Chapter 16
sixteen
“What do you want to do today?” Wyatt asks, his hand in mine as we sit at my kitchen table.
It’s been two weeks since the impromptu party after the game. It was one of the best nights of my life. It felt good to finally let go and just be for a little while.
Wyatt didn’t try to keep me out or pout when he had to take me home. He simply told everyone he would see them later and loaded me up in his car. Then he sat on my porch with me under a blanket until the wee hours of the morning while we talked about everything and nothing at all.
It felt unreal. Like a fairy tale. It was like we were in one of those rom-coms I used to always watch. The ones where you are yelling at the screen because you know they are going to end up together.
The problem is I don’t know if we are going to end up together.
I really want us to, though. I know I should bring it up to him, but I don’t.
I’m scared of my feelings. With Kyle it was easy.
I think deep down inside I knew we wouldn’t last. He was always planning to leave, and I was always going to stay. We were going down different paths.
With Wyatt though? I am scared shitless. I have no idea where his path leads, but I want to be on it with him. That makes me feel guilty, though. I should want to stay here with Dad, but Wyatt makes me want to be selfish. I never will, but the fantasy lives in my head.
Still, Wyatt isn’t making it easy for me.
I haven’t had a chance to make it to another game since two weeks ago.
Will has taken a few shifts for a coworker who went out of town, but that doesn’t matter to Wyatt.
He still finds ways to see me. Like this morning, he could be sleeping in, but instead he woke up early and came over to help with Dad.
The respite worker will be here today. This is her first time. I asked Wyatt if he wanted to do something, which of course he agreed to without question.
“I don’t want to go far. Is it weird? I know she is a nurse and knows way more than I do even with my schooling, but it feels weird leaving him here with a stranger.”
He gives me an understanding smile. “No, it’s not weird. You are giving up a little bit of the control to someone else. She will have your number and we will stay close. How about we go to my place? We can grab food on the way and be within five minutes if anything happens.”
“You’re okay with that? Really? I know it would be more fun if we went and did something or, like, hung out with people but…”
He cuts me off. “Baby, as long as I am with you, the rest doesn’t matter.”
This.
This is why I am falling head over heels for Wyatt Scott. It scares the fuck out of me. I feel more for him in the couple months we have been doing whatever the hell this is than I felt in three years with Kyle.
It goes to show that what I thought was love wasn’t shit.
“If you are sure,” I mumble.
He leans forward, pressing his lips to mine. “I’m sure.”
A knock on the door has me pulling away. My hands are sweaty as I open it.
“Hello, I’m Janice. I’ll be your respite nurse.”
“Thank you. I’m Lyla.” I hold out my hand. “Sorry, I’m nervous. My brother will be out in a minute. He works nights, so this is usually when he is sleeping,” I tell her.
She nods. “I will be sure to keep it down for him.”
I escort her inside, letting her set her things on the counter.
“This is my boyfriend, Wyatt. He helps with Dad a lot,” I tell her.
“Nice to meet you.”
Before I can say anything more, Will comes out, yawning.
“Hey, I’m Will. Thank you for coming.”
“Of course. Happy to be of service. So we need to go over some things, then we will set up a schedule. If you need to change the schedule, you let me know. Then you can go back to bed, and you two can go have some fun for a bit. Sound good?”
We all sit around the table as she lays out what they do and what she knows about my dad. She asks several questions, helping ease my anxiety. She pays very close attention to everything we say. Then she meets Dad.
Dad is his charming self, thinking he is in his twenties again. Within an hour, Janice is shooing us out of the room so she can spend time with Dad bonding over Green Acres.
“I almost don’t want to go,” I tell Wyatt as we slip into his car.
“We can sit in the car if that would make you happy.”
I roll my head across the seat to look at him. “No. I’m being ridiculous. Will is inside too. We will be fine.”
“We have six hours to hang out, so let’s go ease your mind. What do you say?”
“I don’t know. What do you have in mind?”
He smirks at me. “Chicken Alfredo from Russo’s and a true crime marathon?”
I snort. “You know the way to a girl’s heart.”
“No.” He shakes his head. “Not any girl. Your heart.”
I swallow hard. “Sometimes you make me forget that we are supposed to be fake.”
He shrugs. “Don’t hold on so tight to what’s supposed to be. Live in the moment. Let go of all the expectations.”
It’s on the tip of my tongue. I want to tell him I am falling in love with him. Ask him to define what this is, but I chicken out.
“Well, what are we waiting for then?”
As he turns on the car, I keep my eyes on him.
Man, I am so far gone for Wyatt Scott.
“Oh, come on, man. You going to let her beat me like that?” Kellan yells at Jason.
“I’m trying. I can’t find her. Where the fuck are you?” Jason sounds anxious as hell as he yells at Lyla.
My girl, though? She is calm as a cucumber as she runs around killing each of my teammates.
I’ve long since dropped my controller. I don’t care about the game anyway. I am having a lot more fun watching her kick their asses.
“Wyatt, your girl is being mean,” Calvin whines.
“Seriously, dude? Stop being a pussy chicken,” Lyla taunts him.
“Yessss. Such a pussy chicken,” Jason screams.
“You’re using my own term against me. I thought we were friends,” Calvin mutters.
“We are. You wanted it to catch on, didn’t you?” Lyla asks him.
He sighs. “Yes. Fuck. How do you keep doing that?”
The round ends, the screen showing that Lyla indeed has the most kills.
“Okay, I bow down to the queen. I will not fuck with you,” Jason promises her.
“Oh, I know that. You wouldn’t be able to handle my wrath.” She pats his shoulder as she gets up to stretch.
My eyes fall to the sliver of skin that shows on her stomach when she does. God, I am such a sap. A small glimpse of skin has me rock-hard in my pants.
The front door opens then shuts, drawing all of our attention.
“Lyla, you are still here. Good.” Cora comes over, hugging my girl.
Grace comes over and does the same to me.
“Good to see you again. Sorry I haven’t made it to many games this season. Or really been able to hang out and get to know you better. Traveling from Boston to here has been time-consuming. I’m glad it’s only a year.” Grace sighs.
“No hard feelings. Grace, have you officially met Lyla yet?”
Grace lets go of me and turns to Lyla. “I haven’t. It’s nice to meet you. Sorry it’s taken me so long.”
“It’s nice to meet you too and don’t worry about it. You’re here now,” Lyla tells her with a gentle smile.
I like how close they have grown. It makes me think she might actually stay. She and Cora are basically best friends now. They text all the time. Cora also added her to the WAGs group chat with Grace, Peyton, and Emery. According to Kellan, she doesn’t say much, but I like that she’s there.
She’s friends with my friends, which makes me happy.
I’m trying to manage my expectations, but when it comes to Lyla, that will never happen. I want it all with her. It’s go big or go home, and I don’t plan to go home without a ring on her finger.
“What are you up to? Are they making you play that stupid game? I am so bad at it,” Cora tells her.
Lyla snorts as Calvin pouts.
“What? What did I say?” Cora asks as she moves toward Kellan.
He pulls her down into his lap. “She wiped the floor with us,” he tells her.
“Seriously?” Cora turns to see Lyla nod. “Oh, I have to see this.”
“Me too. I’m not too bad at it, but they still beat me,” Grace says, taking the spot Lyla was sitting in.
It leaves only one spot for Lyla. I half expect her to opt to sit on the floor.
I won’t let her, but I wait to see what move she makes.
My eyes widen when she slides onto my lap.
Now any other day, I would be happy for this, but my cock hasn’t deflated yet.
I try to adjust so that she can’t tell, but there is no use.
I feel the moment she feels it. She stiffens on my lap before turning to look at me.
“Sorry,” I whisper into her ear.
She leans closer so she can reach my ear. “Is that from me?”
When I nod, she smiles shyly at me. She goes to move, but I hold her hips in place.
“Please don’t. You’ll make it obvious, and then they will tease me for a month.”
She lets out a little laugh before she settles into my lap more fully. I don’t miss the way she wiggles a little, making me groan.
“All right, watch the master play.”
And watch, I do. I watch as she shows my friends exactly how to play the game like a pro. When she is finished, she leans back against me, letting the controller fall to the couch next to her.
“I’m not playing anymore. Not until you train me. You’ll train me, right?” Calvin asks.
“Sure, Calvin. I will train you,” she says, shaking her head.
“Where did you learn to play like that?” Cora asks.
“My brother and I played a lot of video games when we were kids. I preferred games like Frogger, but my brother enjoyed first-person shooter games like this one. So once you know how the game works, it’s all about your attention to detail and reaction times.”
Everyone looks at her like she just spoke gospel. It makes me bury my head into her neck as I let out a silent laugh.
“I think I want some alone time with my girl before I have to take her home. We will see you later,” I tell them, nudging her to get her to stand.
“We should get going too. Grace has class soon,” Cora adds.
“Let’s do a girls-only gathering soon. I want some time to really focus on getting to know you,” Grace tells Lyla, hugging her.
“Sure. We can arrange something. Good to see you both.” Lyla hugs Cora next.
“You too. I’ll text you later.”
Once they are gone, I grab Lyla’s hand and lead her upstairs to my room. Once inside, I pull her over to my bed and sit. I then pat the spot next to me. She takes it without question.
“You are a tease, Lyla,” I tell her, leaning in closer to her.
She smirks at me. “Am I?”
I grab her hand, pulling it slowly to my lap so that she can pull away if she wants to. Before I touch my hard cock, I hover our hands over it.
She takes the last step, reaching down to grab it.
“You’re awfully hard,” she murmurs.
“Yeah because my sexy as fuck girl wouldn’t sit still.” I can feel the effect she’s having on my body.
I can barely think with her hand on me. All my blood has left, heading straight toward my cock.
“What a terrible girlfriend. Should she kiss it and make it all better?” she asks.
I shake my head. “As much as I would love that, we don’t have the time I want to have when we finally take that step. Just know, you do this to me.”
She pulls back before she strips off her shirt.
“What are you doing?” I swallow hard.
“You’re turned on, and so am I. So get yourself off. I want to watch,” she tells me.
“What? What will you be doing?” I can barely breathe as she undoes her pants, sliding them down her legs leaving her in only a bra and panties.
“Well, get to work, and you will see.”
I quickly undo my pants, pulling them and my boxers down low enough for my cock to pop free. Slowly, I start to jack it, using my precum as lubricant.
“You know, cocks aren’t usually super sexy or anything, but you have a nice one.”
I snort. “Lyla, guys don’t usually like to hear that their cock isn’t attractive.”
“No. I said yours is. Come on.”
I shake my head, loving that she can be silly at a time like this. It should turn me off, but it doesn’t. This level of comfort is what people strive for.
I look over at Lyla, taking her body in before meeting her eyes.
She gives me a coy little smile as she trails her fingers from her neck down to her breasts.
She pulls the cups of her bra down, showing me her breasts before she slides back on the bed, moving so that she is propped up by my pillows.
I do the same, glancing over at her. When she slides her fingers beneath her panties, I about lose it.
“Fuck, Lyla. That’s it. Show me what you like so when it’s my turn I can make you scream.”
She starts off slow, playing with herself. I match her pace. I see the moment she realizes what I’m doing too. She starts to speed up, then stops, making me stop.
The devilish look in her eye tells me I am in trouble.
Then she starts again, going hard. She rubs her clit before shoving two fingers inside of herself. She lets out soft little moans, biting her lip to be quiet. I almost wish we had the house to ourselves, I want to hear every sound she makes.
When she finally comes, my name is on her lips. I don’t last long after her, spilling all over my hand and jeans.
I wipe my hands on my jeans before I strip out of them completely, leaving them on the floor. Then I turn and cup Lyla’s cheek. When she opens her eyes and looks at me blissfully, I press my lips to hers.
She just gave me the world, and she doesn’t even know it.