AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I laid a hand on his arm. “What? Realize what?”
Wyatt’s jaw clenched. He shook his head minutely. “Never mind. Doesn’t matter.”
Just like that, the glimmer of hope that had sparked inside me sputtered and died. He was shutting me out again, the door slamming shut once more.
I opened my mouth, not even sure what I planned to say, but the words never came. The shuttered look on Wyatt’s face told me it would be no use. Not tonight, at least.
With an imperceptible shake of my head, I let out a frustrated breath. Fine, if that’s how he wanted to play it. I was sick of constantly running into this damn brick wall between us.
“Okay, well, I’m going to catch up with the others,” I muttered, jogging ahead and falling into step beside Rhett.
Rhett gave me a concerned look. “You good?” He glanced behind us to Wyatt.
I managed a tight smile and a nod, but my mind was racing.
When were Wyatt and I going to stop dancing around...whatever this was? The tension, the heated glances, the aborted attempts to open up—it was exhausting.
As we headed to the fire pit at the guys’ camp, I stole a glance back at Wyatt. He lingered behind, shoulders tense and jaw set in that stubborn line I knew so well. Our eyes met briefly, and I felt that same intense jolt—the kind that could ignite something deeper between us if we ever stopped stomping it out.
But then Finn called his name, breaking the moment, and Wyatt turned away.
Huffing an irritated sigh, I faced forward again. It wasn’t over between us, not really. But clearly, we were still stuck, trapped in this cycle of starting and stopping, opening up and slamming shut. When were we finally going to kick through this door between us instead of just rattling the handle?
One of these days, something had to finally give between us. One way or another, a door was going to open. I’d be damned if I was going to stop pushing against it, not when I could still feel that fire burning on the other side.
Chapter 17
Small Town Something - High Valley
Wyatt
The flickering flames of the bonfire danced mockingly before my eyes, every crackle and pop seeming to taunt me. Idiot. Coward. I scrubbed a hand down my face, the heat from the fire doing nothing to burn away the disgusted feeling burning in my gut.
What the hell was wrong with me? The words had been right there, sitting on the tip of my tongue. I can’t lose you. You’re too important. After Kinsley’s accident, after realizing how easily I could have lost her for good, it was like all the bullshit between us just melted away. And she had been right there, those big blue eyes locked on mine practically pulling the truth out of me. I had been a hairsbreadth away from finally laying it all on the line.
Then, what? I choked? Got spooked by my own damned honesty? Let my typical emotionally constipated male pride get in the way of finally saying how I really felt?
“Stupid son of a bitch,” I muttered under my breath.
I could still see it playing out—Kinsley’s hopeful expression crumbling as I deflected and slammed that door shut yet again for no good reason.
Groaning, I buried my face in my hands, trying in vain to physically wipe away the image of the hurt look in her eyes as she’d turned away without another word, leaving me rooted in place like an idiot. She had every right to be pissed at me.
Kinsley sat as far away from me as she could, and I didn’t blame her; I was a jackass. She and Maisey had spread out a blanket on the ground next to Rhett. Grady set up a chair next to the girls for Abby to sit in, and he sat next to her, though she looked like she might bolt any minute. Finn and I sat across the fire from them.
“Should I welcome you to the forever bachelor club now or…?” Finn said.
“I don’t think I’m there quite yet,” I replied.
“No? Sure looks like it to me. Just think, you and I can grow old together with all our horses. Is that a thing? Crazy old horsemen? You know, like crazy cat ladies, only men with horses,” he joked.
“I get it. That doesn’t sound appealing.”
“No, it doesn’t. I don’t think I could live with your cranky ass, so you better figure your shit out because I plan to be a lone bachelor,” he said.
“I can’t wait for you to fall in love and then mess it up,” I told Finn before clamping my mouth shut. Fuck. “I don’t know why I said that. I’m sorry.” I couldn’t believe I’d said that to him.
Finn shifted in his seat. “Don’t worry about it,” he brushed me off, but I knew him better than that. That one stupid comment was going to drag him down.
