The Bad Boys of Summer Anthology(31)

“Stop being such a baby, McCrae,” I say, sticking my ring finger up at him. “I don’t even feel a thing.” Of course, that’s a lie because as I move my finger around, pain shoots through my hand.

Snorting, Wyatt gives my thigh a squeeze, but I stop his fingers before he can go any further. “Really, Ky?” At first I think he’s referring to me not letting him touch me, but then he grins and dips his head toward my new tattoo. “That little thing took all of thirty minutes.”

It might have, but I can still tell from the look in his eyes how thrilled he is that I finally got Brad’s last name wiped away from my body for good.

As I slide out of bed, Wyatt gives me one of those lingering looks that just makes me want to crawl back in and bury myself under the covers with him for the rest of the day. Taking a deep breath, I move my head slowly from side to side. “Don’t you dare look at me like that,” I warn. “Phoenix, remember?” I bend over to grab a change of clothes from my bag, feeling his eyes skim up my bare legs.

“Oh, I didn’t forget about Phoenix. I’m just trying to figure out if you’re wearing panties right now.”

Tucking my clothes under my arm, I lift the hem of my oversized T-shirt to show him that I am, in fact, wearing underwear.

He flicks his tongue over his lip piercing as if I’m not. “We don’t have to be in Phoenix until—”

Since I’m already making my way into the bathroom, I wave him off. “Get the hell up already.”

He doesn’t actually get out of bed until I come out of the shower, and I’m not surprised when he corners me in the bathroom. Instead of trying to convince me to keep my clothes off, he comes up behind me to help snap the closures of my delicate pink bra.

“I fucking hate Victoria’s Secret,” he murmurs when he fastens the last hook. He walks around my body, his palm skimming around my waist as he does so. When he kneels down in front of me, my breath catches, but then he reaches past me to grab my underwear from near the sink.

“But they have such pretty things,” I tease.

“Yeah, but for me, it’s torture.” He strokes the outside of my foot, and I step into the pink panties he’s holding out for me. He glides them up my smooth legs carefully, stopping just once to touch his lips against the inside of my thigh. I gasp, and then he gently tugs the flimsy fabric into place. “The worst type of torture imaginable.”

“Sorry, I can’t just go commando all the time, babe.”

Examining me for a long time, he finally lets out a low noise. “Hurry up and finish getting dressed before I rip those off of you and fuck you right here.”

Cocking my eyebrow, I back away from him slowly, feeling the heat from his gaze as I grab my clothes from the hook behind the door. I shrug into them quickly, and he groans as I wiggle my hips a little to slide up my jeans.

“You’re fucking killing me, Bluebird,” he says, pulling me to him by my belt loops.

“You should get dressed.” Running my fingers along the elastic of his boxers, I slide my tongue over my lips. “By the way, you need to be more careful with all the ripping of the clothes. I’m starting to keep a mental note, and I’m billing your ass when we get to L.A.” When I let the elastic snap against his waist, he sucks in a breath through his teeth.

“Bill me all you want, as long as I get you in the dressing room.”

If he’s trying to make me blush, he succeeds. He grins as he turns on the faucet, and I leave the bathroom quickly before he has a chance to try and talk me into taking a shower with him. With all this talk about ripping underwear and banging in dressing rooms, chances are I’d take him up on it.



As soon as he’s finished showering, he sets about getting dressed. I watch him as he puts on a pair of relaxed dark jeans and a black T-shirt that not only accentuates his toned biceps, but will also hide any bleeding ink on his chest. As soon as he’s finished, he crosses the room to where I’m sitting on the edge of the bed. Leaning over me, he cups my face between his hands and kisses me. “You look beautiful, Ky.”

“Didn’t you know, McCrae?” I start, unable to keep the breathlessness out of my voice. “Your pretty words don’t always make me drop my panties.”

“Fuck . . . apparently not.” He takes my hands in his and guides me toward the door to our room, tucking his hand into my back pocket as we walk down the hallway together. When I glance up at him, he grins at me, giving my ass a firm squeeze. “I’ll try again after breakfast.”

“You’re a determined thing, aren’t you?” I ask as we leave the hotel and walk in the direction of the restaurant where Heidi and I ate breakfast yesterday.

“Always.” Just before we step through the restaurant door to join Heidi and Cal, he stops me, pulling my body flush to his. “But Kylie?”

“Wyatt?” We step to the right in sync to avoid a group of people making their way into the building. Our gazes stay locked for a long pause of time, until I lift an eyebrow. “You plan on speaking or continuing to creep me out with all the silence?”

He lowers his mouth to my ear. “Even if we don’t fuck this morning, you’re still beautiful.” When he draws away from me, taking in my slightly stunned expression, a slow grin drags across his face. I make a noise in the back of my throat in an effort to clear away some of the tightness as I slide past him.

“So are you,” I finally reply, pulling the restaurant door open.

Once we’re seated, I order the same thing as before, the western omelet, and I promise myself that I’ll actually enjoy my breakfast no matter who calls me. In fact, if my phone does ring, I’ll send whoever it is directly to my voice mail.

Cal and Heidi are in deep conversation about something, but when I lift my coffee mug to my lips, he pauses. “What the hell is wrong with your finger?” From the way he’s narrowing his brown eyes at my newly inked skin, I’d think he didn’t have a dozen tattoos of his own.

I take a sip of my coffee before answering him. The steaming liquid burns the tip of my tongue, and shooting Heidi an apologetic look, I grab her orange juice and take a giant sip in hopes that it will cool my mouth. Once I’m able to speak without slurring my words, I say, “New tattoo.”

Despite being on the opposite side of the table, Heidi bends as close to me as she can to examine my finger. Her eyes widen, and she blurts out, “Jesus, Kylie, did you two get married last night?”

Beside her, Cal chokes on his unsweetened tea and then garbles something incoherent.

Before either of them have a meltdown in the middle of the restaurant, I jump to correct Heidi’s assumption. “I can promise you that we’re definitely not married.” I glance over at Wyatt. Although his shoulders are shaking from laughter, something flashes in his midnight blue eyes—curiosity.

My mind has wandered there before, thinking about what marriage would be like with Wyatt, but I won’t let it go there again. Not when all the events of the last couple days have brought me closer to wanting to give things between the two of us one more try. Not when he’s yet to tell me that he loves me.

No, marriage probably won’t be something I stop and think about for a long time.

“I’m glad you didn’t get married,” Heidi announces, taking her orange juice away from me. “I would have punched you in the boob if I didn’t get an invite.”



Once we’re done with breakfast, we head back to the hotel to pack for Phoenix. We’re on the road well before noon, and as Wyatt and I sit in the backseat together, his hand finds mine, clasping my fingers tightly.

“Last stop,” he whispers, and I can only nod my head.



Heidi has to leave almost the moment we reach Phoenix six hours later. One of her brothers is already waiting for us at the hotel when Cal parks the SUV. She leaps out of the front seat of the Suburban and sprints across the parking lot, laughing as her brother gathers her up in a giant hug.

“He’s fucking big,” Cal says from beside me, eyeing Heidi and the tall beefy guy standing next to her. I tip my head in agreement. “I could probably take him.”

Cocking an eyebrow, I glance at him from out of the corner of my eye. “Thought there was nothing going on between you two.”

“Oh, there’s not.” He starts unloading our luggage, giving me a wink as he sets her suitcase on the asphalt. “But you never know what’ll happen once we get back home.”

Right. As I walk over to Heidi, I glance back at Cal once, and when I catch him staring at her, he drops his eyes.

Heidi reintroduces me to her brother, and as he climbs inside his ironically small sports car, she gives me a pained look. “So, apparently, my mom really went all out because I’m in town, and the entire family is coming over.”

“Do you want me to go with you?”

She shakes her head, and I stifle a laugh at how dramatic the sad expression on her face is. “My nieces and nephews are possessed. After the last time you came home with me, I swore to you I’d never put you through that again.”

I can’t resist grinning. “Want me to wait around for you before I head over to the bar tonight?”