I smirk. “Are you jealous?”
He widens his shoulders. “I’m not jealous. I just asked a question. Are you into him?”
He’s most definitely jealous.
“I don’t know. He’s different from what I’m used to. More refined.”
“Refined?” Wyatt clears his throat and takes another bite of pie. “Since when do you like refined? You’re the girl who begged to keep wild animals in the house, and preferred muddin’ on our anniversary over a fancy dinner.”
“I’m not saying Ipreferrefined. I’m saying it’s different.”
“You let him take you on another date, though.” He rubs his hand down over his beard as he talks. “Where’d he take you?”
I stuff in another big bite of sweet but tart cranberry pancake. “Are you being serious?”
“Yeah.” He shrugs. “I gotta know what thisrefinedguy planned for you.”
I roll my eyes and swallow before speaking. “He took me to this rooftop garden restaurant overlooking the city for our first date. They have this orange foam stuff that he was excited to try.”
Wyatt laughs under his breath and folds up his sleeves. “A grown man excited to try foam?”
“What?” I shrug. “The man likes a good culinary adventure. It’s more exciting than eating pie at the same diner, in the same town, with the same people every week until you die.”
“Is it, though?” He shifts his weight again. “This pie is the best pie on Earth, and a good man don’t need to taste every pie in every damn windowsill to know which one was baked for him.” His gaze locks with mine, and I don’t think we’re talking about pies anymore.
“I miss you, peach.” He reaches his hand across the table, landing it on top of mine. “I miss everything about us. The banter, the bullshit, your face, the sex… I fucked up and I spend every day wishing I knew how to fix it.”
“Maybe you can’t.” I shrug. “Maybe that’s the problem.”
“Nah, everything can be fixed, just gotta find the right tools.”
“I’m not a home improvement project, or a broken transmission. I’m a whole person. A whole person you lied to.”
He rolls up his sleeves further as he talks, exposing more dark ink. “I get it. You deserve every bit of anger you have. I made a shit decision.”
For a moment there’s silence.
“But…”
“But nothing,” he says, taking another bite. “I’m an asshole. An asshole who was trying to escape.”
“Escape from what?” My tone is unintentionally harsh. “If we were so happy, what did you need an escape from?”
His gaze draws up to mine slowly. “Myself.”
“What are you talking about? You love yourself. You’re one of the most confident people I know.”
“Some days I feel like that guy. Other days, acclimating back into real life is hard. I spent so many years in the desert surviving. Some days, that weight is… exhausting.”
Suddenly, I feel like the biggest jerk ever.
“Why didn’t you tell me you were struggling? I’d have helped you, Wyatt!” Tears threaten their way onto my cheeks, but I brush them away quickly. “You didn’t have to suffer alone.”
“I didn’t want to burden you. You were working hard. You deserved a happy life with a happy guy, not whatever I was. So, I blew off steam at the casino… and it got out of hand.” He readjusts his hat then takes another bite of pie before looking toward me. “I’m putting things back together now. I’m working on myself in the hope that you’ll change your mind. I love you, peach. I never stopped loving you.”
My eyes don’t leave his, and for a long moment, I just stare as my chest warms, my body tingles, and I fight off the urge to tell him I love him back, climb over the table stripper-style, and give into every urge pulsing through me.
“I’m only here for one more day.” I set my fork on the plate and stare at him, holding the heat of his rough hand in mine. “I was going to head up to the look out at Eagle Rock. Do you want to go?”
