“Out. I want all of you out of my house,” Declan grumbled.
No matter what happened with Wyatt, at the end of the day I’d have these people to help me pick up the pieces. My family had been a safe place for me my entire life, a refuge, and I knew deep down it would continue to be.
I had to clutch onto that, because the thought of putting myself out there and getting crushed terrified me. The whole-ass reason I didn’tdo emotions was because the second I let them bubble to the surface, they quickly spun out of control.
Chapter sixteen
Wyatt
Whether or not Rory would show tonight was the toss of a coin.
Ever since he’d left my house after Harper had shown up, the whole week had been a series of lighter, more distant responses. The need to have a real conversation burned in me as much as the need to see him again. I didn’t like things being unresolved, and we’d clearly left them that way.
And Harper had been dropping me more texts this week, poking around to try to find out about the woman I was dating. Of course, that just piled on more complicated emotions.
The digital numbers glared at me from my oven clock. Still an hour before our date. He’d agreed. I’d cling to hope, because I’d asked him to meet me at Stateline Woods Preserve when we were done with work, since he had an earlier shift today.
My phone buzzed with a call, and I leapt to answer.
The name “Susie” flashed on the screen, but I picked it up anyway.
“How’s it going, stranger?” Her familiar voice offered a comfort that I appreciated after spending so long in each other’s company. Yet nothing existed between us beyond that, no matter how hard we’d tried over the years.
“I call as much as I usually do,” I teased back.
“Which is minimal at best,” she responded. “Harper’s been telling me things, though, and I can admit I’m curious.”
I found a lean against the kitchen counter, my heart speeding up a bit. Had Harper figured out who I was seeing? Was she furious? The thought of disappointment or disgust on my daughter’s face made my stomach drop to the floor. “Oh? What sorts of things?”
“You’re starting to see someone? I want details,” Susi said, the excitement clear in her voice.
“How’s the relationship with Zack?” I asked back, in a feeble attempt at deflection.
“Really good,” she responded. “He’s going to be moving in next month.”
Jealousy socked me in the gut. Not like an ounce of competition existed between us post-divorce, but hearing about how she’d found what I wanted made the loneliness slice a little sharper.
Except the reality was, I had potential right in my hands, but I was too much of a coward to grasp it.
I might not be ready to face that yet, but I could maybe take a first step…
“I’m bisexual,” I blurted out.
Silence echoed on the other side of the phone, which clearly made me feel great.
“You still there?” My palms were already sweating.
“Yeah, just processing for a second,” Susie said. “This new? Or have you been bisexual for a long time?”
“Uh, the discovery is new, but I’m assuming it was latent there for a long while, not some flip of a switch.” I squeezed my nape with my sweaty palm, regretting the move at once.
“So the person you’re dating is…” She trailed off, as if she wanted me to fill in the blank.
“A man,” I clarified, my heart thumping so hard I was pretty sure she could hear it over the phone. “Though we’re not officially dating yet, uh, just…”
“Does Harper know?” she asked. Her questions weren’t offering the reassurance I needed right now that she wouldn’t see me differently.
“Not yet,” I said, tipping my head back to look at the ceiling.
