Page 21 of Ever After All

Tessa’s voice was low when she added, “We can talk anytime.”

The next few moments were a jumble as people pulled extra chairs up to the table. The next thing I knew, Wyatt was sitting down beside me. Griffin happened to take the chair across from me. With my awareness that he knew about Wyatt and me, I tried not to look at him too much, or I’d get more self-conscious than I already felt.

This wasn’t the first time I had wondered why it was just Wyatt who drew me to him. Every man in that family was graced with good looks. They were certainly charmed when it came to what nature bestowed. When I looked at Griffin, it was with an objective appreciation. Not one single spark fired inside me, and my pulse beat at a regular speed.

But the second I even thought about looking at Wyatt, along with merely having him seated beside me, my pulse kicked along faster and faster.

Relieved by the distraction of conversation with others, I was able to wrangle my pulse at least sort of under control and felt proud of myself. I could handle being with Wyatt in public.

Until I felt his palm slide onto my thigh, his touch warm and sure. I was caught between two competing impulses — the urge to brush his palm away to get my hormones to chill out and the urge to savor his touch. I loved it so very much when he touched me.

“How are you doing, Rosie?” Wyatt's voice was low and rumbly.

Chapter Eleven

Wyatt

“I’m fine,” Rosie squeaked.

She placed her hand over mine, where it rested on her thigh, and I could feel the tension in her touch. For a moment, I thought she would brush my hand away, but then she laced her fingers in mine and squeezed.

“How are you?” she asked.

I could tell she was a little nervous by the sound of her voice. It was an octave higher than usual.

She took a swallow of her coffee and shifted in her seat before she looked up at me. Her cheeks were a little pink, and I wanted to kiss her. Story of my life.

When I’d sat down a moment ago and decided to tease her a little, I thought I had things under control. But Rosie took my control and snapped it into pieces. I was faltering, stumbling, reaching to get ahold of myself.

Griffin asked me something, but I didn’t even notice until he prompted, “Wyatt? Losing your hearing over there?”

“Excuse me? I was zoning out,” I hedged.

As soon as I met my brother’s eyes, I knew that he was giving me shit because I was distracted by Rosie. I didn’t care. He started talking to me about something to do with whether I would sub in on the fire crew in town.

Just when I thought I’d been able to get myself focused, Rosie unlaced her fingers from mine and placed her hand on my cock. I wore jeans, so it was tight down there. I gritted my teeth and felt the swell of it when she boldly stroked up and down.

“So I thought you were done with firefighting?” she asked, her tone all innocent.

I cleared my throat. “I am,” I gritted out. “But if they need help, I can sub in for local things.”

Another stroke of her palm over my length, and I now deeply regretted teasing her.

Maybe Griffin didn’t know exactly what was happening, but when I caught my brother’s eyes again, he simply shook his head before he glanced at Rosie and winked. “Sometimes Wyatt has trouble paying attention. Have you ever noticed that?”

“You just wait. I’ll get you back.”

Griffin chuckled as he hooked his hand around the back of a chair and spun it around to sit down. He straddled the chair and rested his elbows on the back. “Maybe? But I’d have to be susceptible.”

“Susceptible?”

“You’re gaga over Rosie. I’m not gaga over anybody.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “Well, when you’re a little older, you might be.”

I was a whole fifteen minutes older than Griffin. I didn’t really care, nor did he, but it was a source of rank when I wanted to use it.

Griffin rolled his eyes, but he didn’t take the bait. “In all seriousness, what the hell is going on with you and Rosie? Aside from the fact that you’re married. Minor detail, but the devil’s in the details.”

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