Page 98 of Saving Wyatt

I nodded, and we let go of each other. As Wyatt opened the side door, I called his name and he turned to look at me.

“What were those words again?” I asked.

He smiled softly and repeated them one by one as if they had more meaning behind them than as a simple assessment for concussion.

“Eyes, beautiful like yours,” he said. “Van, like the one we’re in. And sunset, like the thousand ones I wish to see with you in my arms.”

I lost my balance again, but this time not from worry but from knowing it was going to be fine. As long as we were together, it was all going to turn out okay.

THIRTY-FIVE

WYATT

That night was the longest of my life. Everything depended on our plan working without a hitch, and even though the first part was successful, the next part was the most crucial one. It was the part that would get rid of Wilson and his men once and for all.

The hardest aspect of that sleepless night, though, was not being able to sit next to Ari, to hold his hand, to rest my head on his shoulder. My heart physically ached looking at him across the room, squashed in between Warren and Azrael trying to eat his slice of chocolate cake that Zach had baked for us. Apparently it was the only thing that calmed his nerves, which explained why Duke’s kitchen was full of baked goods. Good thing we had an army to feed.

Everyone directly involved with taking him down was under one roof. SEALs, partners, kids, family. The only ones we hadn’t been able to get here, and which would have been tricky to convince anyway, were people in our circle that had a vague awareness of the goings-on but hadn’t been directly affected by Wilson’s criminal activities. People like Carson and Cole, the owners of Carson’s Grill, or those other store owners that had been victims of the racketeering ring that had nearly destroyed Hwan’s bubble tea shop.

Even though getting them here wasn’t possible, they had been instructed to stay home all night and the next day until they got the okay. It had been a tough ask—how did you ask businesspeople to keep their stores closed on a Saturday morning on the launch of another money-making festival—but thankfully, Hwan was very convincing. That and the risk to their lives, of course.

“How are you feeling?” Dare asked, crouching down next to me and offering me a bottle of beer.

I grabbed the bottle and leaned back on the chair, and with that, the soreness all over my body came to the forefront, throbbing right under my skin and making me feel heavier.

“Rough,” I croaked.

“You look it,” he answered and gave me the once-over.

I rolled my eyes and kicked his foot. “Dick!” I muttered.

“You want me to sugar-coat it? I can. But we both know you won’t believe it.”

“Well, I won’t believe it now that you told me I look like shit.”

“Hey! I never said shit.”

I took a swig of the beer and sighed. “You think it’s going to work?” I asked, taking a look around at everyone either eating, dozing, or whispering in little groups.

“If it doesn’t, we’ll be in deep shit,” Dare said.

“That’s why it has to work. It has to.”

Dare nodded, took a sip of his beer, and stood up, patting me on the back before going to sit by his boyfriend.

Zach spoon-fed him a bite of chocolate cake, and my heart warmed. It was nice to see him happy and loved. Just because I could never give him what he wanted, it didn’t mean I didn’t want him to be content.

I glanced at Ari who waved his own spoon at me, and he smiled.

My heart thundered in my chest at the sight of him. So sweet. So beautiful. So gentle. I really hoped I wasn’t screwing him over like I’d done with Dare. Even though it felt different—I felt different—when I was with him, I still worried that I was going to let him down.

I wanted nothing more than to hold him. To be with him. To live under the same roof and have couples dinners with our friends. Maybe a kid, though I was definitely too old for that.

I can’t screw this up. I can’t.

I wanted forever with that man, even if it felt impossible right now.

That was why tomorrow had to work. I couldn’t even think about the future when as long as Wilson was free, we weren’t safe.