I felt my cheeks heat and I tried to hide my face as he stepped back and slouched as if to get a closer look at my pants.
“We need to get Anna a pair of these.”
When I left, I’d only known Beau as one of the guys that ran around with Wyatt in school. He was one of the very few that didn’t play along in the harassment and teasing Sadie game. He was actually too busy trying to get with Anna that he’d stayed out of all the other stuff.
I’d gotten to know him over the many video chats with Anna and I’d found a new love for the man. He loved Anna, even through all her wild and crazy. She held his heart in the palm of her hand and I thought it was adorable just how awestruck he was by my best friend. He was also an amazing father.
“Yo, babe,” he hollered out hooking his arm over my shoulders as he started to drag me along, “look who I found.” A loud squeal I’d recognize anywhere echoed over the parking lot and Anna darted out of a crowd of people and quickly moved in our direction.
“Wow, look at you!” She scanned over me from head to toe. “Almost like you just stepped off a page of Elle Magazine.” I wanted to tell her to be quiet because I already felt so out of place, but it was too late, people were already looking. The worst part was that Wyatt was mixed in the crowd, staring at me, as he slowly sipped from a bottle of beer.
For far too long we stared at one another while everyone around me talked about my pants, and even my boots. I barely heard the things they’d said only catching a few words here and there.
There was no smile on Wyatt’s face, nor mine. Part of me wanted to lift my finger up and flip him off, but that would be immature, so instead I did it in my mind. What an ass, trying to stare me down as if I’d cave and offer him a wave or something.
“I need a drink.” I finally broke our staring contest and begin to walk toward the side entrance of the bar. I’d avoid the back patio as much as possible if it meant I could keep a safe distance between the officer and myself.
“Bug!” Levi held his hands up in the air as he shouted out the name he knew I hated. He chuckled when I flipped him the bird and began shuffling toward me. “What’s wrong sweetheart, are you in a bad mood?”
“You’ve only managed to get more annoying in my absence.”
“Emma, babe,” he began. I followed Levi’s line of sight and noticed Emma Hawkins behind the bar. She gave him the same annoyed look I felt I’d given him only moments again. “Need a beer and a,” he looked at me waiting for me to respond.
“Whiskey Sour.”
He nodded in approval repeating my order before giving Emma a wink that she completely ignored. “She wants me,” he insisted with a wag of his brows that made me laugh.
“I pretty sure she doesn’t.” He was most definitely delusional.
Once I got my drink and rejoined the people I hadn’t seen in years, I fell into a comfortable state I hadn’t expected. I listened as they all shared stories of when we were younger and even those that took place after I left. It was nice to see those that years ago may not have associated with one another one all stand in a crowd and laugh together.
We’d grown up, it was weird.
Moving my gaze around the bar I found Wyatt leaning against the side of the pool table laughing with Beau and a few others I recognized. It was a good a time as any to observe the guy he was now without him knowing I was doing so. The scruff along his jaw was new, but he still held that same cocky smile I’d loved years ago. He seemed taller, with broader shoulders, and a strong chest that screamed manual labor and hard work. The boy that broke my heart had become a man and I couldn’t manage to pull my eyes off of him. Wyatt had always been handsome, but this version of him—I’d never say it aloud because I’m entirely to stubborn—but it looked real good on him.
Somehow, I’d allowed myself to feel an attraction I didn’t want to feel. The memories of my adolescent years laid heavy on my heart but the truth was, he was right, he was young. We were both immature and if I could go back, I’d change a million things I’d done when I was younger.
I think we all would.
Chapter Seven
Wyatt
* * *
“She still can’t stand you, after all these years.” Beau thought he was a real comedian, chuckling as he continued to harass me over Sadie. “She disappeared like her ass was on fire when she saw you earlier. Now she’s doing all she can to stay at the opposite side of the bar from you.”
“You done, yet?”
“Hell no.” His eyes danced with humor as he looked over my shoulder. “Guarantee that if you turned around right now, she’d immediately look away.” It took me a second to register his words but instead of doing what he said I focused on the fact he’d just told me she was watching me. “It’s been a solid three minutes she’s been checking you out.”
Bullshit, the asshole was trying to get a reaction out of me. I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction.
“Swivel a little to the left and cock out a hip,” he tried to look serious imitating exactly what he’d just instructed me to do. He looked like a fool. “Give her the full view of your ass. I’ll tell you if she looks like she likes what she sees.”
Before he could prepare, I shoved him, and he almost fell backwards over the barstool behind him. Laughing, he held his stomach and again looked behind me. Without being about to stop myself I too looked back and damn, he wasn’t lying. She was watching me.
She scrambled a bit, shifting left then reverting to the right. In the process to look away in a hurry she bumped into her cousin Tate and almost dropped her drink in the process. It would serve Tate right if she wore it instead, that girl was always spewing shit on her blog, digging into the personal lives of others.
“You want me to talk to her for ya?”
“Leave it alone.” He’d only make things worse.
“If you say so,” he replied. He stepped around me and said, “I’m gonna go grab a beer, you want one?”
I nodded and shifted my gaze back to Sadie. Leather pants. I never thought I find that look sexy, but I was wrong. She looked out of place, but in a good way. Her clothes were upscale compared to the jeans and boots most of the other ladies wore. The way her pants and shirt hugged her body gave me the perfect visual of how toned her body was beneath. Made my body react in ways I knew without a doubt would only get me in trouble.
I’d refrained from getting involved with anyone after Karlie. I didn’t want to go down that road again, not after the disaster I’d just rid myself of. But for Sadie, I think I’d be willing to risk it. She’d be the perfect risk, I had no doubt.
I’d just wished she would give me more than ten-seconds to talk to her before she hurried off. If only I could make her see that I’m not the same arrogant kid I once was.
Elliott, an old friend challenged me to a game of pool, and I figured it was a good distraction, so I accepted. Soon after, Beau joined us, along with Levi and we ended up playing teams for hours.
Lost in the music playing from the loud overhead speakers and the crowds carrying on, laughing trying to talk over the music, I was soon absorbed by the atmosphere of the bar. It made it easier to forget about Sadie and the fact she hated me.