Chapter 22 #2
My whole body moves to the music, my hips getting in on the action. We picked a table right near the small dance floor, and I step away so I can do a spin.
“See? I’d totally get her back with these moves!”
“Or send her running.”
“Fuck you,” I say with a laugh. “You know what would really get her if she saw it?”
I don’t bother to wait for an answer, because I’m pretty sure he doesn’t actually want to know. Doesn’t matter to me, I’m going to show him anyway.
This time I spin slower, circling my hips at the same time, and with one hand I undo my belt. Brody lets out a yell of protest, but it’s too late, I yank at the leather, and in one smooth movement that I’ve practiced numerous times for socials, my belt comes free from my jeans.
“Oh my god,” a voice from another table squeals.
A louder one shouts, “Yes, cowboy!”
My arms spread out wide in victory as I look at Brody. “See! I told you, man! If she saw these moves, she’d have no choice but to take me back. It’s a good plan.”
“You plan on using your belt to tie her up?” he asks, eyeing it as I swing it around while I dance.
I grin at him. It’s not a bad idea, but something tells me that wouldn’t be her style. “A gentleman never tells.”
“I meant to keep her around after those dance moves,” he retorts.
“Fuck you,” I tell him again with a laugh, because it seems to be the only retort my brain can come up with right now. “I’m amazing.”
“You know if it weren’t for you being with Bryn, I’d ask if you wanted to be in the auction in October,” Savanna says, appearing next to Brody with two fresh beers for us. “The ladies are already going crazy for your moves.”
Brody lifts his beer. “He got dumped.”
The words come out casually, like they won’t burst the bubble I’ve been creating for myself in my delusions.
“What?” Savanna gasps, her eyes bouncing between the two of us.
My dancing ends, and I fall back into my seat, heaving a sigh. Dropping my head back, I scrub both hands over my face. Did he really need to say it to someone? It makes it more real. Especially since Savanna and Bryn are so close.
“Wyatt, what happened?” Savanna asks, pulling out a chair.
I guess this means Bryn hasn’t been shouting it from the rooftops.
Then again, it’s only been a few hours.
“You’re a dick,” I tell Brody, sitting up to grab my new beer. Chugging half of it, I let out an ‘ahhh,’ then finally bring my eyes to Savanna. “She has priorities.”
If facial expressions could talk, this woman would be screaming.
The way her eyes roll, and her cheeks puff out, fully exasperated, she looks ready to strangle Bryn.
Or me? Maybe it’s me. I’m starting to wonder if I should have done more, but then I remind myself what I saw on her face.
I can argue with Brody, but I couldn’t argue with Bryn.
Am I this bad at firefighting too? Is that why my dad always tells me I’m no good at it? Maybe he’s right.
Fuck. The beer might be starting to go to my head.
“Yes, she does. And they’re noble and wonderful priorities, but that girl needs to do more for herself,” Savanna sighs, playing with the end of her braided blonde hair. “She drives me crazy. I’ll talk to her.”
“No,” I tell her, shaking my head. “I need to figure this out. We’re working on a plan.”
“He’s working on a plan,” Brody corrects.
“Let me guess,” Savanna kicks back in the chair, a grin on her face. “You’re telling him if it’s good or not?”
Brody lets a genuine smile slide across his lips, then raises his beer to take a drink. It’s all the confirmation Savanna needs because she turns to me, snorting.
“Good luck finding something he’ll think is a good idea.”
“Yeah, I realized that five ideas ago.”
Granted my first few ideas weren’t great.
Flowers were lame. She wasn’t going to agree to another date where I’d wow her out of her priorities.
Brody didn’t think me mowing the grass every other day would do me any favors besides getting the cops called.
And he vetoed me hiring a plane with a message trailing behind it.
“As a female who knows Bryn, what would you suggest?” I ask Savanna, blinking a few times to clear some of the beer fog from my eyes.
“Maybe just give her some space,” she suggests. “Bryn is a hard one to crack, but you were doing a good job. She might just need to settle in after everything with Gran.”
Sighing, I pick up my beer and take a few gulps. While that was my initial assessment, it feels like I should be doing more, because doing nothing feels wrong. I just wish I knew exactly what to do.
“I’m sorry, Wyatt.”
“He’s been on this same loop all night,” Brody mutters to Savanna, but it’s loud enough for me to hear. “Hope, excitement, realization, despair. It’ll come back around.”
Bringing my glass back to the table, I lean forward and feel a crease forming between my brows. “Hope. That’s it. That’s what I need to do.”
“What?” Savanna asks. “What do you need to do?”
Brody meets my eyes, but doesn’t say a word, just waits for me to spit out my newest idea. But it’s not just an idea. It’s exactly what I’m going to do. I don’t know if it’ll get me anywhere with Bryn, but it’ll give me something to remind myself not to give up hope. And that is somewhere.
“Brody, you’re tatted up—you know a guy?”
Surprise flickers in his eyes. His head cocks a degree to the left. Then a smile lifts the corners of his mouth. “Now that’s a plan I can get behind.”