by Elisa Leigh
bitches.
Fancy: Who asked you out?
Stella: Wyatt, keep up! Why did you tell him no?
Me: OMG I freaked out. It’s like my brain stopped working!!!
Avery: OMFG! Why did you do that? You see us all the time?
Me: God I don’t know. I’ll tell you all about it tonight.
Fancy: Please tell me there’s another date though.
Me: Oh yes!
I scroll through Facebook while I eat, but nothing is going on. I read the next book by Alexa Riley that I’ve been dying to dive into. The only problem with beginning a new book is when I start, I can’t stop. It’s almost like an addiction. I get about a quarter of the way through when a text message pops up.
Wyatt: How’s work going? Was your sandwich good?
Me: Just finished it and it was AMAZING! Can’t go wrong with
turkey.
Me: It’s been dead in here since you walked me back.
Wyatt: Turkey is boring!!!
Me: It’s better than ham!
We spend the rest of the afternoon texting back and forth. He tells me all about his job as a tech guy for some big company that allows him to work from home. I confess my love of reading romance novels. At one point, Georgie had to tell me to put my phone away and help him out. I’m usually not this bad, not even with my girls, but talking to Wyatt is exciting.
When the late crew comes in, I go in the back to my office and get a little bit of paperwork done before calling it a day. I text Wyatt letting him know I’m on my way home.
Wyatt: Thank you for letting me know. I know it might sound weird, especially since we’re so new, but I don’t want anything happening to you.
I send him a kissy face emoji and throw my phone in my purse. Who is this flirtatious girl? I’m not like this. I’m the prude in our group. Between the four of us, I’ll probably be the last to lose my virginity. It takes me longer to get home because there’s an accident. By the time I make it to my apartment I have just enough time to grab a quick shower and get ready before leaving for girls night. I make it to the restaurant right behind Stella. By the time I sit down, I take a moment to breathe.
“You okay there hun?” Fancy asks.
“It’s been one thing after another this afternoon. I made it though, so it’s all good.”
After I take the first sip of my margarita, I lean back and enjoy the ocean breeze. “I love this place.”
Avery raises her glass. “To taco places on the beach!” we all cheer and take a drink.
I already know what I want, I get the same thing every time I come. While everyone is busy figuring out what to order I peak at my phone for the first time in over an hour to see if he’s responded. “Oh nooo! My phone died.” I groan.
“Why don’t you go plug it into your car?”
“It only charges if the car is turned on. It’s okay. I’ll just charge it on my way home.”
“Were you waiting to talk to a certain someone?”
I blush and shrug my shoulders. “Maybe.”
“Tell us what happened today. Don’t leave anything out.”
I tell them everything, probably more than they want to know, and by the end of the story they’re begging for me to finish already. I might take forever to tell a story that should take five minutes. Oh well. “So, then I sent him a kissy face.”
“Well, what did he say?” Stella asks, her third margarita in.
“I don’t know. The first time I looked at my phone after that was when I got here and saw that it was dead.”
“I bet he wants to tie you to his bed and do naughty things to you,” Avery says winking at me.
I about choke on my drink, and it takes a moment before I’m breathing normally again. “No, he doesn’t!”
My friends all laugh, and I throw a chip at Avery for starting it.
After a couple hours and just as many margaritas, I head home with a little buzz, happy to have been with my girls all night. As soon as I get in the car, I plug in my phone, excited to see if Wyatt has texted back. When my phone finally powers up, I’m surprised by all the notifications of texts and missed calls I have from Wyatt. I feel guilty for not getting back to him soon since I know how he felt about making sure I was safe. I decide to wait until I get home to do anything, needing to concentrate on the road, especially since it’s dark.
When I pull up to my apartment, I get out of the car and begin reading through all of the messages he sent as I walk to my door. I’m not paying attention, and I walk straight into someone, making me drop my phone. “Oh my goodness. I’m so sorry. I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going.” I say while grabbing my phone. The other person doesn’t answer, and when I look up, I’m shocked to see Wyatt standing in front of me.
FIVE
Wyatt
I’ve never been more worried than I was tonight. Why wasn’t she reading my messages? Did something happen to her? Was she in an accident? I have been going out of my mind for the last couple of hours. Logically I know she is out with her friends, but I hate that I can’t get in touch with her. Like a crazy man I tried tracking her phone, but I guess it was turned off because nothing came up. I’ve been sitting on her front porch for the past hour waiting for her to get home. When I see her car pull up and park I’m standing and making my way to her.
I watch her staring at her phone, and I get pissed. So, her phone is working? She walks straight into me because she’s too busy on her phone. “Oh my goodness. I’m so sorry. I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going.”
When she finally looks up and realizes it’s me, I can tell she wasn’t expecting me. “Wyatt?”
“You didn’t answer my texts. When I called, it went straight to voicemail. I thought something happened. I didn’t know what was going on. I checked the hospitals, but there wasn’t anyone there that matched your description. There was nothing. Then I thought maybe your phone died so I wanted to be here to explain why I blew your phone up tonight, but I can see that your phone is working just FINE.” I say, shouting the last part.
I’m such an idiot, what the fuck am I even doing here? I walk to my truck and get in, slamming the door. I take a minute to control myself, but when I look up to pull out, Lanie is still standing here staring at me with a look I can’t read. What the hell is she doing to me? I haven’t even taken her on a proper date, and she’s gotten so far in my head I don’t know which way is up. Fuck.
I get out of my truck and approach her slowly, worried I might scare her away. “I’m sorry about that, the last part anyway, not the other stuff. I know it’s late. Why don’t I call you tomorrow?”
“No.” That’s all she says, and she turns around and walks to her door. No? I’m doing an amazing job of screwing this up, and we’ve barely begun. When she gets her door open, she looks over her shoulder. “Are you coming?”
I’m at her door in seconds, not passing up on what she’s giving me.
I close and lock the door, following her into the living room of her clean apartment. “Would you like something to drink?” She asks, fidgeting with the hem of her short dress.
“The only thing I want is to talk to you.” I grab her hand and lead her to the couch. When she goes to sit beside me, I pull her onto my lap, needing her close.
“I’m too heavy.”
“Stay,” I say firmly, not ready to touch that comment yet. We’ve got other shit we need to discuss, and her sinful curves aren’t one of them.
“I’m not a dog.”
“No, you’re my woman. I like having you close.”
Pulling her bottom lip between her teeth, she sucks on it, looking everywhere but at me. I wait her out, knowing she’s got something to say. “After that last text, I sent you I didn’t look at my phone. I was…”
“You were what?”
She covers her face with her hands. “I’m not good at this. I’ve never had a boyfriend before. I’ve only gone out on a few dates, and they didn’t really progress beyon
d polite conversation. Wyatt, I suck at flirting.”
Fuck me, I knew she was innocent, but I didn’t realize how much. The woman is fucking stacked, like junk in the trunk and more than a handful stacked. The fact that no one has touched her before is unbelievable. I’m thanking every star that I get to be the only man who knows how tight those walls will squeeze me. “Look at me, baby.”
Slowly she pulls her hands away from her face and looks over at me. “You are doing more than okay. Don’t worry about flirting, trust me. Just be you. Your body and soul do all the flirting for you.”
A blush spreads across her cheeks, and she takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. “I got embarrassed after that last text. Then I got home late because of an accident backing up traffic. I didn’t have time to charge my phone. I showered, threw something on, and left for dinner. I finally pulled my phone out to see if you texted me back, but it was dead. It must have been all the texting we did earlier. I didn’t think you’d be upset. To be honest, the only people who even care if I get back to them were all sitting with me at the table. Well except for Nana, but she knows where I’m at on Wednesday nights. Anyway, when I got in my car, I plugged my phone in and saw all of your messages and calls. I waited to call you back until I was home so could focus while driving.”
I should have trusted her from the beginning instead of getting worked up over nothing. If I want to keep her, which I am, I better check myself. “I thought you were talking to some other guy when I saw you using your phone. I’m becoming a jealous asshole for the first time in my life, over some imaginary guy.” I say making her laugh.
“I’m sorry I overreacted tonight but more than anything I’m sorry for shouting at you. I’ll never disrespect you like that again. Can you forgive me?”
She shifts on my lap, rubbing her juicy ass over my painfully hard dick, but I don’t think she realizes it. Her innocence is really fucking doing it for me, but she isn’t ready for that yet. I rest my hand on her thigh and start caressing her, loving how soft her skin is and how she reacts to every touch.
“I wasn’t ever mad at you Wyatt. I was more confused than anything.”
Skimming my nose against hers, I whisper “I’ll never hurt you again baby.” My mouth closes over hers in what is meant to be a soft kiss. The moment her lips touch mine I can’t hold back. Sweeping my tongue across her lips, she opens for me, and our tongues collide fighting for dominance. She may be a virgin, but her passion makes up for her inexperience. Before I go further than she’s ready for I pull back.
“I’m trying to decide if I’m happy or disappointed that you stopped.”
“Me too. I’m not rushing this Lanie. We have the rest of our lives, and I’m not screwing up my future because I can’t control myself around you. Another minute and I’d have had you pressed up against the nearest surface, touching every part of you that’s been driving me insane since I met you. I won’t scare you away by pushing you into something you’re not ready for.”
“Okay.”
“Give your man one more kiss before I go.”
“You’re my man?”
I kiss her long and slow, showing her how much she means to me. When I finally pull away, I look into her eyes. “I’m your man Lanie, and you are my woman. Say it.”
“I’m your woman.”
SIX
Lanie
“Hello, earth to Lanie.” Avery sings, waving her hand in front of my face. Ever since last night, all I can think about is Wyatt and the kiss we shared. I respect him for stopping and thinking of me, but I can’t help wondering how far we would have gone. I sound like some girl in high school.
I smack her hand away and glare, then we burst out laughing. God this girl. “I love Fat Amy. Can I be her when I grow up?” She asks.
I hit her in the head with one of the pillows from my couch.
“No, you’re Avery, and you’re perfect just the way you are. She is hilarious though.” I tell her, turning back to finish watching Pitch Perfect. I invited her over for pizza and movies since Wyatt had to work late tonight and pushed our date until tomorrow.
When my phone rings I rush to pick it up only to find it’s my sister, Lydia. Rolling my eyes, I answer it. “Hello.”
“Lanie, I just talked to Richard today, and he said he had a great time with you on your date a few weeks ago. I was surprised to learn there hasn’t been a second date. I told him he should ask you out again. When he calls, make sure you say yes.”
“Thanks for setting it up Lydia, but I’m not interested in him.”
“Why not? You’d be lucky to land a guy like him. Richard is a great guy and has a good job. He doesn’t even care what you look like.”
“Lydia I’m done being nice. He was an asshole that only cared about me stroking his ego. I’m not interested, and I won’t go out with him again!” Wow, I don’t know where that came from, but it felt good. I’m so tired of my sister telling me what to do. She might be ten years older than me, but it doesn’t give her the right.
“Listen, you, fat little bitch. For some unknown reason, he likes you. Leo and I need this, so figure it out and take one for the family. You owe us for having to put up with your bullshit the last however many years you’ve been alive-”
Avery takes the phone out of my hand and hangs up on her. “Babe, I’m proud of you for telling her no, but she wasn’t going to stop. Sometimes the only thing left to do is close the door.”
“Thanks Ave.”
She smiles at me sadly. “I know they are your family, but they don’t deserve you. The four years I’ve known you that haven’t been there for you once, but they always expect you to be.”
My phone rings, Lydia’s name popping up again. I throw my phone onto the coffee table and continue to watch the third Pitch Perfect movie.
When it’s over Avery helps me clean up. “So, what are you wearing tomorrow night on your date?”
“I’m not sure. He told me to dress casually. Is he crazy? He must not understand. I can’t dress casually on a date.”
“Sure you can. Come on let’s go check out your closet. I’m sure there’s something in there.”
I follow Avery to my room where she throws open my perfectly organized closet. “I can’t even with you sometimes.” She says rolling her eyes.
“What?”
“You know what. You have this thing color coded for fuck sakes. You know whenever you and Mr. Sexy move in together he’s not going to keep his closet like this.”
“That’s a looooong way off. We haven’t even gone on a date yet.”
“Phhh, you told me he called you his woman.”
“Yeah…” I sigh.
“Here, wear this dress. It’s super cute but very casual. The best of both worlds.”
“I think I want to have sex with him.”
“What are you, sixteen?”
“Shut up! I’m serious.”
She laughs at me, like full belly, rolling around on her back, cackling laugh. I stare at her waiting for her to finish. When she finally stops she looks over at me. “Okay, so you want to give him your lady flower. What do you want to know?”
“Should I bring condoms?”
“Umm, nope.”
“What about lube?”
“Are you eighty?”
“I don’t know, I’ve never done this before!”
“Well neither have I, but I know enough to know you don’t need fucking lube. And the guy needs to bring the condoms. If he wants any part of that flower, he better be bringing the right garden hose.”
“That sounds dumb.”
“You sound dumb. ‘Do I need to bring lube?’” She says mocking me.
“Be serious Avery. How do I tell him…”
“That you want to ride his anaconda?”
I narrow my eyes at my best friend.
“Okay, god I’ll stop. You need to chill the fuck out. Let him lead, if you’re into what’s happening, go with it. If you aren’t, tell him to stop. If h
e’s a douchenozzle about it, tell Georgie to go beat him up.”
“You know exactly what to say to make me feel better.”
“Of course, I do, I’m perfect remember.”
✽✽✽
I’m a ball full of nerves. This is the first date I’ve been on in a long time that I care about. I decided to go ahead and wear the dress Avery picked out. It’s a tank maxi dress that’s white with chunky navy blue stripes. I paired it with a pair of strappy gold sandals. I’ve been ready to go for a while, nervous energy making me jumpy. Wyatt and I have been texting on and off since the other night, but I can’t wait to finally see him. Not seeing him yesterday really sucked.
Just as I’m finishing the end of another drool-worthy book, there’s a knock on my door. I put my kindle on my coffee table and take a minute before I answer. I don’t want to seem too eager. He knocks again, and I giggle, realizing he’s just as ready to see me as I am to see him.
I open the door, and I take a minute to stare at all of his yumminess. The man is perfection and tonight isn’t any different. He’s dressed in khaki shorts, a dark blue polo, and some Sperry boat shoes.
“You look incredible Lanie.”
“Thank you. You look… you look really handsome too Wyatt.”
“You ready to go?”
I nod and grab my purse, pulling my door closed behind me I lock up. Wyatt grabs my hand and walks me to the passenger side of his truck and helps me in, kissing me on the cheek before walking around to get in on his side.
“You going to tell me yet?” I ask.
He smiles at me and shakes his head. “You’ve been trying to get this out of me all day you little snoop. I’m not ruining the surprise right before we get there.”
Twenty minutes later he’s pulling up to the marina. “Oh, my goodness are we going on a boat?” I squeal, hoping we’re going on a boat.
He laughs. “I take it you like boats?”
“Ummm, duh!”
“Alright, well let’s get going. Wait for me to get your door, okay?”
I nod, a million butterflies bursting in my stomach, simply because he wants to open my door for me. Wyatt opens my door and helps me out. He kisses me on the forehead then grabs my hand and walks me down the dock. We walk past the group tour to the end of the pier where a boat is waiting with a man inside. Wyatt jumps into the boat and then helps me on.