21. Twenty-One
TWENTY-ONE
Lucy didn’t tell. At least we were fairly certain she didn’t. She did, however, continue to sulk. We barely saw her for the next week. By the time the next reader event rolled around, it was almost as if there was a stranger living in Wylie’s apartment.
Wylie took it pretty well, at least as far as I could tell.
She held it together. I had no idea how Lucy was taking it, but I didn’t particularly care.
I hated the idea that Lucy had been taking advantage of Wylie.
It bothered me to no end. I didn’t bring it up, though.
Wylie was dealing with enough, and she didn’t need me making things worse because I wanted to get one over on her sister.
And, deep down, I recognized that the grudge I was holding against Lucy wasn’t fair.
She’d been an emotionally neglected child when I’d last seen her.
That upbringing had created the unstable adult she’d become.
Not all of it was Lucy’s fault. It was time for her to start figuring things out, though.
So, I let Wylie set the tone with Lucy, and I followed suit.
It really didn’t matter because Lucy was barely around.
I had a feeling she was spending her nights with Hayley, which I actually hoped was the case because Hayley wasn’t going to put up with a lot of whining.
She would give Lucy the tough love she needed, and she wouldn’t feel guilty about it after the fact.
“Tonight’s the night,” Wylie noted as she stood in front of her full-length mirror and surveyed her outfit. She’d opted for a fluttery skirt that hit her mid-calf and a sleeveless shirt that showed off her shoulders, which I found absurdly attractive for some reason.
“Tonight’s the night for what?” I asked from my place on her bed. I’d been answering emails on my tablet, but abandoned the task when Wylie had entered the room to look at her reflection.
I’d returned to my house long enough to grab clothes, my book outline, my tablet, and some toiletries.
Otherwise, I’d been camped out in Wylie’s apartment for almost two weeks.
It felt as if I belonged here, with her, so I didn’t think about it too much.
Yes, at some point, we would have to come up with a better plan for how we were going to handle things.
For now, however, I was happy and had no intention of changing things.
“Tonight’s the night we have to put up with the endless questions that are going to be coming from the others. You know, people like Bree.”
I instantly frowned at mention of her name, then caught myself. “It’s none of their business. We can tell them it’s none of their business and they’ll just have to accept it.”
She snorted as if I’d just said the funniest thing in the world. “And you think that sounds like Bree, do you?”
“Probably not, but I’m not going to let her bully me. I’m not going to let her bully you, either.”
“I don’t think she sees it as bullying.” Wylie twirled in her skirt, and I grinned at the way she watched herself.
She seemed to like what she saw, which was progress because we’d spent the first week of our relationship breaking her of bad habits, like saying she was nothing special. I hated the way she saw herself.
“Probably not,” I agreed. Watching her twirl gave me an idea. “How do you feel about spending the weekend at my place? After the event, I mean.”
She turned quickly and eyed me. “Why? Do you hate my apartment or something? You should have told me.”
I tried to bite back a sigh but didn’t quite manage it. “Why do you always jump to conclusions like that?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess it’s because …
well …” She looked so thoughtful that I gave her the time to think it through.
“I guess it’s because I always knew I was a geek when I was a kid,” she said finally.
“It’s hard to be the one everyone looks at as odd.
If you’re the one to point out you’re odd before anybody else can, it doesn’t hurt as much when they say it. ”
I considered it. “I can see that,” I said finally. “The thing is, everybody is a geek in some way or another. Who even gets to decide what a geek is?”
She arched an eyebrow as she turned to face me. “Nobody has ever called you a geek.”
“That’s not true. I was part of a Dungeons & Dragons group in college. I was called a geek for that all the time.”
“You were part of a Dungeons & Dragons group?” She looked far too excited. I didn’t want to burst her bubble, but I had to.
“There was a girl involved. She loved Dungeons & Dragons.”
“Of course.” Wylie’s face fell.
“Sorry,” I offered ruefully. “Come to find out, however, I wasn’t geeky enough for her. She thought I was just going through the motions. She ended up settling down with Edwin Walker. He looks just like what you think an Edwin might look like.”
She giggled, a sound I loved to hear, then shook her head. “It’s not the same. People might make a joke, but they don’t actually look at you as if you’re less because you’re a geek.”
“Wylie, they don’t look at you that way either.”
“Of course they do.”
“But they don’t. They might have when you were 14, but everybody is a geek at 14, and nobody feels as if they’re living the high life.
You just never outgrew that feeling when most people do.
” My heart ached when I thought about her dealing with those feelings.
“You need to know that you’re way too cool to be a geek. ”
She rolled her eyes.
“Fine,” I corrected. “You need to realize that there’s a point in life when being a geek is actually cool. It’s the people wrinkling their noses at geeks who suck. When I look at you, I feel as if I’ve won the holy grail.”
“Oh, my,” she said, coming to a dead stop in her twirls. “That was ridiculous.”
“Oh, I know.” I joined in with her laughter. “I don’t care, though. You make me happy.”
Her smile tugged at my heartstrings — and a spot a little lower — at the same time. “That’s very sweet.”
“So, is that a yes to coming to my place?” I asked after manfully clearing my throat.
If we weren’t careful, we would pull the covers over our heads and hide in her bed again.
We really needed to stop doing that. Even I knew we were getting into unhealthy territory, which was why I’d suggested a trip to my place.
At least that would be a change of scenery.
She shrugged. “Sure. What are we going to do, though?”
“Well, there are restaurants there,” I started. “I haven’t even eaten at all of them. There’s a pool. There’s my golf cart, which was delivered and I haven’t taken out yet.” I searched my memory for all the amenities. “There’s croquet.”
She whipped her eyes back to me, her hair flying. “There’s croquet?”
I nodded as I recognized the emotion flitting through her eyes as excitement. “Yes. It’s a big deal. There’s a brochure and everything.”
“That sounds amazing.”
I had no idea why she believed that, but if she wanted to play croquet all weekend, I was up for it. “Pack a bag,” I said. “I’ll help. We’ll leave a note for Lucy — not that she’ll care we’re gone — and when we’re done with the reader event, we’ll head to my house.”
I’d moved my vehicle to her parking lot about a week prior. That would mean no drinking tonight, but I was more than happy to go without if it meant I could have Wylie in my house, with no risk of anybody just walking in on us whenever a whim struck, for an entire weekend.
“This sounds fun.” Wylie immediately pulled a small rolling suitcase out of her closet. “I’m going to need a lot of stuff, so I have options for the restaurants.”
I grinned, loving her excitement. “I’ll handle your toiletries.” I started toward the bathroom.
“How do you know what I’ll need?” She looked genuinely curious.
“Because you don’t have a lot of them compared to everybody else. You’re not fussy about that stuff.”
She considered it, then nodded. “That sounds like a compliment to me.”
“Oh, don’t worry,” I promised her. “I’ll be complimenting you all weekend. Maybe by the end you’ll be willing to talk to me about the app.”
I’d brought up the app no less than 10 times since I’d first heard about it. She refused to tell me what it was. The way her cheeks flushed bright with color, however, whenever the subject arose, told me that she was embarrassed by it. Or maybe she was worried about how I would react.
That only served to fire up my curiosity even more.
My goal wasn’t to wheedle her until she told me. It was to make her trust me to the point where she wanted to tell me. It might take longer that way, but it would be all the more worthwhile when it happened.
“Let go of the app,” she ordered.
I paused in the bathroom doorway and grinned at her. “You didn’t think up Angry Birds or something, did you?”
“If I’d thought up Angry Birds, I would be able to retire now, instead of in 10 years.”
I considered it. “Good point. Pack up, baby.” I winked at her. “We have 30 minutes until we have to be at the restaurant. Where are we going again tonight?”
“It’s called The Cotton Exchange Tavern. It’s a bit of a hike, so we need to give ourselves 15 minutes to walk there.”
“Okay, then get moving.” I gave her one more look before I disappeared into the bathroom. “You don’t have to waste time with pajamas. You won’t be needing them.”
She paused to give me a dark look when I peeked out of the bathroom to gauge her response, but there was a pleased pink tone to her cheeks. “Thanks for the tip.”
“No problem. I’m always here for you, babe.”
I HAD TO PARK BLOCKS AWAY from the restaurant. Savannah parking was never easy. I offered to drop Wylie off in front of the restaurant and catch up to her, but she shook her head, nerves obviously getting the best of her.
I didn’t argue. It was probably better if we went in together.
Once I found a spot, we set out. Unfortunately, thanks to her efforts to look “casually chic,” Wylie had worn a pair of heeled sandals, and her steps were wobbly on the cobblestones as we walked.