Page 85 of Saving Wyatt

“You didn’t have a choice.”

He shrugged. “That can’t be my excuse for everything. And if anything was to happen to you…” His voice weakened, and he put his hand on the side of my face, holding me gently for a moment.

“I can take care of myself,” I told him, and even I didn’t believe it.

What the hell did I know about criminals? I couldn’t protect myself from a bullet through my head, but it seemed like the right thing to say if only to alleviate some of the pressure he felt.

“I wish that were true, but…this guy is dangerous. I…I didn’t mean to get you involved. But we’ve got a plan. If…if it works, we’ll be rid of him and his minions once and for all.”

My throat and stomach tightened, and I almost held my breath when I asked, “A plan. What kind of plan?”

He sighed and put his other arm around me, resting his head on my shoulder. “I’m sick of talking about him. I just need… Can we just be? I feel like I need a hug to recharge or something.”

I smiled and lifted my arms to do just that. “Your wish my command,” I said, and he took a deep breath once he was in my embrace.

I leaned back with him in tow and put my legs up on the sofa as he got cozy on my chest, and we both inhaled and exhaled at the same time as if we were in sync.

“This…it feels so good. I feel like…I don’t know. Like I can do anything when I’m in your arms,” he said then looked up. “Is that too forward? To admit?”

I cocked my head and looked back at him. “Too forward, why?”

He shrugged. “Because. We hardly know each other. We’ve barely started…seeing each other. Maybe it’s too…familiar too soon.”

I smiled and blinked slowly as images of Evan resurfaced in the back of my mind. Of us locked in tandem after two weeks of vacation unwilling to let go of each other. Feeling as if the world was going to end if we separated.

“I think…when you know someone’s your person you just do, and it doesn’t matter if you’ve known them a second or a year, it feels like…like a lifetime either way.”

“Is that…what I am? Your per-person?” he asked.

My heart skipped a beat as I watched this older, masculine man turn to putty in my arms, hearing my words.

“Is it too forward to say yes?” I smirked.

He didn’t reply. He just leaned up for a kiss, and I reciprocated.

It was soft, tender. It wasn’t anything impressive or mind-blowing, yet it felt like the most comforting, the most important kiss of my life. Like the kind of kisses I’d shared with Evan after ten years of marriage, when we thought we’d spend the rest of our lives together.

Because while I wanted to rip his clothes off and kiss him deeper all night, I wanted this more. Sitting on a couch, comforting each other, arms locked in a cuddle and just being with each other.

“I don’t think so. I think you’re my person too. Even if I feel too old to think any person is my person.”

“What do you mean? We can all have our person no matter how old.”

He sighed. “I don’t know. Sometimes…most times, I feel too old to fall in love. And the other times I’m scared I will screw this up like I screwed up my relationship with Dare, and you’ll have wasted your time with an old fuck like me.”

I shook my head the whole time he was talking, and when he finished, I grabbed his mouth and glared him down.

“Listen here, mister, I will not tolerate any of that pessimistic talk, you hear me? Let’s just agree we’ll live for the here and now and stop worrying about the future so much. Because if I’ve learned anything in the last few years it’s that we can make all the plans we want, we can have all the dreams in the world, and all it takes is a moment for everything to shatter. So if you don’t mind, I’d rather be with you than the potential of you. The potential of us. That’s why I don’t care if you come out or not. This…what we have right here can be stolen from us in a moment. Why can’t we just enjoy what we have while we have it?”

He seemed to inhale my words and rest a little easier against me, and his response was nothing more than to lean his head against my chest and hug me tighter.

And as we sat there embracing one another, I tried to embody my words because the truth was, I worried about him. About us. About what they were about to do to bring that terrible man down. And I knew without a shadow of a doubt that I couldn’t let go of him. Whatever happened, I wanted to be there to make sure he made it through to live another day with me.

THIRTY

ARI

The next time I opened my eyes, they felt even heavier than the last. The night had been long and stressful, and no amount of sleep was ever going to make up for it.