed in front of him. “If Theo doesn’t have a problem with you, no one should.”
“He seems like a good guy,” I said, grabbing my beer and taking a pull. I’d have asked for something stronger if I wasn’t driving home.
“They’re all good people,” Wyatt said, fiddling with the label on his bottle.
“That’s obvious,” I said. “I even get why Aiden and Poppy are pissed at me.”
“Well, at least you got to spend a little time with Everly,” Wyatt said with a smirk.
During one of our basketball games, I might have mentioned how difficult it was to focus on the stand when a certain lawyer questioned me. “Would have been nice if you’d told me that you were friends with her, so I stopped running my mouth.”
“I’m not exactly,” Wyatt said. “She’s really close with Aiden. Like his little sister or something.”
Great. Now the guy could add lusting after his pseudo sister to the reasons he had to kick my ass, though I had faith Wyatt would keep that info to himself. “Hope he doesn’t take it out on you at work for inviting me tonight.”
“Nah,” Wyatt said. “Lauren likes you. She’ll talk some sense into him. Eventually.”
We both glanced at the table where everyone was pushing back and standing. As they walked past us, Poppy and Aiden kept their eyes straight ahead. Lauren and Rowan waved. Everly trailed slightly behind them and stopped by Wyatt’s barstool.
“They should behave now if y’all want to come back to the game,” she said.
“Thanks, but I’m heading out after I finish this,” I said, holding up my half-full beer.
“Oh,” she said, her smile falling ever so slightly. “Well, it was nice seeing you, Levi. Thanks for the darts lesson.”
I nodded. After she walked away, Wyatt slapped my shoulder.
“Dude, what was that? She invited you back to the game. The game where you’re her partner.”
“She was just being polite,” I said before drinking down the last of my beer. Which was probably true. It wasn’t like we could hook up tonight and face each other across an interview table on Monday.
“Sure,” Wyatt said, taking another sip of his nearly full beer. “You two seemed real polite earlier. I think I’ll ask Cammie to tutor me in darts. Looks fun.”
“You need all the help you can get,” I said, and he laughed.
“I’m not drinking this any faster, so settle in, buddy,” Wyatt said, taking another miniscule sip from his bottle. “Want another?”
I shook my head but resigned myself to at least ten more minutes at the bar. “So, you’re planning to propose to Cammie?” I asked quietly.
Wyatt smiled larger than I’d ever seen and nodded. “I have the ring already. I’m going to ask her dad when we visit him in June.”
“You know she doesn’t need anyone’s permission, right?” The thought of some guy serving life for making poison keeping my friend from marrying Cammie set my teeth on edge.
“I know that,” Wyatt said. “Hell, he knows that. It’s more symbolic than anything. A show of respect. It’s hard, him not being part of her day-to-day life. It’s something I can give him.”
I nodded, impressed yet again with Wyatt’s kindness.
“It’s torture waiting, though,” he said with a laugh. “I had Lauren hide the ring from me, so I don’t just blurt out a proposal.”
I laughed at that. It’s exactly something Wyatt would do. “I bet you hate keeping it a secret from her.”
He nodded, some of the amusement slipping from his face. “I’m done keeping secrets.”
“Plural?” I asked, my tone teasing. “I thought the only thing you were hiding was your diabetes?”
When Wyatt finally told me he’d been struggling with late-onset Type 1, I was hurt.
And surprised. I’d replayed all the interactions I’d had with him and realized how skilled he’d been at hiding his symptoms or explaining them away as something else.
I always knew when he was lying, but it never seemed like anything to call him on.
The hurt eased when he confessed he hadn’t even told his parents or twin brother.
“That’s a pretty big thing to hide,” he said, taking another sip of beer.
“How are you doing with the pump?” I asked.
“Good,” he said before letting out a curse. “It’s going to yell at me any minute for not accounting for the beer.”
He lifted his shirt and punched some buttons on the machine attached to his abdomen. We talked about his architecture classes at the college until he’d drained his beer. With our obligatory drink finished and the path to the door clear, I pushed back from the sticky bar top and stood.
“Theo was kidding, right?” I asked.
Wyatt slid from his barstool. “Let me go with you.”
As we walked toward the door, I couldn’t help looking over my shoulder.
Everly stood in the middle of the group with a huge smile on her face.
For a moment our eyes locked, and her smile settled into something softer.
I dipped my chin to her, and she did the same before I turned and followed Wyatt out of the bar.
“Just being polite again,” Wyatt said with a smirk.
“Exactly,” I said as I started toward my Jeep.
Instead of going back inside, Wyatt followed. “It’s clear she likes you, man. Why not ask her out?”
“Because I don’t feel like torturing myself.”
He tilted his head at me and frowned. “How would going out with Everly be torture?”
“Because it can’t go anywhere,” I said, pulling open the door to my Jeep.
A loud pop had me shoving Wyatt to the pavement before I registered the grit in my eyes.
“What the fuck?” Wyatt said and then started laughing.
My eyes watered as I tried to force them open.
“That’s going to take forever to clean from the upholstery,” he said. “Not to mention you.”
Flecks of red sparkled all over my clothes and the front seat of my Jeep in the light from the streetlamp. Wyatt was still laughing but rubbing his elbow. “You OK?” I asked.
“Yeah,” he said. “You?”
I couldn’t exactly tell him not to worry with my eyes barely open. “There’s a bottle of water in the cup holder. Grab it for me, please.”
“Son of Biscuit,” Poppy said, walking toward us from a dark corner of the parking lot. “Why are you two on the pavement?”
Because I thought someone was shooting at us and shoved Wyatt down with me.
“Like you don’t know,” Wyatt said, standing and reaching into my Jeep. “He’s a cop, Poppy. That thing sounded like a gunshot.”
“I might have pressurized it too much,” she said, squatting down to look at me and the aftermath of her glitter bomb. “Oh fuck, did I blind you?”
She sounded genuinely distressed, so despite the fire in my eyes, I told her, “I’m fine.”
Wyatt handed me the water, and I tilted my head back to flush out the grit.
“Do you always carry glitter bombs with you?” Wyatt asked.
She didn’t answer him. When I opened my eyes, she was staring at me with obvious concern. “Sorry,” she said in a small voice. “That probably wasn't the best prank to play on a cop.”
“I’ve been hit with worse and survived. I’m good now. Are we?” I asked her.
She nodded. “I can stop by tomorrow and vacuum the craft herpes from your Jeep.”
“Nah, we’re good,” I said, standing. “Consider it my last act of penitence for cuffing your husband.”
A flash went off, and Poppy and I both turned to look at Wyatt.
“This is too good not to share,” he said, lowering his phone.
Poppy narrowed her eyes at him. “I wouldn’t if I were you.”
“Yeah, please don’t,” I said. “I’ll be Officer Sparkles forever.”
And even if I couldn’t act on it, I really liked the idea of Everly thinking of me as Officer Studly.