Itook the coffee from him, our fingers brushing in the exchange, and wondered ifI even needed the caffeine anymore. He had managed to completely wake me up bylooking irresistible.
Wehated each other, I reminded my heart.
Noyou don’t, my heart whispered back.
Idon’t think we ever did, my brain agreed.
“Goodmorning.” He stepped closer to me and I inhaled the fresh, clean scent of him.His hair had been recently trimmed, the sides freshly shaved.
“Yougot a haircut,” I pointed out, ignoring the tender way he’d greeted me. Not onpurpose. It was like my entire body was rioting with a thousand differentemotions and I didn’t know how to process any of them. Instead, I chose toignore them. It was a totally mature response and I should probably receivesome kind of award for how good at adulthood I was.
Heran a hand over the side of his head a little self-consciously. “Oh yeah.”
“When?”
“Huh?”
“Whendid you have time between last night and this morning?” What I wanted to askwas what barber kept those crazy hours?
Itwas hard enough finding time to do routine maintenance on my body with the kindof hours I kept. Things like doctors and dentist appointments got pushed offall the time. Especially because I rarely prioritized them over hair and nails.Maybe my mom should have included a good gynecologist in her girl squadlectures.
“Oh,I did it,” he confessed, chuckling self-deprecatingly.
“Areyou serious?”
Ihad the pleasure of seeing his cheeks heat with embarrassment. “Yeah. Why? Doesit look bad?”
Leaningaround him so I could take in all sides, I shook my head, amazed at thissurprising skill. “No, it looks amazing. You did a good job.”
Helaughed again. “Uh, thanks.”
“Howlong have you done it yourself?”
“SinceI was a kid,” he answered. “The way I grew up, I didn’t always know if I’d beable to get it cut by someone else. It was easier to do it myself.”
“Yougrew up with Killian didn’t you?”
Henodded. “Kind of. In the same circles. Foster care. Eventually I was deemed atroubled enough youth to get sent to Jo’s with Killian and Ezra.”
Ilifted my eyebrows and drank in all this surprising information. “Jo? As intheJo? Farm Jo?”
Thesmile that twisted his lips made my heart leap into a sprint. It was soaffectionate, so absolutely adoring. I immediately wanted him to look at melike that. I was jealous for this expression that I had never seen before.Desperate for it.
“Yeah,she took us all in. Tamed us. Taught us to be civil.”
Hisanswer did something to my insides, turned them squishy and soft. “I would haveliked to see that.”
“What?”
“You,”I answered, my voice just above a whisper. “Before you were civil.”
Hisgrin curled through me, making my toes flex and belly quiver. He leaned closer,dropping his voice while a wicked sparkle danced in his eyes. “I candemonstrate if you’d like.”
Ilicked lips that were suddenly dry, but I didn’t know how to reply. “Yes,please,” seemed a little too eager. But “No, thank you,” wasn’t right either.
Changingthe subject was my safest bet. “You were wild then?”
“Savage.”He ran a hand through his hair again, but this time it wasn’t a nervousgesture, it was confident and casual, and totally Wyatt. “My mom tried. For along time. She was an addict though. Meth or some shit. Anyway, I didn’t end upin the system until I was fourteen. I was lucky enough to eventually get to Jo.There were some rough years prior. I was back and forth between group homes andmy mom for a long time.” He started walking through the vendors, quietlysharing his history with me while we passed peppers in every color and bigbouquets of lettuce. The air smelled fresh and herby. I followed alongside him,drinking in every single word with a hunger for him I didn’t know was possible.“When I was sixteen, I got a new caseworker and she permanently removed me frommy mom’s home, if you can call it that. Donna took one look at me and sent meto Jo. By that time, she knew my kind. And she knew exactly who could kick myass into shape.”
