by B. L. Olson
I hear my sister's voice call out from the kitchen, "This discussion is about you, let's not turn it around on me and my wild youth."
I mutter under my breath, "Wild is an understatement."
"I heard that!"
Grandma Hazel interrupts our bickering, "One of you are in your thirties and the other is pushing it. Could you two act like it?"
I roll my eyes at her and reach to pull out Annie's chair. I gesture for her to sit before I respond, "We get the not acting our age from you, Grandma."
Once she's sat down, I push it in and take the seat next to her. Just in time too, because Maddie wanders into the dining room with the rest of dinner. She sets the roast gently in the middle of the table and scurries back into the kitchen for the gravy, or so I assume.
Once she has made her way back into the dining room and settling into her own chair, I introduce her to Annie. The girls exchange pleasantries, but my sister has always been a loner and it isn't long before she is silent once more. Growing up she never really had girlfriends, choosing to run around town with her best friend turned boyfriend Graham, and getting into whatever trouble they could find.
We start passing around the food and it isn't long before we are all shoveling roast, veggies, and mashed potatoes smothered in country gravy into our mouths. At her first bite of the roast, Annie let's out a groan and compliments Maddie, "This is amazing! I wish I could cook like this, but my culinary skills pretty much stop at spaghetti." My sister gives her a small smile but says nothing.
"So when are you two gonna walk down the aisle, hmm?"
I choke on my roast at my grandmother's question. She might be breaking some of the rules I set forth for this dinner, like asking personal questions about our relationship, but at least she isn't ignoring the cardinal rule. The Don't Talk About What Happened in Philly one.
Annie pounds her hand on my back and answers with a straight face, 'We are thinking next spring maybe."
More sputtering from me, "She's just messing with you. I told you we aren't really dating grandma. That's just a rumor going around."
"Well then maybe you should stop looking at Annie as if you wanna drag her off to the guest room to show her just how brawny you truly are." She takes another bite from her plate.
My father jumps to my defense, "Hazel! Leave the poor kids alone."
She just smirks and eats her dinner, while I try and shovel my food as quickly as possible so we can get the heck out of Dodge before something more embarrassing is brought up.
Chapter 12- Annie
Repercussion #517: Keeping an open mind when it comes to dating at this age means learning what sort of baggage you are willing to accept and deal with. Carry on size or the whole damn airport carousel full?
Although now I am starting to believe that I actually want one. This looming and broad piece of man meat that stands before me specifically.
Shaking these thoughts from my mind, I follow Wyatt into the bar and am glad to see that it is a slow night. Only a handful of the locals are around, but the looks they give us when we walk in are enough to make my steps falter. Boy did that rumor spread like wildfire.
Makayala gives me the biggest freaking grin when I approach Wyatt sitting at the bar, already reaching for the ingredients to make my favorite drink. In all the craziness of what happened and catching up on work after my day off, I completely forgot to tell her that those rumors going around?
Not true at all. Oops.
I clamber onto the stool next to Wyatt, careful not to flash the bar my lady bits, and swivel to look at Makayla, "Long time no see. I probably should have filled you in on a few things before now."
She waggles her eyebrows at me and glances at the stone of a man next to me, "You mean like how Wyatt has been filling in a few things?"
He snorts and shakes his head, taking a swig from the beer she has already placed before him. Meanwhile, I am sitting here horrified that my best friend has no freaking filter. Whatsoever. It is one thing to hear his grandmother say that sort of stuff because it isn't my family humiliating me. It's quite another to have Makayla step in.
I shake my head, feeling my wavy hair swing back and forth as I do, "Don't be a pervert." I glance at Wyatt before giving Makayla my full attention, "Travis came over yesterday."
The drink that she is making shatters as she throws the cup in the sink next to her, "What did that teat sucking mama's boy want?" She is visibly shaking in anger, and I feel a little bit of happiness that someone hates him almost as much, if not more than I do. After all, she had been the one to pick me up and attempt to put this Humpty Dumpty back together again after the fallout.
I can feel tension coiling tighter and tighter in the man sitting next to me, while he listens in on our conversation. If I didn't know any better I would say that maybe someone else isn't a fan of Travis as well. Before I can answer her, Wyatt speaks up, "He wanted Annie."
Makayla doesn't look surprised by Wyatt's admission and starts picking broken glass out of the sink. I can see Jake entering from the back, a curious look on his face as he approaches and sees his wife cleaning up the mess, but wisely asks nothing as the tension is apparent in the air.
I speak to break the silence and continue my story, "Anyways, he showed up and acted like nothing had changed and I guess, I started acting like it really hadn't. I was back to meek little Annie that let him say or do whatever the hell he wanted." Gesturing to the man sitting next to me, "This guy though, jumped in to save the damsel in distress. And that's the first and only time I ever want to admit that happened." I take a giant swig from the drink Jake prepared during my confession and sat in front of me. Shaking my head, I give the two behind the bar and in my eyesight a small smile, "So yeah, the whole town thinks we are dating after that."
I really should have caught Makayla up on what happened prior to now, because here I am explaining it like shit. I am still trying to wrap my head around everything that occurred. Resorting back to the old Annie, finding my fire and giving Travis what for, Wyatt telling him we are dating when you can't really date someone that could be a ghost for all you know about him.
Luckily Wyatt fills in the gaps a little bit for me while I sit here in the thoughts that have been plaguing my mind. Travis coming back and stirring up all sorts of crap in my life, the good and the bad. Plotting and outlining my life away for half the night. Wyatt telling my best friend that we aren't really dating, but the look she gives me tells me she can see straight through the lie and into my heart.
Yup, I am so screwed. My life was out of control before Wyatt entered my life, and now it has spiraled even more since the storm that brought him into it. I have too much shit, too much freaking baggage, to be sitting here contemplating more. Especially considering the man who has me twisted up is playing his own round of Should I or Shouldn't I when it comes to me.
Shoving back from the stool, I mutter an excuse of needing the bathroom and stalk off in that direction. I can feel panic squeezing my insides and I just need a moment away from people who can read me like the books I work around all day.
Makayla isn't letting me off that easy though and follows me to the restroom, leaving Jake and Wyatt chatting away at the bar, seemingly changing the topic to something slightly more cheerful than what occurred yesterday.
Pushing open the bathroom door with a bang, I stalk to the mirror and give myself a good once over. My eyes are weary and the crows feet that seem to appear more and more the closer I get to thirty are more prominent than ever right now. Makayla follows me in and places a comforting hand on my shoulder, "What's going on? You came into the bar in a good mood and now you're all sorts of pissy. Is it shark week?"
Shaking my head, I meet her gaze in the mirror, "No, sorry. It was just bringing up Travis and the whole fake relationship thing." I turn around and put my arms around myself, "Half of me is wanting to grab on tight and never let him go, and the other half wants to push him away. I'm just exhausted from the war waging in me r
ight now."
Makayla pulls my arms away and grips me in a hug, rubbing my back in comfort as she does so, "You know you deserve happiness, right? Everything Travis said and did was a reflection of him and not you."
I nod into her shoulder, the tears starting to well in my eyes, "I know that, and hell if I didn't realize that a bit more yesterday. Him showing up was actually really good for me, I got some closure and I got to stand up to him. I even started plotting a new book last night." I push away from my best friend and let out a sigh, "But now I am just confused about someone else. Is it always going to be this way? Over one issue and jump right into the next?"
Turning back to the mirror I wipe the tears from my eyes as Makayla watches from behind, "We all have baggage Annie and life is just going to keep giving us lessons and accruing even more. We just have to decide what we are willing to deal with, and what we can let go of. It sounds like the Travis baggage is ready to be donated to the Goodwill." Motioning out to the bar, "And that man out there, well you will just have to figure out if it's worth a new set of lessons and taking on his as well."
I shake my head at her, feeling lost and the confusion of the situation sits like a weight on my heart, "I just wish I knew what he's thinking. One moment he's the strong and silent type and pushing me away, and the next he's teasing me and asking me to dinner with his freaking family. I have no idea what is going on, and the one time I asked him he pretended like I hadn't and ignored the question."
"There is only one way to find out. I think it's time for a little truth or dare." She grabs my arm and tows me back out towards the bar.
"Hey, guys." She sings out as she approaches Wyatt and Jake, deep in conversation.
"You want something," Jake says knowingly and gives his wife a smirk.
She nods, "It's such a slow night, and Annie here needs a distraction from her life so how about we play some truth or dare?"
Jake scoffs at her, "What are we, twelve?"
I watch their barbed exchange for a moment before turning my attention to Wyatt, his eyes slightly narrow as he studies me. Does he sense our ulterior motive in proposing this game? Breaking my gaze from him, I climb back onto my stool and reach for my drink. Pursing my lips on the straw, I take a deep sip from it. I am going to need liquid courage if Makayla gets her way and we actually play, especially since she is the queen of coming up with the ridiculous.
A slap of a hand against the bar makes me jump and I can see the corner of Wyatt's lip curl up in a smirk at me. I gaze past him to Makayla who is doing a shimmy, in celebration I am sure, which means I am going to need a little bit more alcohol to get me through this game. I turn back to my drink and take another healthy sip.
I can feel the full weight of Wyatt's stare on me as I do so. He chuckles and folds his muscled arms onto the top of the bar, taking all my awareness for a moment, at least until he jokes, "Preparing yourself for what's to come Stormy?"
"If you think Makayla is ridiculous now, you should see her no holds barred." I shudder at the thought and take another, slightly smaller, sip.
"Are you a strict truth kind of girl or are you more adventurous and pick dare?"
I raise an eyebrow at him, "First off, I'm a woman."
Wyatt smirks at me, "My apologies, how could I forget?" His heated gaze travels the length of my body a moment before snapping back to my face. I shiver at his apparent perusal and his smirk is a full-blown grin now.
"Second of all," I continue as if I'm not having a reaction to his attention, "I like a healthy dose of the two. Either way, you are sure to be humiliated so might as well round it out."
"Makes sense."
Makayla interrupts us when she asks me, "So Annie, truth or dare?"
I groan, "Why do I have to go first?"
"Cause you're the youngest! Now pick one!" She demands.
"By four freaking months!" She gives me a pointed stare. I sigh out, "Dare."
Makayla turns to survey the bar, perhaps looking for an idea. It's a long moment before a devious grin slowly overtakes her face and she whips back around to give me my dare, "I dare you to do an interpretive dance depicting your life from birth until now."
Well, thank that sweet baby Jesus it's a slow night at Olive & Twist, because the next two minutes are pure hell as I swing my arms, make odd gestures, and fling my body around in the most awkward dance of my life. Makayla is full on cracking up at the bar, Jake is sniggering, and the ever reserved Wyatt is even full-on grinning at me.
When I finally get to the part I deem is the current period, I stop abruptly and stomp back, "Well that was shaming." I take another sip from my drink while I consider who to choose for the next round. I think it would be a little obvious if I pick Wyatt so I point at Jake behind the counter and ask him, "Truth or dare?"
He contemplates for a moment before responding, "Truth."
I study him for a moment before asking, "What is the silliest thing you have an emotional attachment to?"
I expect him to respond with a childhood blanket or stuffed animal or something. Instead, he chuckles, "Probably Makayla."
I let out a snort and his wife shouts, "Hey!"
He shrugs at her, "It's true. I have an emotional attachment to you, and you are pretty silly."
She shakes her head at him a moment before admitting defeat, "Okay, I have to admit that answer is spot on."
He blows her a kiss before turning to Wyatt. Yes! Finally, we are going to get some goods from him, or at least I hope so. Except when Jake gives him his options, he chooses dare and is told he has to swing his hips like he has a hula hoop for the next round.
Which he complies with and now my attention keeps straying to his hips swaying in continuous circles as he decides on the next victim, "Makayla, truth or dare?"
Never one to back down from a challenge, she surprises me when she answers with, "Truth."
Wyatt looks just as surprised, already catching on to Makayla's brand of antics, and is silent for a moment while he changes direction. He questions her, "If you could have anything in the world, what would it be?"
Her gaze saddens and she glances at Jake. The change in her mood tells me where her thoughts have gone, and I wish I had warned Wyatt about the troubles they are having. She confirms it when she murmurs, "To be pregnant."
Silence follows, Wyatt's hula hooping forgotten as he looks at me with eyes rounded in horror at what he just asked. Makayla clears her throat, wanting to move on from this sore subject and not elaborate more than is necessary, "Wyatt, truth or dare?"
"Oh man, I am going to so deserve whatever you give me. I choose dare again."
****
Makayla's attempt to get anything out of Wyatt was extremely laughable. After we got over the awkwardness that came with Makayla being reminded she can't get pregnant, we played a little bit longer and each time he was chosen, Wyatt picked dare. That man knows how to keep his secrets close to his heart and didn't let anything slip by no matter how much she dug. She tried subtleness, mind games, trickery, and flat out bluntness. That man didn't want to say shit, and I am frustrated and just freaking done with my endeavor to find anything out about the stupid man.
I'm not going to lie and say I didn't enjoy his company. When he lets himself relax you can almost see the man he is under his stoney expressions and broody nature that is seen less and less. I had spent so much time though on the baggage that Travis had left me that I'm still not entirely sure I want to play any more games or deal with any more confusion.
This back and forth is messing up my mind in the worst way and I am putting my foot down. Finishing up our drinks and heading out, we climb back into Wyatt's truck to head home. The longer the night went the more withdrawn I became, and you could feel it in the silence that blankets us.
He pulls into his driveway, neither one of us wanting to be the first to break the silence. The longer it goes on, the more frustrated I become and jerk my body to let myself out, but Wyatt reaches across the console and grab
s my arm before I can, "Hold on there Stormy, you told me earlier that you came with me today because you're curious to know more. I can tell you really want to stomp off all pissy with me, so why don't you go ahead and ask me any three questions you want as my way of apologizing."
I level him with a glare, but deep down I am ecstatic that he is giving me this opportunity to actually satisfy my curiosity a bit. It tells me that he doesn't care about sharing some pieces of himself with me, but that it is just between us two.
Which confuses me even more.
Wracking my mind and trying to narrow down the questions about Wyatt that have been flying around in my head since we met, I decide to ask the first to throw him off a little bit. Giving him a smirk, I ask him, "So how long have you and the cougar at Solstice been a thing?"
He gives me an unamused look and shakes his head, "You wasted a question on that? You know we aren't dating. Charlene is the office manager for the construction company I work for, and she dove into my truck and refused to leave so she came with me. That's when you ran into us at the restaurant."
Laughing at his luck, which still isn't as bad as mine, I dive into my next question, "Have you always worked construction?" There is just something about the way he holds himself and the way he watches and pays attention to everything around him that has me thinking otherwise.
He tenses for a moment, looking lost and like he doesn't want to answer my question. Before I can tell him to forget about it though he answers me, "No, construction is a recent thing. I used to be a cop before… Well before I moved here."
That makes total sense, and his response leads me right into my next question, "What happened to make you give it up and move here?"
He gives me a haunted look and that is all I need to know in that moment. Something occurred to Wyatt, and he is running away from something or the memories of someone. I can relate all too well to the hurts of the heart and don't want to push, even if I am curious about what put that look in his eyes.