Page 89 of Wild Bliss

Sawyer and Wyatt had been waiting for her the minute classwas dismissed for the day. Sabrina had walked out to the front drive wherepickups occurred, and in addition to the usual moms and dads, Sawyer and Wyatthad been waiting. Wyatt had brought her lunch but he hadn’t stuck around to eatwith her.

She was kind of surprised he’d been standing there withSawyer. She’d half expected him to find a ride out of town and not even leaveher a note.

“It was his quest today,” Wyatt replied, holding himselfback a little.

“And what was yours?” Sawyer asked, a hint of challenge inhis tone.

Wyatt huffed and started to pace beside the sink. “Beyondtrying to figure out why two kids kicked me today and then Sabrina’s new dadforced me to eat a beet? I drank the juice. I shouldn’t have to do it again. Araw beet, Sabrina. It was disgusting, and I think my teeth are purple.”

“He did what?” No wonder he’d been quiet. And she was goingto have such a word with Paige Harper. She was sure Paige hadn’t lied when shesaid she wouldn’t do it. It appeared she was simply ordering other kids to doit. A menace.

“I was at the Trading Post helping Teeny with theirpoint-of-sale system and Mel walked in. He walked right up to the producesection, picked out a beet, talked to it for a weirdly long time, then held itup for a minute. Teeny sighed and said she’d get me some water to wash it down,and before I could ask her what I was washing down, he was on me.”

“Mel jumped you?” Sawyer asked but he sounded kind ofimpressed.

“Not exactly,” Wyatt admitted. “But he did put that thing upto my mouth and told me he would never allow an alien in his family, and thenhe listed all the exceptions because apparently there are good aliens outthere, but that’s not as dramatic a way to force a beet on a man.”

“So you took the physical beet?” She should have known.“Apparently there’s a ritual and it requires eating a raw beet. It means hethinks you’re serious about me. When you think about it, it’s kind of sweet.”

“When I think about it, I have PTSD. It was gross,” Wyattreiterated. “Such a weird day.”

“I got called into a Meeting of Men,” Sawyer admitted.

“That sounds ominous. Is this a Bliss thing?” She hadn’tbeen around long enough to discover all the quirky things about this town she’dcome to love.

“Cam mentioned it. A Meeting of Men,” Wyatt said, obviouslyimpressed. “I’ve heard about those. It’s when they call a council of thesmartest men in town to discuss whatever problem is facing the town. They shutthemselves in a room, and then the women have time to actually solve theproblem.”

“Sounds like something Marie would say.” Sawyer unloaded therest of the groceries they’d bought. It appeared to heavily favor the thingsshe’d talked about liking. Sawyer had bought her brand-name coffee. Not thegeneric kind he bought for himself. “It’s something my grandfather and Mel andsome of their friends started when I was a kid. They would get together andtalk about how they can help out the town. Or individuals in town. But this isBliss, and they need to give everything a cutesy name. There are some dramaticmotherfuckers in this town.”

He was eyeing Wyatt like those words should mean something.There was a tension between the two of them she hadn’t wanted to discuss untilthey were alone.

Well, they were alone.

“He’s not being dramatic,” Sabrina said quietly, jumpingright in without prevarication. She wanted to get this over with so they couldget to the fun parts, the parts she’d dreamed about all day. “He’s scared hisbrother will hurt me, and he’s trying to find a way out.”

“Out?” Sawyer asked, a brow rising. Bella looked up at himas though she too could feel the tension in the room. “Out of the relationship?I don’t think walking away from us is going to work.”

“I know it sucks. I basically moved the target from her toyou,” Wyatt began.

Sabrina felt her gut clench. “You did what? How would youmove the target? Also, we don’t know there is a target. You gave him what hewanted.”

“It’s not about that,” Wyatt hedged. “Or maybe it is. Idon’t know. All I know is my brother is pissed off, and he’ll take it out onme. And I have to worry…”

He stopped, and Sabrina softened her voice. “Wyatt, why areyou worried? We don’t know the whole story, do we?”

“You don’t have to know the story at all,” Wyatt countered,his jaw going stubborn. “All you need to know is I don’t want you anymore.”

She barely managed to not roll her eyes. “Sure you don’t.You finally made it to the magic number of times you’ve slept with me to hitcomplete satisfaction? You haven’t even given me time to show you what I canreally do with my tongue.”

“Are we back to this?” Sawyer asked, starting to pace. “Itold you it’s not going to work.”

“Only because you decided to not even try,” Wyatt shot back.“What the hell is wrong with you? I thought you care about her. I thought youwould want to protect her.”

“I love her, but I also know her. She’s not staying out ofthis even if you push her away because she loves you. She won’t stop trying tosave you, so it’s better to stay close so we can protect her when it goes down.Protect her with actual weapons instead of martyrdom. I’m going to leave areview on Alexei’s website. He’s a shitty therapist.” Sawyer sighed and lookedher way. “Baby, I said love twice. I need a beer to wash away the taste.”

He loved her. He’d told her he loved her, and he hated theword.

She wanted to jump into his arms and make this asuper-romantic moment that would have made Sawyer uncomfortable for years tocome. But she had another love to save. This lifestyle might be great for hersexually, but twice the men meant dealing with twice the emotions. This was it.She knew it instinctively. She’d thrown Wyatt off last night by taking hiskeys, but he would find a way if he wanted to leave. So instead of throwingherself at Sawyer, she went over to the fridge, pulled out a beer, and twistedoff the cap. Sabrina marched over and handed it to him. “I love you, too.”

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