I glanced outside my window at the dimly lit bar that caught the stray sunshine as it rose from the water behind me and took a deep breath.
Snow crunched under my boot as I walked up to the sheltered patio and pressed the back of my fingers against the front door. I knocked.
I turned to look out into the ocean, so calm and placid despite the grayed sky and the rooftops covered in white everywhere the eye could reach. There was no one around. It felt, for a moment, as if I was back in the desert, back in the field where silence was good and any sign of life was trouble in the making.
As the door behind me opened, I reminded myself this was no war zone, even if it felt like one sometimes.
"Dare!" Wyatt said, sleep in his eyes.
He winced when the muted sun met his gaze and shaded his face with his hand. I choked down a laugh. He was always a grump in the morning. Some things never changed.
"Hey," I said.
"What are you doing here? Did something happen?"
I shook my head.
"Did I wake you?"
He rubbed one eye and groaned.
"No. I was cleaning. What...what's up? Do you need something?"
I pointed inside and asked for permission. Wyatt let me into his bar and locked up while I grabbed a seat at the bar.
"Are you drinking in the morning now?" he asked and stepped behind the bar to glare at me.
I huffed.
"I'm not here to drink, Wyatt," I said.
"So...no coffee?" He raised the coffee pot that had been sitting on the counter and cocked his head.
"That I'll have." Wyatt started pouring me a cup. "Unless it's poisoned," I added with a smirk.
Wyatt groaned.
"Relax. I didn't know you were coming."
"Probably for the best," I said.
He set the coffee mug on the bar in front of me and put his hands on his hips, staring at me.
"Right," I said after a sip. "I...I wanted to talk to you. To say some things."
At that, Wyatt rolled his eyes with a huff and turned his back on me.
"If you're here to rehash old history, I don’t want to hear it. You could have picked a better day than the day after Christmas."
I bit the inside of my cheek before I reverted back to old habits and focused on the task at hand.
"I'm not here to rehash our history. At least that's not all I'm here to do."
Wyatt craned his neck to look back at me and raised his eyebrow.
"You really hurt me, Wyatt. I know it's not easy for you—even if I can't understand why—but I know it's not easy for you. Being what we are. Feeling like you have to hide. But still, you hurt me. I thought you were ready and I felt like you led me on. You let me make decisions, and plan a future only for you to drop me like a lead balloon."
Wyatt leaned into the bar and shook his head.
