Page 31 of Saving Wyatt

As I took a bite of the sausage and its sweet, meaty juices seeped into my tastebuds making my mouth water, I caught Ari’s gaze.

In an instant, it was as if he’d taken a match and set me ablaze. For the first time in forever I felt ill at ease in my own skin. As if I’d lost complete control over my own body and needs. My cock went hard, and it became difficult to swallow my mouthful.

Something buzzed on my leg, and thankfully it offered enough distraction for me to pull my focus away from Ari and try to retrieve my phone from my pocket.

I answered without even checking and pushed the chair back so I could take the call in Warren’s bedroom.

No. I needed to put some distance between him and me. It didn’t matter if I had all the determination in the world. My mind, body, and soul had decided they couldn’t exist in the same space as this literal Greek god without me turning into a walking, fumbling servant.

I took a deep breath and calmed myself as I brought my phone to my ear, leaning against the wall. I was safely locked away from his penetrating gaze and his delicious food.

“Yeah.” My voice came out dry and croaky.

“Wyatt! Are you okay?” said the familiar voice on the other end of the line, and I breathed a little easier.

It didn’t matter how long it’d been, his voice would always put me at ease.

“Hey,” I said. “I’m…I’m fine. Why?” I asked.

Dare sighed, and I followed suit, waiting for him to speak.

“How are you feeling today?” he asked, and last night’s events blasted me back to the harsh present.

“Right,” I mumbled.

There were so much more important things to worry about other than my dick.

“I’m fine, I guess. Angry. Frustrated.” And a bunch of other things I was too scared to utter aloud, preferring their tight company around my chest.

“Of course. It’s terrible, what happened. Have you thought about what you’re going to do?”

I shook my head, staring at the ceiling, then I remembered he couldn’t see me. “I…can’t even think straight. I haven’t shut an eyelid.”

“He needs to be stopped. Before he destroys us and this whole island.”

I pulled my head forward then knocked it back against the wall, the thump reverberating through me and giving me a little more momentum. A little more spirit.

“I know. You think I don’t know that? I know.”

“I know you know, Wyatt. But you need to do something.” He gritted his teeth.

I could see him as if he were standing in front of me. The quiet rage rolling through him when I’d done something to upset him. Usually related to my fear of being found out.

Funny how he was still angry at me, even though we hadn’t been a thing for over five years.

God. How could I have gone wrong so much in my life? I couldn’t stop screwing up, could I?

First Dare, then Salieri. Then the bar. Mistake after mistake after mistake. As if I’d learned nothing in all my fifty-eight years in this fucking world.

Wasn’t it funny how I could manage troops in the Navy, yet in my personal life, I couldn’t even manage a shit without farting?

“So what are you going to do?” Dare asked, and I bit the inside of my cheek, trying to keep the tears from falling.

I couldn’t fall apart now. Not when everyone needed me to be the commander they knew.

“First I need to check the secret artillery room is still a secret,” I said.

Then, it was time to go to war.