Chapter 27 Quite the Arm
QUITE THE ARM
Wyatt
Of all the god damn nights for this chick to show up and “stake her claim”, it had to be now? When I was in the middle of wooing a woman like Ember? After I’d told her I wasn’t interested and even went as far as blocking her number?
“What do you want, Mia?”
“Oh come on baby, I’ve missed you,” the petite blond whined in my lap as she tried to wind her arms around my neck.
I tried to politely peel her off of me without dumping her onto the dirty bar floor, but she was like a leech, and I was attempting the gentlemanly type of route here.
“Mia, I mean this with the most respect, but I feel like my saying I’m done and then not returning your calls made my stance on the matter very clear.
” I slowly started to stand until she was forced to get off my lap.
“Plus, I’m seeing someone,” I added as I stood to my full height and peered down at her.
“Uh, bro?” Theo muttered next to me.
“What the fuck do you mean? You’re seeing someone?” Mia yelled over the music, her eyes wide and lips parted. As I stared down at her and her shiny pink lip gloss, I questioned what in the hell I was thinking hooking up with her, let alone multiple times.
“Yes, I am,” I stated plainly.
“Wyatt,” Theo said again.
I looked over at him in enough time for him to tilt his chin in the direction of the exit, and I turned to see a swaying swatch of silver make its way out of the door.
Fuck me.
I moved around Mia and started towards the door, only for Ivy and Damien to run out behind me.
“Dude, I’m sorry! She’s quick,” Damien muttered.
I didn’t reply, mostly because I wasn’t sure what he was talking about, but as the screaming started, I found myself running in the direction of the sound, anxiety spiking because while I’d never heard her scream like that, I was heavily familiar with her screams, nonetheless.
Red curls under the parking lot streetlights, the sparkles of her dress swaying, her heels digging into the gravel, all of it was somehow picturesque.
But what truly stopped me in my tracks? Watching her swing a baseball bat at my bike and scream obscenities at me—even though she had no idea I was standing here yet.
Damien cleared his throat next to me. “Do you want help stopping her or?”
“Ember, I think you got the point across, babe!” Aspen hollered over her screaming. It was clear from her tone that she was trying to hold back a laugh.
“Quite the arm she’s got bro,” Rowan said from the other side of me.
“I’m so glad I arrived in time to witness this. Is this the new girl? She’s perfect for you,” Payton stated. “Hey, D. Drinks? It’s been a long ass day.”
“Uh, yeah. Yes. Let’s go. Good luck, Wyatt.” He clapped me on the back and walked away with Payton.
More words were exchanged, more gravel crunching beneath boots and heels, but all I did was stand on the edge of the parking lot with my arms crossed as I watched the woman I’d been obsessing over for months, take a baseball bat to one of my favorite things I’d ever owned.
“I think I’m in love,” I muttered to myself.
The bike was on its side in the gravel, windshield and mirrors shattered, side dented up a bit—nothing that didn’t seem easily fixed.
I thought about what I wanted to say, but nothing came to mind as she turned around, panting and covered in a fine layer of sweat, staring at me with the weapon clutched in her hand.
“Do you want to maybe drop that?” I questioned while dipping my chin towards the bat still clutched in her hand.
She shook her head, the movement making the red curls fall over her shoulders and frame her face.
“Fuck it,” I finally said with an arrogant smirk, because there was one sure-fire way to calm my girl down.
Closing the remaining distance between us, my hand wrapping around the back of her neck as I pulled her towards me. Our lips met in pure chaos and catastrophe—perfection. She was everything I ever wanted, and nothing I ever asked for, wrapped into one fiery little package.
I stepped us backwards until we were pressed against the truck parked next to me, her matching my every step until her backside was pressed between me and polished metal.
She bit my bottom lip, and I couldn’t help the groan that escaped me, my hand tightening on her neck while the other squeezed her hip.
The baseball bat hit the ground, and her hands came up underneath my shirt until her nails were digging into the expanse of my chest. It felt as if she was trying to claw her way inside of me until her fingers hit my nipples, her touch lightening as she tugged on the bars through them.
“Fuck Ember,” I growled, reluctantly breaking the kiss before I took her right here against this truck in the parking lot.
Her light chocolate brown eyes stared up at me, and fuck, I wanted to kiss her again.
I wanted to strip her down right here and take advantage of the anger boiling beneath her skin.
I wanted to taste it on her tongue while her body shook beneath me.
“You called me by my name,” she murmured, and I just found myself nodding in confirmation before she continued, her eyes narrowed. “If I ever see that bitch on your lap again, it’ll be her I go after with the baseball bat, not your bike.”
If I weren’t already hard as a rock, that would’ve done it. “Yes ma’am.”
Her gaze dropped as she tried to look away, but I grabbed her chin, pulling her back to me before she could start to overthink about what just happened. I wouldn’t allow it.
Leaning down, my lips brushed hers before a smile overtook my face. “You’re mine, little flame, no going back now.”
She glared up at me and rolled her eyes as if what I was telling her wasn’t the entire truth down to the last syllable. She could tell herself all she wanted that this wasn’t real, but I was in it for life.
I knelt down slightly and scooped her up, her chest going over my shoulder, and I walked a few cars down to her Jeep.
“Wyatt!” she screeched. “Asshole! Put me down!”
Ignoring her, I opened the passenger door of her Jeep, setting her down on the seat. Staring into her brown eyes, open-handed and waiting, I said nothing.
“Fuck you,” she muttered quietly, her arms crossed beneath her breasts as she stared out the windshield. “You’re not driving my car. You can walk home for all I care. You and your fucking girlfriend.”
I groaned. “Key. Now.”
“Fuck. Off. Now,” she replied, still not meeting my gaze.
“As soon as you hand over your keys, we can move on to that portion of the evening, little flame.”
Openly glaring at me for a moment, she let out a slow breath through her nose before she reached down into her dress and pulled out the car key for me, handing it over.
“Good girl,” I whispered and kissed her cheek before reaching up, grabbing her seat belt, and clicking it across her chest.
Her door closed, a quick jog around the front, and I was in the driver’s seat, doors locked—in case she had the genius idea to jump—and we were ready to go.
“You’re not staying when we get there,” she grumbled, her arms crossed across her chest again as she stared ahead of us. It wasn’t a far drive, but it did give us a few minutes to talk before we were in her apartment. Together. “We fuck, you leave.”
“You’re more than welcome to try to get rid of me, Ember, but good luck.”
“Was it you sending the flowers and notes? You never denied it, but you didn’t confirm it either,” she questioned after a short moment of silence.
“Would it be anyone else?” I asked, an arched brow thrown her way before my eyes returned to the road. I expected some smart and sassy reply, but she said nothing instead.
Tires screeching as I slammed my foot onto the brake, the Jeep stopped in the middle of the road before I slid it into park. My gaze settled on her as she stared at me from the passenger seat.
“Would it be anyone else, Ember Rae?” I growled, throwing her middle name in there, as I leaned back in the seat—one hand on the wheel, the other sitting on the middle console just itching to lean her over this seat and fuck her in the middle of this road.
But I wouldn’t. That wasn’t how I wanted our first time together as us to be.
She just stared at me though, her arms still crossed, the small fidget she was doing pressing her breasts together in a way that did horribly dirty things to my already pornographic mind when it came to this woman.
“I don’t know. You have Mia, you never know who I have in my past, on the side, whatever,” she finally said, her dark eyes glaring across the car at me.
Ember genuinely couldn’t help but pick a fight with me, and damn did it leave me infuriatingly giddy.
“You’ve only had one boyfriend. An asshole named Jimmy who cheated on you in high school.
Moron if you ask me. You’ve got two little brothers, and your parents don’t live together but are still legally married.
You’ve owned and operated the bakery alone for the last three years.
You bought the building and opened it with the money your grandfather left you after he passed.
You’re fucking smart as hell when it comes to business moves, and you’re good with your money.
You’ve been operating in the green for almost a year now, and it’s only going up.
You go to a hot yoga class every Wednesday morning, followed by lunch with your mom.
You only talk to your brothers when they call you—you never call first, and you haven’t spoken to your father in years. Did I miss anything?” I asked.
Her eyes widened as I spoke, and she stared at me. “What…the…fuck, Wyatt.”
I shrugged. “I wanted to know all there was to know about you on the outside so I didn’t have to waste precious time I could be using to get to know everything else on the inside that you so desperately want to hide away.”