Page 72 of Saving Wyatt

“Do you miss him?”

“Every day,” I sighed.

“Tell me about him,” he asked, and I looked up at him and for a moment, it felt like I was staring at my actual future, and my heart…it felt at peace.

Even if only for a second.

TWENTY-FOUR

WYATT

Ididn’t realize how liberating it’d feel to talk about me, about Dare, about my life. Speaking to Ari was like a weight being lifted off my shoulder. I’d never told anyone these things. Not even Dare. I’d kept them inside for so long they’d become a part of me, as if embedded in me.

Speaking about it with Ari felt…safe. It felt non-judgmental. Maybe it was the doctor in him or the fact he’d grown up somewhere else and yet could still relate. There was an ugly comfort in knowing there were other people struggling with these feelings as much as I did.

“What was Evan like? How did you meet?” I asked, feeling more comfortable than I had my whole life discussing these things.

Wasn’t that funny? How one could spend a lifetime with a person and never feel like they could talk to them, but one stranger from a foreign land could feel like the most trusted friend and confidante?

“How we met?” he sighed and slid further down the pillow with a smile drawn on his lips. “It was so long ago, but I remember it like it was yesterday.”

I snuggled in closer and wrapped my arm around his stomach but kept my gaze firmly on him. On his beautiful eyes as they focused toward the light and toward the memories of the past.

“He was on vacation with his squad while on leave, and they got wasted. He ended up in my emergency room with a banged-up head. I took him in to examine him, and he wouldn’t stop flirting with me. He was so drunk he thought he was asleep and having some sort of wet dream. Or at least that’s what he told me later on.”

I chuckled. “I could see that,” I told him, and he smirked at me. “What happened next?”

There was something so special about hearing his love story with another man. I felt like I was living it through his eyes, his words, his heart, and I couldn’t help but smile back.

“Well, he was fine, it was just a scratch, so I sent him off. He turned up the next night claiming he was having headaches.”

“He wanted to see you,” I said.

Ari pursed his lips and nodded. “Yeah.”

“That’s sweet.”

“It didn’t feel sweet at the time. I fucking panicked. I thought I’d missed a concussion. I was so stressed. And then as soon as I got the fucker in the examination room, he started flirting again.”

“Again, can’t say I blame him,” I said.

Ari looked out the window again. “Yeah. He was sweet. And so blatant. Need I remind you that was fourteen…no, fifteen years ago. And being openly gay back then, in my small town, was not a thing. So you can imagine my shock. But he was too handsome for his own good and a sweet talker, so he got away with a lollipop and a new band-aid.”

“Lollipop, you say?” I all but purred.

“Oh God.” Ari rolled his eyes. “You’re even making the same joke as he did. No. It was an actual lollipop. I didn’t suck him dry in the examination room. I mean, I wanted to, but I’m a professional.”

“Professional sucker. Yeah, I know,” I said, slapping his chest gently.

“Anyway…” he hummed, ignoring me. “He kept coming back, night after night. Even on my day off, but I was expecting him, so I turned up at the hospital in my civies and we went out for a drink.”

“Just a drink?” I asked.

He narrowed his eyes and formed an O with his lips. “Well…”

I smiled and took a deep breath, holding him even closer to me if that was even possible.

“He kept coming back night after night until the vacation was over. On the last night, he gave me his number, and we stayed in touch.”