He had been stashing it away for ages without her knowing. Years’ worth of birthday and Christmas money that his father had assumed Wyatt spent on the worthless things teenagers buy had actually gone toward a car that gave Tabitha the freedom to get away from her family if she needed to. She really ought to go to prom with him. For a boyfriend who did as much as Wyatt did for her, she owed him that much.
She started her car, wincing as she did it. She looked at the front door uncertainly before she backed down the long driveway without headlights. She did it slowly, squinting in the darkness and hoping some poor, unsuspecting animal didn’t dart out behind her.
When she got to the main road, she flipped on her headlights and breathed a sigh of relief as she started toward Wyatt’s house. She left behind all her worries for the night, her body already tingling with excitement. She wished Jules would’ve gone to bed early and been out of their hair, but life couldn’t be perfect. Tabitha knew that more than anyone, which was the reason she clung so tightly to those small, perfect moments when they appeared.
She pulled her car into a clearing in the woods down the street from Wyatt’s house. Close enough to walk to and far enough away that if his father did come home early, he wouldn’t see it. Tabitha kept her headlights on as she grabbed her bag and wasn’t surprised when Wyatt knocked on her window.
“That was faster than twenty minutes,” he said when she opened her door. Then he leaned down and stole a quick kiss before she could get out. “If you ever get here before me, promise you’ll wait. I don’t like you walking alone in the dark.”
Tabitha smiled at Wyatt, taken with his chivalry as always. He was so very different from all those men she had left behind gambling and drinking at home. “Sure.”
“Come here, pretty girl.”
Wyatt grabbed her arm and pulled her out of the car, making her squeak in surprise when he gave her a real kiss before she had even found firm footing. She clutched her backpack with one hand and wrapped the other around his neck to stay on her feet. Then she parted her lips and swallowed his low groan when his tongue swept in.
God, he smelled good—warm, clean, undeniably masculine. His hair was still wet from a shower, his T-shirt clinging to his muscular chest. She pushed herself closer, wanting to be wrapped up in him. Kissing Wyatt like this, smelling him and feeling his strong, powerful arms around her, had Tabitha wondering how she made it through the rest of her day without being near him every moment. She stood on her toes and ran her fingers through his hair, pushing it away from his face before she tangled them in the damp strands, holding him to her for more. She slid her tongue into his mouth, enjoying taking over the kiss. More so she savored Wyatt’s low moan when he let her. She didn’t know how he did it, but somehow Wyatt made her feel stronger, more feminine and confident when he was near. Other boys their age would rely on keeping their girlfriends needy. Wyatt, on the other hand, went out of his way to help Tabitha be as independent and bold as possible.
There was something to be said about having a boyfriend who was completely confident in his masculinity. He didn’t need Tabitha to be needy in order to feel strong, and if she didn’t already love him more than air, that would have sealed the deal.
“Did you just get out of the shower?” she whispered against his lips when they finally parted for air.
“Yeah.” He nodded, sounding as breathless as her as he gave her a wide, shameless smile. “I was sort of hoping we were gonna get naked tonight.”
“Were you?”
“That was the plan.” His grin widened. “I even bribed Jules to go to bed early.”
“What’d you bribe her with?” Tabitha asked, because bribing Jules didn’t sound like an easy task.
“Two weeks’ worth of chores.”
Tabitha gaped at him in genuine shock. “That’s a lot of work. We get naked at least twice a week in your room. What’s supposed to happen tonight that we haven’t done a hundred other nights after Jules and Clay go to sleep?”
Wyatt stepped away from her and ran his fingers through his hair. He lowered his gaze, staring at the ground for one long moment before he reached out and grabbed her backpack out of her hand. “I’ll carry that for you.”
“Wy—” she started when he didn’t answer her question.
“Come on. Let’s walk back before you get bitten up.”
“Early yet for mosquitoes,” Tabitha mused as she turned back to lock her car door.
“Yeah, but they love you. They can see that pale skin of yours from a mile away. You glow in the night,” Wyatt said with a laugh as he draped an arm over her shoulders and pulled her close. He leaned down, placing a kiss against the top of her head. “They must know you taste sweet.”
Tabitha smiled, deciding she could drop the twenty questions over Wyatt’s grand plan. She leaned into him as they walked down the dirt path, skirting the large lake to the Conner house. They were taking the back way, and she admired the way the big, old houses of Wyatt’s neighbors looked framed in moonlight. He lived in such a beautiful area. Each of these homes had a story and a personality all their own, and they spoke to her writer soul. Wyatt’s house felt more like home to her than that beaten-down shack behind the trailer park ever would.
“You taste pretty sweet too.” Tabitha broke the silence. “In case you’re wondering.”
Wyatt paused, his light eyes reflecting moonlight as he studied her. “You’re naughty tonight, aren’t you? I heard it in your voice earlier.”
“I might be,” she confessed, because she and Wyatt had learned to be open and honest about things like that. They had only ever dated each other. Everything they discovered, they did it together, and honesty helped make everything that much better. “Sounds like I’m not the only one.”
“Ah, no.” Wyatt tilted his head, being more blatant about looking at her as his gaze dropped down to her chest. “I’m feeling pretty naughty myself.”
“Two weeks’ worth of chores naughty,” Tabitha couldn’t help but add.
Wyatt laughed, sounding unembarrassed by his plotting as he opened the back door to his house. They walked in through the kitchen and found Clay sitting at the kitchen table finishing up some homework.
Wyatt pulled up short, frowning. “I thought you were going to bed.”
Clay held up his hands without looking up. “Just ignore me. Since when do I care what you two spend all night sneaking around doing?”
“Yeah, that’s true.” Wyatt shrugged. “Is Jules in bed?”
“She’s in her room. I don’t know if she’s sleeping yet.”
“Hey, Clay,” Tabitha said without breaking out of Wyatt’s hold. He was one of the few people who saw them together as a couple often. “I was wondering if you’d go with me to the prom—”
“What?” Wyatt cut in with a wide-eyed look of disbelief.
“And then we could switch dates when we got there,” Tabitha went on as she turned to arch an eyebrow at Wyatt pointedly. “That way I can go to one dance with Wyatt. I don’t think my mama would mind too much if I took you.”
“Well, who’s Wyatt gonna take?” Clay looked up from his books with a frown. “That means some girl would be stuck with me for the night.”
“There’s a lot of girls who like you,” Tabitha said softly. “You just don’t believe me when I tell you that. Sara from Maple’s is always talking ’bout you and asking me to put in a good word.”
“I thought she liked Wyatt.” Clay sounded completely mystified.
Tabitha shrugged and gave him a smile. “I think she likes most guys with big arms and nice butts.”
“God, Tab, you really are naughty tonight.” Wyatt laughed and pulled her closer as he looked over to Clay. “You’d do that, right? Switch dates. Go to the prom with Sara?”
“You really think she’ll wanna be stuck with me for prom?” Clay asked uncertainly.
“I am positive she would love to go to prom with you,” Tabitha assured him because Sara talked about Clay all the time.
“I guess.” Clay still sounded lost. “I’m probably supposed to go to one, right?”
“I think so.” Tabitha didn’t feel any more certain about it than Clay did.
“Yes,” Wyatt assured both of them. “You’ve got to go to prom before school’s over. It’s a rite of passage. You’ll regret it if you don’t.”
Tabitha didn’t really think she or Clay would regret it. Dances weren’t something either of them needed to do, but Wyatt had wanted to go to one for years, and he would never go with another girl. She wanted this for him—desperately.
“Thank you, Clay.” She placed a hand to her chest as she looked at him earnestly. “I’ll help you pay for your tux and—”
“Don’t worry. We got this.” Wyatt kissed the top of her head again. “I get to take my girl to prom. This is gonna be great. I promise.”
She tilted her head back and smiled at him, enjoying the pleased flush to his cheeks. “I believe you.”
Chapter Twenty
Wyatt locked his door and eyed Tabitha as she stood in his room with a smile on her face. He leaned back against the wood, letting his gaze run over her for one hot moment. He wasn’t ready to tell her he had driven to one of the small convenience stores between Garnet and Mercy to buy a pack of condoms—not yet.
Her red hair was tied up in a ponytail. Her jeans and green V-neck T-shirt weren’t anything fancy, but the way they clung to her slim body made his heart beat harder and his jeans tighten.
She dropped her backpack by his bed, and her smile widened. “What?”
“Nothing. Just admiring you.” He tilted his head, eyeing the way her shirt clung to her firm breasts and the curve in her waist. “You’re beautiful, Tabby.”
Her cheeks took on that pink hue he loved so much as she lowered her head and rolled her eyes to dismiss him. “Whatever.”
“No, really,” he went on, because it was important to him that Tabitha knew how completely gorgeous she was. “I dunno how I got so lucky.”
She laughed and gave him a look of disbelief. “You are crazy, Wyatt. You’ve always been crazy. Sometimes it worries me.”
“I’m fine,” he said confidently as he walked over to her. He reached out for Tabitha’s hand when he got close and pulled her to him. “I was hoping you’d let me make up for the other night in my truck. That was awesome.”
“You don’t have to make up anything.” Her cheeks grew pinker, and she would have lowered her eyes again, but Wyatt wrapped his other hand around the back of her neck, forcing her to look at him. She finally just shrugged in defeat. “I told you, I like doing it.”
He grinned as he looked down the neckline of her T-shirt, admiring the curve of her breasts. “But I like doing it too.”
“Well,” she started, a smile sounding in her voice that he didn’t see because he was still admiring her tits. “If you like it—”
“I do,” he assured her.
“Then who am I to stop you?”
“Well, okay, then.”
He smiled triumphantly as he tugged at the hem of her shirt and pulled it up to expose the white lace of her bra. He never got over the novelty of seeing Tabitha naked, and it was sort of his goal in life to get her that way as much as possible. She laughed when he pulled the shirt over her head and then tossed it aside. Then he reached for the button on her jeans. He slipped it undone before lowering the zipper.
“You’re not beating around the bush,” she pointed out as stepped back and kicked off her slip-on shoes.
Then she took over the task of pushing her jeans past her hips while Wyatt watched. She walked past him in nothing but her bra and a pair of small cotton panties decorated with blue polka dots and laid her jeans over the chair by his desk. She picked up her shirt, shook it out, and did the same thing.
Wyatt liked how meticulous she was with things. There was such an impeccable, precise air to Tabitha that was so very different from everything he knew. His family was brash and bold and usually leaped before they thought on things too much, so in his mind she was his perfect match. She was gentle and quiet, but Wyatt knew she thought a lot about everything.
Wyatt sucked in a sharp breath when Tabitha pulled out the tie in her hair, letting it tumble down her shoulders in brilliant red waves.
She turned around with a knowing smile. “Weirdo.”
“I love your hair.” Wyatt couldn’t resist the lure of it as he went to her. He leaned down to bury his face in the silky strands and breathed deeply. She smelled sweet and fruity, and it was turning him on like crazy. He wrapped an arm around her waist and nipped at the curve of her neck. He slid his hand down to her waist and then underneath her underwear. “Sexy panties. I like these.”
“I think you like them all.”
Wyatt couldn’t argue with that, so he didn’t try as he started nipping and licking at the soft spot behind her ear. He dipped his hand lower and slipped his fingers between her folds to touch her. He groaned and pushed his hips against her back, letting Tabitha feel the hard outline of his cock through his jeans.
“God, you’re wet.” He breathed against her ear. “It turns me on.”
“I told you I missed you,” she whispered in a soft, sultry voice.
He found her clit and rubbed it gently, making Tabitha’s breath hiss out of her before she leaned back into him. She dropped her head against his shoulder and reached up, running both hands through his hair.
“Make me come, Wy.” She shuddered, as if just saying the word was enough to make it a reality. “I need it. I’ve had such a shitty night.”
Tabitha’s reasons for a shitty night were usually enough to raise Wyatt’s blood pressure from the fury caused by Tabitha’s reality. So instead of asking about it, he just swept her up in his arms, making her shriek in surprise. Jules probably heard her, but Wyatt didn’t care. He was doing her damned laundry for the next two weeks. Let his sister think what she wanted.
He dropped Tabitha on his bed. Her legs hung off the edge as she lay over it sideways. Her gaze was hot as she watched him pull his shirt over his head. Then not to be outdone by Tabitha, he kicked off his shoes and did away with his jeans too. He kept on his boxer shorts to stop himself from getting too distracted. He did owe her a favor.
Wyatt fell over her, making her gasp in surprise and tense in fear, but he caught himself before he landed on her. His hands were braced on the bed on either side of her shoulders, his arms supporting all his weight. He grinned. “Scared ya.”