Page 29 of Silver Lining Love

He paused and just looked at me, which was all the answer I needed.

I pointed to the hallway. “Go brush your teeth.”

There was a knock at the door, and the sound cued the butterflies that had been hanging out in my stomach since the kiss to turn up the music and start to party.

“Wyatt’s here, I have to go.” He started heading towards the front door.

“You’re not leaving until you brush your teeth.”

After a dramatic sigh, he dropped his bag onto the floor and stomped down the hallway. Less than eight hours. That was how long it had taken for him to revert back to being irritated at me. The reprieve was short-lived but appreciated.

With each step that I took toward the front door, my legs began morphing into noodles. At this rate, by the time I reached the door, they wouldn’t be able to support me. I placed my hand on my stomach as I opened the door and smiled as all the oxygen was sucked from my lungs. Wyatt hadn’t shaved today, and my favorite Wyatt was a Wyatt with stubble. Tiny brown hairs peppered his strong jaw giving him a bad-boy edginess that caused my toes to curl.

“Morning.” My greeting came out sounding much more breathless than I’d meant it to.

“Morning.” His greeting came out sounding all sorts of gravelly and rough.

I wondered if he’d had a sleepless night as well.

“Did you want to come in?”

He nodded and stepped inside.

“Mikey’s brushing his teeth.” I motioned to the hallway.

“I heard.” Wyatt grinned, and my stomach fell out from beneath me.

His grin was so potent I thought it should come with a warning much like those at theme parks informing people if they sat in certain rows, they were in the splash zone. His needed to warn women that anyone exposed to it might be spontaneously impregnated.

His grin remained in place as he said, “I wanted to apologize…about last night.”

“Why?” I blurted out.

I hadn’t meant my question to come out sounding so desperate, but that’s exactly how it sounded.

He shook his head. “I’ve been wanting to do that for a long time, and last night I just?—"

“Ready!” Mikey called out as he grabbed his backpack and bumped into us as he rushed between us and out the door. “We have to go. I don’t want to be late!”

Wyatt grinned and tilted his head in a what-are-you-gonna-do expression before he followed my nephew out to his truck.

As I watched the two of them pull away my mind was populating with every possible end to Wyatt’s sentence.

I’ve been wanting to do that for a long time, and last night, I just thought, why not, but I wish I hadn’t.

I’ve been wanting to do that for a long time, and last night, I just couldn’t resist you any longer; I had to kiss you.

I’ve been wanting to do that for a long time, and last night, I just gave in, but I think we should just be friends.

I’ve been wanting to do that for a long time, and last night, I just had to know what you tasted like, and it was the best kiss of my life.

There were so many ways that sentence could end. Too bad I had no clue what the actual ending was. Or maybe it wasn’t a bad thing. I had a fifty-fifty chance of it being what I wanted to hear. Mikey may have saved me from the it’s-not-you-it’s-me talk.

What if that was what he had to say? What was I going to do then? After the year I’d had, I honestly wasn’t sure I could handle the rejection.

“Auntie Whitney, Auntie Whitney!” Alice yelled as she ran into the front room. “Benji’s awake and he got poop on his face!”

My head fell back as I shut the door. I may not be able to handle rejection, but it looked like I was definitely going to need to handle poop.

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