Page 42 of What Is Love
“Nothing’s changed,” Roe insisted.
“She will change it,” Reid snapped. “You don’t bring girls around, Roe. You don’t bring them to your house, to your dad’s bar, around us. Especially not spoiled rich girls from the other side of the bridge. Do you have any fucking idea who she really is?”
The door opened then. I quickly took a couple of steps back. Wyatt came out and shut the door behind him. He held out my phone to me with a tight smile. I looked to see if I had any notifications. There were none.
We walked down the sidewalk in silence for a little bit. The neighborhood was quiet and dark. The only light came from the coach lamps on the fronts of houses. The toe of my black uniform loafers stubbed on something, causing me to stumble forward. Wyatt’s arms came around me, catching me before I could fall.
“Whoa, there. Your fancy school shoes aren’t the best for walking in the dark,” he said as I righted myself. “Do you want to hold my hand?”
I looked ahead. The dark sidewalk didn’t get any brighter. I nodded and slid my hand into his before we continued walking. “Reid doesn’t like me.”
“Reid doesn’t like a lot of people, and the ones he does like, he’s very protective of.” Wyatt paused as if to ponder his next words. “He’s threatened by you.”
“Because he thinks I’ll ruin the plans you guys have?”
He glanced at me out of the corner of his eye for a second before facing forward again. “I see you heard that.”
“What are your plans? Or are you not allowed to tell me?”
“It’s not a secret.” He let out a heavy sigh. “As soon as Roe and I graduate, the three of us plan on leaving Summerhaven. It all depends on which college Roe gets accepted to. That will determine where we go.”
“Why are you leaving?”
“Because we don’t want to get sucked into the club. If we stay here, we undoubtedly will. We’ve seen it with our dads, cousins, and friends time and time again. The club is like a siren. All the good parts about it pull on you. And once you’re in, there’s no out.”
I remembered Wyatt being very opposed to joining the Haven’s Rebels at the café.
“Ever since Bram became president, the club has been better. Less crooked, you could say,” he explained. “But when Bram’s dad, Rhett, was president before him, they were up to all kinds of shady shit to make money. My dad is in prison until the end of time because of it.”
Wyatt had said his dad had been caught with a lot of cocaine. Had the club been selling drugs? I guessed the Haven’s Rebels had used to be as bad as rumors said.
“Roe’s mom took off because of the things Rhett kept pulling Noble into.” Wyatt let out a sigh again. “Then there’s Reid’s dad, who’s the fucking definition of a scumbag. He used to...” Wyatt shook his head. “That isn’t my story to tell. Just know that he was a really bad man.”
I squeezed his hand gently to reassure him. “Okay.”
“It’s good that the club is making changes for the better, but the damage has been done. And as Roe likes to say, just because things have gone good with Bram doesn’t mean shit won’t go back to bad when the next prez takes over. Nearly everyone in the club now was there during Rhett’s…we’ll say reign. They took part in all the shady shit Rhett brought to the table and there are still some who miss the money they made during that time. I will not be like my dad or like his dad, who was one of the original Haven’s Rebels. Roe and Reid feel the same.”
I understood wanting to run away from a fate you hadn’t chosen. A little part of me was jealous they were going to get to do it. “Why does Reid think I would ruin your plans?”
Wyatt smiled. “Because you’re the first girl Roe has ever brought around us.”
“Pretty sure I invaded your little group at that party.”
Wyatt chuckled. “Is that what you think happened?”
That was exactly what had happened, but I wasn’t going to argue with him. “I still don’t see how I’m going to derail your plans. You don’t seem…threatened by me.”
Wyatt stopped walking and stared down at me. “It’s because I find you smokin’ hot.”
I rolled my eyes and tried to keep walking.
“I’m kidding.” He pulled me back by my hand. “Sort of.”
Trying not to smile, I bit down on my lip and looked anywhere but him.
He tucked my hair behind my ear. The act stunned me, and my eyes found their way back to his.
“Let’s just say I’m an optimistic person,” he said. “We should head back now. I’d bet money that by the time we get there, they will have made up.”
