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Judy lifts her brows and leans in close. “Well, you let me know if they get to be too much for you, okay? I’ve known them a long time now and seen them through some crazy stuff.”
Wyatt clears his throat and stops eating to eye Judy with a knowing look. She stops herself and pats Wyatt on the shoulder.
“Oh, I’m sure you’ll be fine,” she says with a warm smile. “They’re good boys…these days, at least. And it’s high time that mountain had a woman up there again.” She pauses to gesture to our plates. “Anyway, you two enjoy your food. Let me know if I can get you anything else.”
My eyes are wide and blinking as she walks away like she didn’t just drop a little bomb on our meal here. I turn a curious look at Wyatt. “What woman is she referring to?”
He shakes his head dismissively. “It’s nothing.”
“Doesn’t sound like nothing,” I pry because it sounds like the exact opposite of nothing. It sounds juicy. “You just said you don’t date, so was it one of your brothers’ girlfriends who lived up there?”
Wyatt looks visibly uncomfortable as he struggles to eat.
“Was it someone you had relations with? Like of the sexual variety?”
His eyes snap to mine, full of warning, but I will not be deterred.
“My interest is piqued. Maybe I’ll go get the dirt from Judy or one of the locals. They’re much chattier than you.” I move to get up, and he sets his fork down and reaches out to grab my hand, halting me in my tracks. His hand is warm, and I love the contrast of it against my skin so much that I have to fight the urge to turn my palm up and thread my fingers in his.
When I sit back down, his brow furrows as he quickly releases his hold on me. “There was a woman who lived in the barn apartment. She was new to town and a bartender here at the Mercantile. She needed a place to live, and, well…it was convenient.”
“Kind of like me,” I offer cheerily.
“She was nothing like you,” he nearly growls, and I get the distinctimpression this woman wasn’t just a local needing a place to live. She was something much more.
“Anyway, don’t worry about her. I gutted the apartment after she split. It’s much nicer now than when she lived there.”
I nod slowly, wanting to pry further, but I gather that I’ve pushed this mountain man to his limit, so I should stop.
Wyatt eyes me thoughtfully for a moment, the muscle in his jaw twitching as he chews his food and swallows. “What about you?”
“What about me?” I grab a french fry and pop it into my mouth.
“What’s your dating situation?” There’s an intensity in Wyatt’s eyes that wasn’t there a second ago. He probably thinks if I refuse to share my dating life story, then he’s in the clear, but the joke’s on him because I’m an open book.
“Well, I’m not a monk, but I don’t date much.” I sigh heavily and prop my chin on my hand. “I’ve never even had a boyfriend, so there’s nothing good to really even share.”
Wyatt’s brows furrow as he tilts his head. “Never?”
“Nope,” I reply with a shrug. “Guys I’ve hooked up with just seem to slowly stop talking to me. I pretty much always assume it’s because I’m fat.”
Wyatt drops his fork on his plate, and the undiluted rage I see in his eyes is alarming. “You aren’t fat.”
I laugh and shake my head. “Wyatt, it’s okay. I like myself just fine. And I can admit that I’m fat. I’m okay with it.”
“You’re beautiful.”
“Well, thank you, but you can be beautiful and fat, you know?” I wink and kind of want to punch him.
“I didn’t say you can’t.”
My brows lift knowingly. “Are we fighting again?”
“No, we’re not. I just…” Wyatt presses his hands together in front of him, clearly frustrated with this line of conversation. “You said guys stop talking to you because you’re fat. Therefore, you put being fat in a negative light. That’s what I’m questioning.”
My head jerks back as he targets me with my own internalized fatphobia that I didn’t even realize I had. I don’t dislike my size. I likemy body. I’ve always been big, so I’ve embraced it. I look in the mirror and tell myself I’m beautiful on a pretty regular basis. Even more beautiful now. My body is doing this pregnancy thing extraordinarily well, so I dare say my body is the shit.
But when it comes to romantic partners, I suppose I haven’t been giving myself the same respect.
