Page 45 of Wild Bliss

“I am not Scrooge.” He wasn’t. He didn’t really care aboutmoney, but what the hell else was he supposed to do besides work? It was whathis grandfather had taught him. The only time he’d been away from work was theyear and a half he’d followed his idiot brother around. “And don’t startcalling me Grinch either.”

“Why not?” Wyatt asked with a shrug. “According to yourreputation around town you hate Christmas.”

Damn it. He ran out of a Christmas party shoutingnopeone time and this was what he got. “I don’t hate Christmas. I just don’t thinkabout holidays much. For a bunch of years my friends weren’t around during theholidays. After my grandfather died and my brothers left, I depended on myfriends, and then they were gone, too. Ty worked two jobs. Lucy dealt with herfamily, and they were a handful. I used to spend time with River and her dad,but he died and she went on the run with Jax when the CIA was trying to catchhim and vivisect him.”

“I’m sorry, what?”

It was good to know Wyatt hadn’t figured out everything, butSawyer waved him off. “Long story. That dude’s from another universe, and it’sdangerous there. But it’s all good now. They’re all happy and back in Bliss.”

Wyatt just kept going. “But you didn’t spend last Christmaswith them. I should know because we split a rotisserie chicken, can of greenbeans, and a six-pack of beer.”

“Like I said, they’re all happy. They don’t need me hangingaround.” One more turn and he would be at the bar and he could go hide in hisoffice.

Actually, his office would make a nice hidey-hole for acouple of days. The rate Wyatt and Sabrina were going they would be married byThursday and have two point three kids next week. Then they wouldn’t even thinkabout the surly asshole who shared their bed for a weekend.

What the hell was wrong with him?

“You genuinely think you hanging around them would drag downtheir happiness?” Wyatt went into a soft tone Sawyer had begun to think of ashis therapist mode.

They were not going there. “MaybeIdon’t likebeing around them. Maybe I can’t stand all the white picket fence boringness ofmaking popcorn and watching movies and talking about what happened at work. Youknow what happened at work? Nothing. Lucy dealt with some rich asshole and Tysaved a life and River and Jax took some tourists on a raft. Why should I care?And they’ll be having babies soon. Oh, they talk a lot about babies. What thefuck do I know about babies except they poop and cry and I don’t want any.”

Most of the time he didn’t. Sometimes he thought it wouldn’tbe terrible to have one. Maybe two. Three was too much. Three made one of theman asshole, and then the other two hated him.

Shit. Was this about his childhood?

Did he actually have abandonment issues?

“Do you?” Wyatt asked. “Do you hate being around them?”

Of course he didn’t. He missed them. Hell, sometimes he evenmissed Michael—Lucy and Ty’s partner. He was quiet, the kind of man you couldnod at and stand silently and drink a beer around. Now that he thought aboutit, he and Michael might have never exchanged more than twenty words in thewhole time he’d known him.

Michael might be his favorite person.

“It doesn’t matter. Look, I know you’re trying topsychoanalyze me so stop.” He made the last turn and watched as Sabrina’s carwas towed onto the highway. It was a crappy car. A sedan had no place here inthe mountains. She needed something with four-wheel drive. Something that couldhandle the weather and the turns and terrain. “You need to get her a bettervehicle.”

“Uhm, I don’t know I’m in a position to buy her a car.” Forthe first time in days, Wyatt seemed unsure of himself. “I don’t have muchsaved up. I left the MC with nothing but the clothes on my back. I usedeverything I made in the last couple of months on the bike I got from Jesse andCade.”

“I meant help her get a new one. And teach her to drive.”Out of the corner of his eyes he saw Wyatt’s hand go up. “Damn it. Fine. I’llteach you and you can teach her.”

Wyatt’s brow furrowed. “I can drive a bike, but I’m not goodwith cars yet. It’s a different skill set.”

“How did you plan to get to your date tonight?” Had Wyattthought this through? Or had he been distracted by boobs? “Are you going tofollow her back on your bike? And when you asked if you should pick her up, didyou mean throwing her on the back of that piece of crap you bought? Do you havea second helmet?”

“I was going to give her mine,” Wyatt admitted.

“Now that will get you in serious trouble. There are nohelmet requirements for anyone over eighteen, but Nate will find a reason topull you over. You’ll find yourself in Doc’s office, and he’s got pictures andx-rays, and the stories the man can tell.” Sawyer didn’t fuck with Doc Burke,and when he rode a bike, he definitely put on a damn helmet.

“She probably shouldn’t be on a bike,” Wyatt said, hisshoulders coming up.

This was what he needed. This was the wedge that would makeWyatt see what a terrible idea all of this was, and then they could go up tothe ski lodge and sit in the bar and find a ski bunny who wanted nothing morethan a good time. He didn’t have to lose his friend. “You can take the Jeep.I’ll have someone drive me back at the end of the night if you’re still out.”

“Really?” Wyatt sounded hopeful again. “I’ll be careful.”

“If you stay with her, make sure to text me. Someone canpick me up and take me to work.” Or he would stay in the office tonight. Itwouldn’t be the first time he’d slept at the bar. Damn, did he have dog food?He was pretty sure he had dog food.

Where Roger had turned left to go into the valley, Sawyerturned right and could see the bar up ahead. The lights weren’t on yet, but theplace was so familiar he always seemed to see it with its neon red and blueblinking arrow. His grandfather told him the arrow brought in the customers.

His grandfather would have liked Sabrina.

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