“Going out for dinner!”
Livy cheered and bounced around some more.
The sight made my heart soar while simultaneously sending a stab of guilt through me. If I were a competent adult with a steady paycheck, I could treat Livy more often, without having to rely on my best friend to do so.
I didn’t have a chance to dwell on my guilt, and that was probably for the best. Livy skipped along ahead of us, so Jemma urged me to get back to our conversation.
Keeping my voice low enough that Livy wouldn’t overhear, I told Jemma all about my latest encounter with Bodie. Her jaw dropped, and she grabbed my arm when I got to the bit about the kiss.
“Oh my God, Emersyn! You’ve got two major hotties interested in you! This is the best!”
“No, it’s not!” I disagreed. “It’s confusing!”
“What is there to be confused about?”
I told her about my mixed feelings, how I felt an emotional connection with Bodie, but how my attraction to Wyatt was stronger, to the point that I’d thought of him when Bodie kissed me. Yep, a superhot guy kissed me passionately, and I thought of someone else. I’d expected more of a spark, maybe even full-on fireworks, but I’d searched the kiss for a flame, even an ember, and came up empty.
Jemma squealed with happiness. “That means you’ve got it bad for Wyatt.”
“That’s not a good thing!”
“How could it not be?”
“Have you forgotten everything I told you the other day?” I asked.
On the way to Ultimate Beast, I’d filled Jemma in on how, thanks to Theo, I’d finally learned Wyatt’s full name and looked him up on the Internet.
Jemma stopped me in the middle of the sidewalk. “Em, listen up. You are absolutely good enough for Wyatt. More than good enough, no matter how much money he has and no matter how famous his mom might be.”
“It’s not just that,” I said as we resumed walking. “I know we only met recently, but the fact that he’s secretive is a major red flag for me.”
Jemma tucked her arm through mine. “I know. After what Hoffman did to you, trusting isn’t easy.”
“It really isn’t. And I have to be extra careful now with Livy inmy care.”
“Speaking of that,” Jemma said, talking even more quietly now, “how’s the situation with your mom?”
“I haven’t heard anything more from her about Livy’s guardianship. That’s good, right?” That’s what I told myself at night so I could fall asleep instead of staring at the ceiling for hours and hours.
“I sure hope so,” Jemma said. “Now, back to Wyatt.”
I groaned. “If—and that’s a big if—I were going to pursue a relationship with someone, Bodie is the far better choice.”
“But there’s no real spark there, and you can’t get Wyatt off your mind.”
Perhaps, I realized in that moment, the thought of forming a strong emotional connection with Wyatt scared me a little. Probably because something told me that he had the potential to really break my heart. Like, shatter it to pieces.
“Maybe,” Jemma said, shaking me out of my introspection, “what you need is to have a fling with Wyatt to get him out of your system. Then maybe you’ll find a spark with Bodie. Or another guy.”
My shoulders slumped. “You know I can’t do casual flings. Even if I tried, I’d get attached. And getting attached leads to getting hurt.”
“Okay, true,” Jemma conceded. “Separating the emotional from the physical has never been you.”
Ahead of us, Livy bunny-hopped her way up the front steps of the Mirage. When she reached the top, she ran back down to fetch the front door key from me. I handed it over, and she hopped up the stairs again.
“I just need to never see Wyatt again,” I whispered to Jemma as we followed Livy up the steps. “I’ll tell him we’re done investigating together, and that will be that. Once I’ve had time to forget about him, I’ll be fine. I just really,reallyneed to steer clear of him.”
Livy hauled the door open and ran inside. We followed her and stepped into the lobby in time to hear her call out with delight, “Wyatt! Hi!”
