Page 56 of Saving Wyatt

“For fuck’s sake, Wyatt. Why? What did you do that?”

I shook my head and glanced at Donovan. He was still asleep.

“I just asked him to stop torturing everyone else.”

“And what? Start torturing you?”

“No. I promised him we’d stop trying to bring him down if he stops hurting innocent lives.”

Autumn tilted her head to the side and raised both eyebrows. “And you believe him?”

I sucked in my cheeks and scoffed. “Of course not. But it might buy us some time. If he thinks we gave up.”

Autumn shook her head and squeezed my hand. “You shouldn’t have gone to him. He’s dangerous. He’s made that very clear. Isn’t what you keep saying to Elliot to stop him from doing something stupid?”

I nodded.

“And you did something stupid. Do I need to talk to you like you’re Elliot’s age?”

I rolled my eyes and sucked in a breath.

“Then don’t act rush. You know better. He’s a dangerous criminal. There’s no honor among thieves, despite what the idiom suggests.”

I didn’t answer. I didn’t say anything. What was there to say? The best I could do was lower my head and accept I’d done two stupid things yesterday.

What had I been thinking?

I should’ve been spending my nights and days trying to figure out how to stop that asshole, not sleeping with handsome cheating doctors.

“I…I think I’ll head. Just wanted to check how Donovan is. Are you okay? Do you need anything?”

Autumn sighed and let go of my hands, grabbing her magazine again. “No. I’m okay. I would like a new wardrobe. A house. A job, but hey, at least I’ve got him, so can’t complain.”

She cast a glance at Donovan, and I smiled.

Everyone had someone. Everyone around me had paired up. Why didn’t I deserve that? Why couldn’t I have that?

Oh, right. Because I was a coward who destroyed people’s lives. Even without Ari in the picture, I didn’t deserve happiness. I only deserved what I had. A shell of a life teetering on the edge of catastrophe.

“I don’t know about everything else, but a wardrobe we can get,” I told her, and her face changed to one of complete ecstasy.

“Oh. Em. Gee, Wyatt! Are we going shopping? When?” she said in her best Valley Girl accent.

I didn’t reply. I walked out of the room laughing, and as I did, my phone rang.

“Goodman,” I answered, almost on instinct.

“Wyatt? It’s King. I…uhm…can you talk?”

Just when my heart had stopped racing, it picked up again.

“What’s wrong?”

TWENTY

ARI

Itapped my screen but still no sign of life. I didn’t know why I was surprised. He was so deep in the closet it made sense he wouldn’t stick around for morning hugs and breakfast. Besides, his brother was in the room next door. Of course he’d fled. I’d have done the same in his position.