“I’d tell them their Key is important, and it’s worth it to fix things,” he finished, still keeping his eyes closed.
This amount of irony was insane. Aiden was going to laugh hard when I relayed this story to him.
“You should take your own advice, Wyatt.” I whispered. “I forgave Aiden for being a complete idiot several times. I could forgive you, too.”
“My family isn’t big on forgiveness. It’s not an easy thing for me,” Wyatt replied too quickly.
“You’re old enough and smart enough to know that doesn’t matter. You’re not responsible for your childhood trauma, only how you choose to live now that you’re an adult. We could be a family. Arealfamily, Wyatt. I’ve always…wanted that.” My voice shook at the end.
Admitting things out loud had never been easy for me. Something about speaking things into existence just made them morereal.
Also, Ihada family. I had Zephyr. And for better or worse, Levi. Admitting I wanted more than that seemed like a grave betrayal toward the family I’d lost. Especially toward Zephyr. I’d judged him for so long. Every weekend he spent prowling the bars, staying the night at some random girl’s house, I was terrified I’d lose him.
And now? I was doing the very thing I didn’t want him doing to me.
Wyatt wanted a family, too. He didn’t know how to act around Willow, due to his upbringing. Willow gave him so many opportunities, and he’d shot them all down.
Wyatt’s hazel eyes opened then locked with mine for several seconds. I felt like I couldn’t breathe. The weight of his full attention was just as flustering as that first day I’d met him in the café.
Slowly, his hand covered mine, still on his cheek. I sucked in a sharp breath as his other hand settled on the back of my thigh.
“You want that?” he whispered. “You want that with me, even with what’s happened between us?”
Everything went still.
We stared at each other while I considered that question.
He’d have to grovel, of course, there was no getting out of that. Especially not after he’d insulted Aiden over and over. I could let go of insults toward me, but the ones toward Aiden still made me feel a little murderous. And I wanted to know what’d happened between him and Willow.
Did I still want this? Did I still want this withWyatt?
…I did.
“Yeah,” I whispered, my voice barely audible in the heavy silence between us.
Wyatt’s breath hitched, and he remained still for just a moment before he nodded to himself, then leaned forward, resting his head against my stomach. I gulped, then slowly reached out with my free hand, running it through his soft hair before I scratched at his scalp. Wyatt let out a heavy breath, his shoulders relaxing even further as he melted into me.
It could have been this way so much sooner. Part of me wanted to be angry with him still. Demand to know why he’d avoided this, why he’d avoidedmefor so long. But the other part of me understood. The same part of me that’d ran from Aiden so many times, that’d pretended I felt nothing for him when I was really head over heels. Wyatt and I were similar in that way. Avoiding feelings was a problem, sure, but that’s what we did to cope.
At least until now.
We sat in silence for a few minutes, and finally, I decided to try out our fragile truce.
“What happened with Willow?” I whispered.
Wyatt’s shoulders tensed again, and he shuddered out a breath while I deepened the massage on his scalp in an attempt to keep him calm.
“My father hurt me.”
I froze, my hand stilling in his hair as the words sank in.
“Okay,” I breathed. “How?”
“He’s a Telepath,” Wyatt whispered. “He was disappointed in my affinities, that they aren’t as good as they could be. His earth affinity is very strong. It got stronger when he connected with Lauren, but…” He breathed out harshly. “But he’s a Telepath first. He would mess with myhead. Spin these illusions to confuse me. I wouldn’t sleep for days. At least, that’s what it felt like.”
My heart pounded.
My affinity stung along my hands, and I imagined it was coiling like a snake inside me, ready to strike.
