Page 34 of Silver Lining Love

I turned to him and tried to remember what in the world I’d been attracted to. He was good-looking and had a few million Instagram followers, but he was a total douchebag. An asshole. A self-indulgent prick.

But then again, that’s exactly what I’d been. So, yeah, there was that.

“No, Jasper. I don’t.” The doors opened, and I walked briskly through the lobby, hoping that my Uber was already outside.

“Don’t be like that, Whit!” He called out after me. “I miss you. I know you miss me, too.”

I felt his fingers wrap tightly around my wrist. I pulled my arm away as I spun around to face him. “No. I don’t. I donotmiss you. Go be with Talia. You two deserve each other.”

His expression turned to a smirk. “Iknewthat’s what this was about. You’re jealous. But you don’t have any reason to be. She was just… something different. I don’t love her. Not like I love you.”

“You love me?” That was rich.

“Yeah, baby.” He stepped closer to me.

“Okay, then where have you been for the past seven months?” I crossed my arms.

My question caused him to go full deer-in-headlights. “Um, I think, weren’t you…didn’t you go to some monastery… in like Nepal or something like that to become a nun?”

That had been one of the rumors about why I’d disappeared from social media. Not the nun part, I think he was getting that confused with a monk, but there had been “reliable sources” that had said that I was in Nepal on a spiritual awakening.

In truth, the past seven months had been a spiritual awakening. There’d been a lot more poop involved than just meditating in a temple, but I’d definitely had one.

“Yes, Jasper, that’s right. I became a nun. Which is why I can’t go home with you.” I figured the path of least resistance was my best out here.

I turned around and was delighted to see that my Uber had arrived. As I climbed in the backseat, I heard Jasper yell out, “They let nuns dress like that?”

As I shut the door, I had to chuckle at an actual nun wearing my dress. I was wearing a fire engine red, form-fitting, high-neck, halter top mini-dress with peek-a-boo cut-out sides and a slit that ended at my hip.

I’d used the excuse of the event to buy it, but really, I’d bought it for one person and one person only. I’d wanted Wyatt to see me in it. I thought maybe, just maybe, it would spark something in him if he saw me in something sexy instead of my new uniform of sweats and a t-shirt.

When I walked out in the front room to leave, he had a reaction, I just hadn’t been able to tell what it was. He stopped talking to Mikey mid-sentence and just stared at me with his mouth open. I wasn’t sure if he was stunned because he thought I looked good or if his shock was at the daringness of my ensemble.

Alice told me that I looked like a Barbie, which I took as a compliment since she loved Barbies. Mikey told me I looked like Jessica Rabbit, which I also took as a compliment because Jessica Rabbit was smoking hot, even though I was pretty sure he was only referring to the color of my dress.

Wyatt didn’t comment on my appearance at all, he just told me to text him when I got to the event, be safe, and have fun. As sweet as his parting instructions were, I couldn’t help the niggling disappointment that my dress hadn’t made more of a splash.

The drive home took about fifteen minutes, and by the time the car was pulling up to my house, I was having a hard time staying awake. Alcohol used to amp me up, but now it seemed to have the opposite effect. Just one drink and I felt like I’d taken cold medicine.

“Thanks, have a good night.” I tugged my skirt down for modesty as I stepped out of the car and went up to the door.

I didn’t hear voices as I put my key in the lock, which was a good sign. It was ten-thirty, and the kids should all be in bed, butshould beandwould bewere two very different things.

When I stepped inside, I found someone asleep, but it wasn’t the kids. It was Wyatt. He was passed out, sitting up in the corner of the couch with Moose curled up at his feet. I’d never seen him sleeping before, and I took the opportunity to study him.

He truly was a beautiful specimen. Long, dark lashes rested on high cheekbones and somehow managed to look rugged instead of feminine. His full lips were framed by the ideal amount of five o’clock shadow, which was bordering on a beard, covering his square jaw.

The night we’d kissed, when I went to wash my face, I’d noticed that his stubble had left my chin red from the friction. I’d loved seeing the evidence of what we’d done on my face and was sad that it was gone in the morning.

Even though I could easily and happily stand here staring at him all night, I knew that wasn’t the best idea. It might come off a little stalkery if he woke up and found me hovering over him.

After checking on the kids and finding them all sound asleep, I resigned myself to waking Wyatt up and sending him home no matter how much I wanted to curl up next to him, lay my head on his chest, close my eyes, and fall asleep in his arms.

“Wyatt.” I gently touched his forearm. “I’m home, wake up.”

His eyes lifted and locked with mine. The intensity in his gaze had me sucking in a sharp breath. I’d never seen him look at me the way he was looking at me. There was a raw, animalistic gleam in his stare that had my sex throbbing and sent my pulse racing.

When he didn’t say anything, I thought he might not be fully awake, so I stated the obvious, “I’m home. From the event.”

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