“Yep.” Wyatt sighed. “I didn’t even know it would trigger me, but it did. When I realized what was happening, I called my sponsor, Neil. He agreed to join me on the tour to help me work through my relapse.”
“Neil is your sponsor?” I felt a sudden surge of affection for the slightly awkward guy that had escorted me around at the concert. “Wait. You were drinking at the Eagle’s Nest.”
He looked away. “I’m not proud of it.”
“I bought you a drink,” I said, my stomach twisting.
“Hey, my relapse isn’t your fault. I was already spiraling before that night.” Wyatt put his forehead against mine and closed his eyes. “You’re the one that saved me, Brooklyn. That night in the café when you told me how you felt about me, everything changed. I didn’t just want to straighten my life out so I wouldn’t ruin my career.” He opened his eyes and smiled. “I had to do it so I could be worthy of your love.”
“That’s why you left,” I said, finally understanding.
“You shook me, Brooklyn. I wasn’t expecting to fall for you again and I definitely wasn’t expecting you to fall for me.” He looked into my eyes for a long moment. In addition to the pain, I could see tears forming. “I know I should have told you all of this that night. It wasn’t right for me to keep it from you, but I felt like I had to at least let you see the good side of me before I dumped all this on you. I’m telling you now because if we’re going to do this, I want you to come into this relationship with your eyes wide open. I’m a mess and I’m hard to love.”
“Loving you isn’t a choice for me, Wy.” I kissed away the tear that slipped down his cheek. “I love you so much for telling me everything, I know how hard that had to be for you. You should know that it doesn’t change how I feel about you, except it makes me love you more.”
Wyatt rolled away and sat up at the edge of the bed. “I want you to really think about this, Brooklyn. Loving an addict is almost impossible. I feel like an ass for even asking you to consider it. After what I went through with my father, I wouldn’t wish that life on anyone.”
“Wy.” I sat up and moved next to him. “In your worst moments, were you ever violent?”
“No.” He answered without hesitation.
“Would you ever hit me?” I asked.
“God no. Of course not.” Wyatt’s eyes flashed with disgust.
“Then you are not your father.” I put my arm around him and rested my head on his shoulder. I put my hand on his chest, right over the area with the tattoo. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m in this with you, through the good and the bad. I’ll be the daylight in your darkest times, darling.”
Wyatt put his arms around me, pulling me against his chest. He held me for a long time and I made no attempt to pull away. I would’ve stayed there forever if he needed me to. He eventually kissed my head and loosened his embrace. “I think it’s time for Family Fun Night,” he said with a lightness in his voice that I hadn’t heard in the last week.
“We don’t have to go,” I told him.
He smiled and rubbed my back. “We should go. It will be fun.”
“You’ve never been to Family Fun Night. You’ll regret those words,” I teased. “It will mostly be five kids fighting the entire time while I lecture Trish and Bri on the benefits of birth control.”
“Well, we can’t miss that.” Wyatt kissed my cheek and then trailed his lips to my ear. “I got us a room at a bed and breakfast for tonight. If you make it through bowling without losing your mind, I’ll spend the rest of the night blowing your mind.”
“You really are my dream man.” I gave him a long, hungry kiss. “I’ve never in my life been this excited to bowl.”
Starlight Lanes was only two blocks away, so we all walked there. Wyatt was being extra affectionate, keeping his arm around me as we walked while occasionally nuzzling my neck and kissing my cheek. He didn’t pull away even when we were inside the bowling alley.
“You forgot your hat,” I said when I realize people were staring at us. We were patiently waiting in line for our chance to wear ugly, used shoes.
“I decided I was tired of hiding.” He was unconcerned that several people were aiming their camera phones in his direction. “This means you probably need to get used to strangers taking our picture.”
I frowned. “I don’t suppose there’s any way to avoid that.”
“Unless you want to never go anywhere in public with me, it’s part of the deal.” He noticed that I looked concerned and removed his arm from around me. “Look, I know it’s intrusive and awkward, but there’s not really anything I can do about it.”
“I know, I just don’t the kids to be involved.” I looked down at where Jaxson was holding Wyatt’s hand.
Wyatt looked down, too. “I understand. Do you want me to leave?”
“No.” I put a hand on his chest and smiled. “I’m sure everyone will grow tired of taking pictures in a few minutes once they see how banal this is going to be.”
“Banal?” He grinned. “Your use of vocabulary is amazingly sexy.”
“Watch it.” I glanced at Jaxson again.
Jaxson had no idea what we were saying. “Wyatt, will you bowl with me?”
“Of course, buddy.” Wyatt ruffled his hair. “Let’s grab our shoes and then you can teach me how to do this.”
It took almost fifteen minute for everyone to get their shoes and find their perfect bowling ball. Trisha correctly predicted that Jaxson would lose interest within five minutes, so we didn’t bother having the bumpers put in the gutters. Instead, Wyatt helped him when it was his turn to bowl and then taught him a victory dance when they knocked down a pin.
“You are such a bad influence on kids,” I said, shaking my head.
“You love my dance moves,” Wyatt said confidently. He wrapped an arm around me and pulled close for a kiss.
“I love that move,” I said.
Jaxson, in his four-year-old perpetually oblivious state, tugged my arm. “It’s your turn, Aunt Brook.”
“Alright, Jax. I’ll show you how this is supposed to be done.” I hadn’t bowled in years and was sure that I would be terrible. My main goal was to avoid falling down in case anyone was still taking pictures. When I somehow managed to get a strike, I did my own victory dance. Jaxson joined me, shaking his butt and pumping his fists.
“I don’t know which one of you is cuter right now,” Wyatt said.
My moment of triumph was short-lived. I went on to barely clear 100 points by the end of the game. After Jax grew bored and decided to harass his sisters rather than bowl, Wyatt went on to destroy me.
“We should make the second game more interesting,” Wyatt suggested.
“Like how? Loser has to pay in sexual favors?” I suggested.
“Wow. That’s even better than what I had I mind.” He grinned and flicked my hair.
I noticed that a few people were still watching us. “What if we just quit while you’re ahead? I could use some fresh air.”
“You want to leave?” Wyatt hesitated. “Is everything alright?”
“More than alright,” I assured him. “I just don’t want to share you with anyone else any longer.”
“You might need to get used to that,” he said apologetically.
“Not tonight.” I sat down and removed my rented shoes. I wasn’t being completely honest with Wyatt. Though I did want to spend time with him alone, I was mostly just tired of being stared at like I was an animal in a cage. After the bombshell that Wyatt had dropped on me at home, I just wanted some time with him where neither of us had to worry about what other people might see or hear. Wyatt and I still had a lot to discuss about our future.
Trisha was more than encouraging of my decision to leave. “Go. Have fun, but use protection. You don’t want to end up with one of these,” she said, gesturing to her fighting children.
“Or five of them,” Brian muttered.
Wyatt had gotten us a room at Starlight Bed & Breakfast, a beautiful inn on the edge of
town. The woman who checked us in didn’t appear to recognize Wyatt, but that might have been because he’d resurrected the hat.
“Did you need help with your bags?” the woman asked.
“No thanks.” Wyatt grinned at her and I recognized the look of awe that passed over her face. “I can handle it.”
“Right. Well.” She cleared her throat. “Have a wonderful evening.”
“We intend to,” Wyatt said, squeezing my hand as he tossed both our overnight bags over one shoulder.”
Our room was on the top floor and it was larger than I expected. Wyatt must have sprung for the nicest room. “Nice work, Hudson,” I said.
“Glad you approve.” He tossed our bags into a chair. “Make yourself comfortable. I need to make a quick call, but I’ll be right back. Just… don’t fall asleep or anything, okay?”
“I’ll find some other way to pass the time,” I promised.
Wyatt stepped onto the small balcony to make his call. I waited for a few minutes in case he really was going to return right away, but he didn’t. I took my bag to the bathroom and pulled out the sexy lingerie I had packed. When I returned to the sleeping area a few minutes later, I was surprised to see that Wyatt was still on the balcony.
I perched on the edge of the bed, doing my best to be patient. When thirty minutes had passed and Wyatt was still outside, I got more comfortable. A few minutes after that, I did the one thing that Wyatt had asked me not to do. I fell asleep.
In my defense, without Wyatt to preoccupy me, the room was pretty boring. There wasn’t even a television. Still, I felt bad when I opened my eyes after feeling Wyatt’s hand on my hip. “I’m sorry,” I said instantly. Wyatt was lying next to me on the bed, facing me. “I swear I didn’t mean to fall asleep.”
“It’s okay,” he said. The lights in the room had been dimmed. “I’m sorry that took so long.”
“Were you talking to your agent?” I asked, fighting a yawn.
“No, that was Neil, actually.” Wyatt slowly ran his hand from my thigh up to the side of my breast. His touch was both erotic and soothing.
“Oh.” I didn’t know what to say. “Are you doing okay?”
“Doing better after seeing you like this,” he said, sliding his thumb into the waistband of my skimpy underwear. “You are so beautiful, Brooklyn.”
I knew that he was deflecting. He hadn’t answered my question and I could see that his face was strained. He wanted to be focused on me and enjoying our night together, but something was clearly bothering him.
“What’s wrong, Wy?” I asked, catching his hand before he could do any further damage. “You’re keeping something from me.”
“I really don’t want to talk about it right now,” he said. “I promised you a romantic evening. We don’t have many nights left to spend together.”
“Don’t worry about that right now,” I said. “Just talk to me. Please, Wyatt.”
He sighed and rolled onto his back. “Can we please just talk about it in the morning?
I propped myself up on my elbows to get a better look at his face. I got the feeling that if I kept pressuring him to talk, he would only shut down even more. I had to accept that he was telling me what he really needed right then, even if it wasn’t what I thought he needed.
Rather than answer him, I crawled over him until I was straddling him. “I believe that as the loser tonight, I owe you a payment.”
Wyatt gradually smiled and some of the tightness left his face. When I leaned down to kiss him, he brushed my hair over my shoulder. “I’m pretty sure I’m the one that owes you, Brooklyn.”
“Shut up and kiss me, Hudson.”
CHAPTER TEN
I woke before Wyatt and took it upon myself to have breakfast delivered to the room. I pulled on one of his t-shirts and poured myself a cup of coffee. When Wyatt didn’t wake up, I curled up in a chair near the bed and watched him sleep.
He was spread on top of the bed, completely naked. I had pulled a blanket over him earlier, but he had mostly kicked it away. When I reached over to pull it back into place, his eyes opened.
“Hey,” I said, my heart warming at the sight of his beautiful eyes. “Good morning.”
“Does my naked body offend you?” he joked, his voice even gruffer than usual.
“I didn’t want you to get cold.” I settled back in my chair. “I had breakfast brought to the room if you’re hungry.”
He tossed back the blanket. “I’m only hungry for you, Monroe.”
“You are insatiable,” I said, already putting my coffee down to join him in bed. He was surprisingly warm. “Your phone has been ringing nonstop.”
“I’ll deal with it later.” He nibbled at my ear. “How much time do we have?”
“Tyra is covering for me this morning,” I said. “But you’ve only got about five more minutes because we have some important stuff to discuss.”
Wyatt groaned. “Five minutes?”
“More than enough time if we stay focused,” I said. His phone rang again and we both looked at it. “You should get it. It might be important.”
“Fine. Don’t go anywhere.” He kept one arm around me while stretching to grab his phone from the bedside table.
“What’s up, Alex?”
I instantly lost interest and occupied myself by slowly moving my lips over Wyatt’s chest. When he twisted his fingers through my hair, I took that as encouragement and started kissing my way down his stomach.
“What do you mean?” Wyatt asked. “Where was it taken?”
Something in his tone caused me to look up. The hand that had been in my hair was now tugging at his hair as his face hardened at whatever was being said on the other end of the phone. I sighed and slowly slipped away.
“You need to get them to take it down,” Wyatt said. “That’s someone else’s kid.”
I stared at him, dread growing inside me. He continued to grow more irate and got to his feet. As he paced the length of the room, still naked, I started to piece together what was making him so angry. I reached for my phone and searched the name Ryder Strong. The very first headline confirmed what I suspected.
Ryder Strong Has Secret Love Child
The pictures had been taken at the bowling alley. Under any other circumstance, I would’ve thought the pictures of Wyatt and Jaxson were adorable. They clearly adored each other and even I had to admit that Jaxson’s smile was eerily similar to Wyatt’s boyish grin. I was so shocked to see Jaxson that I hardly registered the photos that had been take of me and Wyatt, kissing and generally looking like we were in love.
“Brooklyn.” Wyatt was off the phone.
I looked up from the screen. “Guess I wasn’t being ridiculous after all.”
“I’m sorry,” he said. “Alex will get them to take it down.”
“It’s already out there,” I said. “I need to call Trish and give her a heads up.”
“That’s probably a good idea.” He continued to stare at me.
I looked back at my phone and read the captions under the pictures. “My name is in here, Wy.”
“I know.” He came over to me and put his hand on my shoulder. “Information about you was going to get out eventually. I tried to warn you about that.”
“You’re right.” I forced a weak smile. “At least they got my good side.”
“All of your sides are good. Trust me.” He put his arms around me and held me tight against his chest. “The good news is that people will stop taking your picture once I leave town. Probably.”
“But I’ll also stop getting naked hugs when you’re gone. Probably.” I tapped his naked butt. “Put some clothes on, Hudson.”
He tugged at my shirt. “You’re wearing my clothes, Monroe.”
“Lucky for you, you can have it back. I’m going to take a shower.” I peeled the shirt off in one smooth motion and handed it to him. “Will you be joining me?”
He put a hand to his heart. “That’s maybe the best offer of my life, but I rea
lly need to call Neil. He’ll be worried if I don’t check in.”
“We don’t want that.” I tossed my phone onto the bed. “Call Neil.”
He didn’t call Neil right away, instead staying to watch as I crossed the room. As I was turning on the water, I heard the balcony door open. I had no idea what it meant that Wyatt had spoken to Neil for so long last night and now was calling him again. There was so much about addition and recovery that I didn’t know.
What I did know was that my life had changed overnight. I was no longer just a single woman living in Starlight Valley. I was Ryder Strong’s girlfriend and alleged baby mama. I was dating a recovering addict in the middle of a relapse. More concerning than all those developments, I was in love.
I took a long shower and dressed slowly, stalling as I processed my thoughts on everything that had happened. I took more time to dry my hair and found myself brushing my teeth for more than five minutes. I couldn’t focus on anything except the decision that I had to make.
Wyatt was just coming back inside when I stepped out of the bathroom. He smiled when he saw me and he looked relaxed. “Hey, beautiful.”
“Good call?” I said stiffly.
“Is there something you want to ask me?” he said, sounding mildly annoyed.
“When was the last time you drank, Wy?”
He flinched. “Why are you asking me that?”
“I think I have a right to know. It’s not a hard question.” I forced myself not to look away as I waited for him to answer. “I’ll make it even easier. Did you have a drink yesterday?”
Wyatt shrugged. “What if I did?”
“I’ll still be right here. I’m not going anyway. I’m not going to love you any less.” I took a step forward. “I just need to know so I know how to support you.”
“I had a drink before I came over to your place yesterday,” he admitted. “More than one drink.”
“You drove to my place,” I said.
“I wasn’t drunk,” he said. “You would’ve noticed if I was. I might be an addict, but I do know my limits.”
I pressed my lips together to hide my annoyance. “You had a few drinks and then came over to have sex with me? Honestly, I almost hope you were drunk and weren’t thinking about how shitty it would make me feel to know that.”
Falling for You (Starlight Valley Book 1) Page 9