Waiting for Wyatt (Red Dirt #1) (17 page)

Trailing my fingers down his back, I explored the hard muscles I felt through his shirt. I wanted to touch his skin and dig my fingers into his flesh. I craved him too
.

My hands moved under his shirt, making contact with his bare stomach. He was soft and hard and so very Wyatt. I traced the faint trail of hair that disappeared into his pants.

“Emma . . .” He pulled back. “Don’t. I . . . um. Just don’t.”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t . . .” The words disappeared on my tongue.

His eyes shut for a moment, then opened. They seemed hazy and tortured. “You need to go get your sister.”

“Yeah. Okay.” I agreed, but I didn’t move. I wanted to spend the rest of the day with Wyatt. I wanted to taste his lips. I wanted to feel his hands on my skin, but he wasn’t ready for it. A very odd thought about someone who was way more experienced than me.

Wyatt shifted me out of his lap and back to the shag carpet. His fingers trailed over my thigh to the swelling around my knee. He worked the muscles. He worked the pain. The burning tingles of desire floated through my body, leaving an achy feeling trailing up my thighs, settling between my legs. He was just as sexy and meticulous with his fingers as he was with his tongue.

“Why don’t you want the surgery?”

“I don’t know. Past issues.” The words came out breathless. I forced my nose to take in tiny gulps as his fingers remained on my skin.

“Issues?”

“I had the first surgery when I broke my leg. And it ruined my life in some ways.” I closed my eyes for a second, steadying my thoughts. “I didn’t go to school, but I lived in a college town. I missed out on all those next-step pieces. I didn’t make new friends or go to exciting date parties. I floated around, living on the fringe of what was supposed to be my life.”

“You missed out on all that crazy college shit. That’s your sad story?”

“I didn’t say that. I know my story is not exactly tragic. People have way worse stuff than some busted-up knee derailing them. I guess mine is more of a detour. And I just haven’t found my way back on the road.”

“I get it, but that doesn’t really explain why you won’t have the surgery.”

“I don’t know. Maybe it’s the idea of having this stupid injury control my life again. Or maybe . . .” I grinned at him. “I don’t have a good reason, and I’m just stubborn.”

“I never would’ve guessed that one about you.” His lips curled up at the corners, letting the dimples settle on his cheeks. Wyatt stopped moving his fingers, but the flutters in my stomach remained just as intense. I focused on breathing as our eyes held in the rare humorous moment that was laced with the achy desire, pulling me to him. I glanced at his lips, wanting him to kiss me again.

Wyatt swallowed hard, reading my thoughts. “Let’s see if you can stand.”

He shuffled up from the floor, holding out a hand. Clasping his fingers, I used his strength to maneuver up from the carpet without putting weight on my leg. Testing the water, I put my right foot on the floor. The pain remained pretty strong, but I didn’t crumple to a pile on the ground. “I think it’s better. I should be able to drive.”

“I’ll walk you to the car.” And then before I knew what happened, Wyatt scooped me up in his arms.

“What are you doing?”

“Walking you to the car.” He carried me out the front door. The flutters in my stomach got stronger as he clutched me tight against his hard chest. Circling my arms around his neck, I held onto Wyatt as his bare feet went down the steps and across the path to my car. He set me down next to the driver’s side door.

He shuffled around, digging his bare toes into the dirt before saying anything. “All joking aside, you really need to go back to the doctor. That knee is a damn mess.”

“I know.” I nodded in agreement. The summer air pressed against my body, making sweat trickle down my back as I struggled to keep the weight off my knee.

“Well, bye, Emma. And um . . . thank you.” The words came with a surge of emotions he tried to push down. “You know, for last night.”

“You’re an easy patient.” I joked as the nervous energy bounced between us. Our parting moment, for now or forever, depending on how he reacted to kissing me. I might return only to find him back behind the curtains. “Promise me something, Wyatt. Promise me you won’t sit here all day regretting that you kissed me.”

“I can’t promise that.” His raspy voice hung on the words. It took everything in me not to sling my arms back around his neck and do the very thing that caused him so much agony. I wish he would just let me in, let me help.

“You want to know why I was so good at running cross country before my leg got busted up?” I gave him an even stare. “My coach always said that I was small, but I had the determination of ten people. Running trails is not for the splash-in-the-pan runner. It’s for someone who is willing to stick with it for miles. Someone who has to pace herself and keep going despite the blisters and the bugs flying in her teeth. That’s who I am. I trained for years to be that person, and it doesn’t just disappear. Yes, I’m stubborn, Wyatt. And I have determination. There’s nothing you can throw at me that will shake that. So I want us to talk more when I come back. I promise. I can handle it.”

His hands balled into twitchy fists as fear settled in around his eyes. I had pushed him. I wanted him to know despite my appearance, I was solid on the inside.

“Fine,” he grunted.

I let a deep breath trickle out my nose, trying to calm the excitement of a possible breakthrough. “I’m not sure when I can get back out here. I have to cover at work again this week. A girl quit, and I need the extra hours before classes start back.”

“Well, I’ll be here. So whenever you get back.” His jaw gritted up in a death grip like he swallowed acid. “We can talk.”

It was hard to leave him. My phone dinged again. Without taking it out of my pocket, I knew my sister was having another fit about me coming to get her. I got in my car, driving away as he stood in the yard looking guilty and tortured. My heart felt a thousand different emotions as his face disappeared in my rearview mirror.

W
ITH EACH MILE I TRAVELED
down the road, her temper hit me with little stabs in the chest. My sister was angry. The sensation grew stronger the closer I got to my apartment.

My car rolled into the parking lot. I slammed on the brakes, coming to a stop right beside the stairs where Blair sat on the bottom step, waiting with her arms crossed. I tossed the door open with an apology on my lips.

“Don’t even.” Her fingers flicked up, dismissing me.

Hitting the trunk button, the flap popped up, allowing her to put the tuba case inside the back of the car. “Come on, Blaire. I really am sorry. I didn’t mean to . . . to spend the night.”

“I don’t give a shit that you spent the night.”

“Then what’s wrong?”

“I texted you almost two hours ago. I know it doesn’t take that long to get here from his weird compound. Then I felt all those butterflies and shit. You’ve been cramming your tongue down his throat while I missed rehearsal.”

“I really am sorry. I made progress with him and I just couldn’t leave.”

“Just where have you been, Emma Sawyer?” The deep voice came out with a nasty twist. I spun around, seeing Kurt next to Blaire. He was too close to her. Glancing at my sister, she grew flustered at his sudden presence.

He spit tobacco straight on the cement, which splattered a little on Blaire’s foot. His beady eyes drifted slowly back and forth between us. The little brain in his head still couldn’t get over the fact there were two of us. His
other
little brain got it very clear, which made the sick feeling creep inside the pit of my stomach.

“What do you need, Kurt?”

“I’m just asking the same questions as your little sis here. We were both so worried that you didn’t come home last night. I’m getting a little concerned. You’re always coming and going . . .
somewhere
.” He shut the trunk on my car. Kurt looked at the red dirt on his hands that came from the white paint. Watching my reaction, he smeared it across the thighs of his jeans.

“Bye, Kurt. We are in a hurry.” I ran to the driver’s side as Blaire climbed in the passenger’s seat.

“You just had to provoke him over some dog.”

“Stop it.” I put the car in drive, speeding out of the parking lot. “I didn’t know he would get all crazy about it.”

“I told you stuff doesn’t seem right about him.”

“I know. I know.” I blew a blonde curl out of my eye as I came to a red light.

“By the way, I did a search on Wyatt.”

“You did?” I glanced over, bracing for whatever incriminating information she’d found on him. “I didn’t even think about looking him up.”

“I figured. And no. I didn’t find anything. Are you sure that’s his name?”

“Yes. I saw it on a Bible in his dresser. People don’t make that kind of stuff up and stamp it in gold on a Bible.”

“Well, I guess whatever is wrong with him is personal and not criminal.”

“This has never felt like something criminal. He’s hurting. I just don’t know why.” I parked in front of the building, clicking the trunk button. I thought my sister would jump immediately from the car, but she stayed in her seat, staring blankly out the window.

“That’s your heart talking, Emma. Not your common sense. But I get it. I felt it from you today.” She hesitated, letting the words form in her mind before speaking. “Do you think I will ever feel something like that? Am I capable of it?”

My heart broke a little for Blaire as her voice betrayed her true emotions. My sister wanted something she couldn’t even understand. I hoped one day it would be true. I hoped Blaire Sawyer could experience everything in life.

Reaching over, I grabbed her hand in mine. “I think you are. I
believe
you are. Those feelings only exist when you meet someone who makes them happen. I believe it’s possible. You just need to meet the right person.”

“I don’t know. We both know I’m not like other people.”

“There’s love inside of you, Blaire. But love is not the same for every person. It will be different for you than me. But it will make you happy.”

“You
love
him?” Her identical eyes caught mine.

“I-I don’t know.” It wasn’t exactly love, but I sure felt something for him, especially since I was so close to a breakthrough. I think Wyatt was finally going to let me help him.