Page 80 of How to Say I Do
“Is he thinking the same way you are? He all dedicated to this, too, feel the way you do ’bout everything? ’Cause that was a problem before.”
I slipped down the stairs, skidding on my butt like a little child.I’m in love with him, I wanted to shout.I want to make this work, I do—
“He’s here,” Wyatt said. “We’re trying. That’s all we can do: try.”
“You sound almost practical.” Liam shouldered his brother.
Wyatt chuckled and leaned, and they stayed like that as Wyatt breathed in. “This is the third time Noël’s come out. The first was excruciating. Seeing him again, but not knowing how to feel or what to think…” He trailed off. “The second time— Well, we started talking again. Texting, calling, video chatting. But being apart was horrible, so he came back, and…”
“And what? He’s here to stay?”
“No. He can’t. He’s got a life in New York.”
“So what’s that mean for him and you?”
“It means we’re trying, Liam.”
Liam watched his brother, and so did I. Wyatt fidgeted, picking at his boots and his fingernails, shifted his heels, threaded his fingers together, and frowned up at the stars.
“Do you trust him?” Liam finally asked.
Everything around me dissolved. I clung to the banister—
“I do.” Wyatt’s voice was unbreakable.
I wilted against the balustrade.
“Listen to me.” Liam took Wyatt’s hand. “I won’t sit by and watch you get your heart broke again. I ain’t gonna watch that happen to you twice. I found you crying over Noël, Wyatt. Do you remember the last time I found you crying before that?”
“Liam—”
“I won’t let anyone hurt you. You’ve always taken care of me, but now, this time, I’m gonna take care of you. So if he rips your heart out again? I’ll drive him up to the Oklahoma line and leave him to eat hillbilly dust and rot under the sun. I will leave him there and not feel one damn thing, Wyatt, and that will be the kindest choice I can make. If he looks at you cross, or he don’t make your coffee the right way, or he gives you attitude when he should be thankingeveryfucking star in the sky that you are eventalkingto him again—”
“Liam.” This time, Liam snapped his mouth closed. “Noël is a good man. You know that.”
“I know he left you. That’s what I know.”
“All that’s in the past.”
“It ain’t all water under my bridge. Not yet. I still see you crying when I close my eyes.”
I never should have eavesdropped. Every word Liam spoke filled me with high-def images I’d never had and couldn’t fucking deal with. Wyatt hiding from his family and trying to stifle his tears alone in Mexico. Wyatt alone in this house, wondering why and how and what for.
“Do you remember what you told me when Savannah and I found out about Jason?”
“I think I said a lot of things.”
“We were out in the barn. You told me, you said, ‘Take it all slow, Liam. Take everything real slow. Every step, every choice. Make sure everything you choose is the best choice. The best, not the fastest or the easiest choice.’ Remember?”
Wyatt nodded.
“So, big brother, now it’s my turn to tell you: take thisrealfucking slow, okay? You gotta make sure you’re making the right choices. Not the choices your little brain wants you to make.” Wyatt snorted. Liam grinned, a there-and-gone flash. “You got so much to figure out, man. A long-distance relationship? Texas and New York? And, celebrities? Do you want that life? Do you really want to be putting up with that kind of bullshit here? Is that what Dad wanted?”
Wyatt stared at the stars and said nothing. He seemed lost in a trance, as if he was searching for something but couldn’t quite put his finger on it.
Eventually, he let out a long, hollow sigh, breaking himself out of his reverie and shifting his gaze to his brother. “You know, you turned out all right.”
Even through the darkness and the panes of glass in the front door, there was no concealing the glow of admiration rising up out of Liam, a shine in his eyes that sparkled only for his brother. “I did,” Liam drawled. “Thanks entirely to you.”
