Page 2 of Saving Wyatt

“Parker, is everything okay? What happened?” I asked him as I approached, and he turned to me, looking more than a little flustered.

“Can we speak…somewhere more private?”

I bit the urge to curse and instead made him follow me to the top of the stairs and through the password-protected door into the hallway, and the buzz from downstairs was immediately drowned out, turning into a distant constant hum instead.

“What’s up, Hawkins? You’re worrying me. Did something happen? Is Levi okay? Hwan?”

He nodded with a smile.

“We’re all okay. Levi is settling in well. He’s still too shy to talk to us, but Hwan is spoiling him rotten with bubble tea and all the Korean food he could ever want.”

“I’m sure he’ll get there in no time.”

Parker shrugged. “Even if he doesn’t, it’ll be okay too. We’re prepared for any possibility.”

I put my hand on his arm and squeezed, looking him dead in the eyes. “Fostering is hard, but you two are more than up to the task.”

I didn’t know what had possessed them to apply for fostering when we were still dealing with Salieri and his criminal network. Then again, so many of the guys I had invited to the island came with baggage. Baggage I couldn’t have predicted or accounted for. It was my fault for promising them a new start when that wasn’t a guarantee considering what we were dealing with here. I hadn’t been able to sleep since Azrael brought a baby back with him. And it was even worse when Teddy came with his little nephew.

They all seemed to be building their lives despite the danger, and while admirable, my guts were twisted to death. They’d been twisted for months. I dreaded to think what might happen to them. All of them. Even the SEALs without kids. They’d all been through so much already, and thanks to me, they were being put through more hell.

“Do you need anything? You seem anxious.”

Parker shook his head and a smile crossed his face. He put his hand in his back pocket and handed me an envelope.

A pink envelope.

“What is this? Is your boyfriend sending me love notes now?”

Hwan was addicted to pink, though I wasn’t sure what the pink envelope was for.

“Fiancé,” Parker corrected me as I opened it to read.

Hwan Kim and Parker Hawkins request the honor of your presence on their special day.

“You’re…you’re getting married?” I asked.

Parker winced. Had I said something offensive? Or was it just my face?

“That’s…that’s great. Con-congratulations, guys!” I rushed to add and put my arms around him before he could detect something in my eyes or my expression that gave away my secret.

That I wasn’t angry he was marrying another man or in a relationship with one. I wasn’t mad at anyone who had come here and found the love of their lives in the eyes of another guy. I was frustrated I couldn’t be like them. Open. And happy.

“We…we were kinda hoping to have the ceremony here. If you wouldn’t mind,” he said with hesitation when we pulled away.

“Here? Really? Are you sure? There are far nicer places to have such a—pink, I imagine—wedding?”

Parker chuckled and scratched the back of his neck. “Ah yeah. Definitely pink. But we still want to have it here. This place—you—brought us together. We wouldn’t have met if you hadn’t invited me here. We want to honor that.”

There was a sting in my eyes, and my throat tightened, but I somehow kept my composure.

“Of course. I’d… That would be great.”

The day had been so…odd today. First Dare showed up at the crack of dawn to tell me he forgave me for breaking his heart and chickening out of making a home with him five years ago, and now Parker was getting married and telling me the life he had built was thanks to me.

Nice things didn’t happen to me. Ever. And now all of a sudden two of them happened on the same day?

I didn’t know what to make of it. What to think. Everyone was moving on with their lives but me. Everyone had found love on this island but me. Everyone was happy but me.