Chapter 24 Wesley
WESLEY
It took me precisely five minutes of knocking on Rosie’s door to realize she wasn’t there, and two minutes after that to remember her mentioning her book club.
I immediately knew that was where she would be.
Although I’d never been inside, I knew where the library was, and all but sped to my destination.
I made my way inside and noticed there was no one sitting at the desk inside. Frowning, I started to walk around, looking for where the book club might be being held, and noticed a symphony of voices that seemed to be coming from one of the corners near the back.
“Back to the sex,” I heard a voice that sounded light and pleased with the discussion.
“Says the book and banged club?” I stumbled over my feet at that. The book and banged club? What the hell? Have I walked into some twilight version of The Library with Naughty Librarians?
“For the love of god, no.” The voice who belonged to the woman I'd been searching for rang out. “Please, stop.”
“Yes, I knew the second I said it that it was no good.” A woman I’d never seen before in my life stood next to Rosie, and I felt the way my shoulders sagged in relief at finding her.
“The sex and the what?” I finally found my voice. Who is having sex with who? My blood started to boil at the thought of Rosie having sex with anyone who wasn’t—
“And who might you be?” a humble-looking lady said. Her blue glasses were striking and matched her round eyes perfectly.
“Wesley,” I told her. Rosie still had her back to me, like she was waiting for me to leave. I walked over to her, but before I could get another word out, I was struck by what was in front of Rosie that had her attention.
“What…What is that?” I asked no one in particular.
“A battle royale, of sorts, if you will,” the one with paint in her hair said.
I still couldn’t exactly figure out what I was looking at, but whatever it was certainly had them all extremely pleased with themselves.
There were a few guys I knew from around town who were crossed out, as well as some guys I’d never met before, all with handwritten notes or observations—even some with full conversations.
Different colors voiced different views.
It was extremely well thought out, whatever it was.
Then I made it to the end—The Final Contenders—and I read the paragraphs describing each of them. “The final contenders for what?” I asked the group.
“For dating and hopefully marrying Rosie, dear.” Blue Glasses said the last part in a whisper out of the corner of her mouth, and I thought my brain short-circuited. Marry? Rosie? Who? Over my dead body.
“What?” Rosie screeched. “You said four dates! I can handle four dates. I’m not promising anything more than that.”
“Five dates,” Glasses corrected, and I felt my chest constrict and the air around me thin as I focused on her, wanting to get off the topic as soon as possible.
“Fine. Five.” Rosie’s own glasses had tipped down her nose. I used to joke that I would buy her one of those cords that went around the neck to keep them secured on her person. She had been horrified at the suggestion that she wear one because it would age her, as she’d told me dramatically.
I couldn’t stop myself as I reached out and gently slid them up for her, and the air around us that was buzzing briefly with whispers from the other occupants completely stopped as they took in what I was doing.
“Oh, uhm…Thanks, Wes,” Rosie murmured.
“Wesley,” I said softly as I moved to brush some hair out of her eyes. I wanted to demand she look at me instead of the floor. But before I could say anything…
“I’m Maggie,” the one in charge of all the others said. “That’s Orla”—she pointed to who was on her left—“Evelyn”—the one with paint in her hair—“Meredith.”—the stern looking one. And then she moved to introduce the woman who looked like she had just stepped out of a high fashion magazine.
“Jeanie,” she introduced herself before Maggie could.
Her French accent had me shaking my head because it suited her perfectly.
“It is such a pleasure to meet you.” She extended her hand to me and made a motion that made me realize she wanted me to kiss it, so I brought it to my mouth and gently kissed her knuckles while she fanned herself. “Well, aren’t you yummy?”
“Jeanie!” Maggie admonished.
“Children come to the library.” Meredith’s monotone voice exactly matched my first impression of her—stern.
“Can we not?” Rosie all but begged them. Her skin was dusted in different shades of red, her chest was rather pink while her face was a brighter color, and I wanted to see exactly where that blush went…I almost choked on my spit at the thought. First, the shower. Now…
“Wes, why don’t we talk outside?” My mouth was still dry at the thought I just had, and I was in the process of unswallowing my tongue.
“Wes?” I heard her ask again, but it wasn’t until she put her hand on my bicep and squeezed that I was pulled from my stupor. And when I shook my head to clear the fog, I saw the way Maggie was shooting me a sympathetic look.
“Sorry, what?”
“Let’s go outside to talk.” Her hand gripped my arm tightly, and for someone so much smaller than I was, she was surprisingly strong.
But she didn’t need to be. I was going to follow her willingly, although I was still grappling with all the information and realizations that seemed to be going off like fireworks in my mind at that moment.
“Sure. Outside.” I all but stumbled after her, focusing more on the heat that was spreading from where her hand stayed locked on my skin to other parts of my body.
Before I could embarrass myself, we made it to the front doors.
She all but shoved me out of them, and I started to question my sanity.
I didn’t think I’d ever been so turned on in my life.
“Wes, what are you doing here?” Rosie asked me the second the cool air touched our faces. She spun around to face me, effectively removing herself from touching me. I frowned at the loss of contact, and wanted to pull her hand back to where it had been. “Wes,” she said again.
“Wesley.” I was pretty sure I almost spit as I seethed my own name.
“Wesley,” she finally said in a huff. And my lips quirked to one side upon finally hearing her say my full name.
“Let’s get coffee. Please?”
“Get coffee with him, dear.” We both turned to the sound of the voice, only to see the ladies who I had a sneaking feeling were going to either make my life a walk in the park or a walk over broken glass.
“Would you guys mind your own business?” Rosie hissed at them, but her facial features were soft as she took them in.
“This is our business,” Evelyn told her. Everyone else nodded at her words.
“Fine. Fine, let’s go get coffee. We won’t get a moment of peace otherwise.” She gave them her best glare that only caused them all to give her varying looks of adoration as she did her best to mean-mug them. I gave her an after you gesture.
“I can drive,” I told her. “I’ll bring you back to your car after.”
She bit her lip, and I once again found myself gravitating toward her, wondering what it would be like if I bit her lip instead.
Would it be as soft as it looks? Would she gasp…
or whimper? I don’t think I’ve ever heard Rosie make a sound like that.
And suddenly, all I could focus on was wondering what it would sound like.
“Uhm…Wesley…The door…” Rosie tried to put herself between my arm and the door to get it open, but I had once again been stuck in a moment of whatever the fuck was going on when it came to my thoughts. I felt like my hardware was crossing wires and not communicating.
“The door,” I mimicked.
“The door to the car, to get coffee…The coffee you asked me to get.” She looked at me like I’d sprouted two heads, and it was my turn to turn a shade that resembles a tomato.
“Right, the door. To the car,” I told her sheepishly as I placed my hand on the small of her back to move her gently so she wouldn’t get hit.
I didn’t miss the way her breath hitched when I placed my hand on her, and as she moved to get in the car, I leaned in and caught the sweetest scent of coconut and vanilla. My mouth watered.
“Wesley, you have to close the door now.” I didn’t even realize that she was sitting down, and I just blinked at her for a moment, lost in notes of vanilla.
“Right. The door,” I said again. Am I even capable of words at this point?
“Yes, the door.” She was staring at me in concern now. “Are you okay? You look flushed. Are you sick? Maybe I should take you home.”
“No,” I almost shouted. The look on her face was comical, and I had to bite back my laugh.
Because if I started laughing, she would think I had gone insane, and to be honest, I felt like I had.
I felt hot, feverish, and annoyed, the board of contenders itching parts of my mind I couldn’t shut off.
And I was salivating over coconut and vanilla.
“I’m completely and totally fine, and we are going to get coffee.”
Fine. I am completely and totally fine.