The Bad Boys of Summer Anthology(32)

She bobs her head a little too enthusiastically. “I’m hoping it’ll be sooner rather than later, but you know how my folks are.” When her brother honks his horn, she rolls her eyes. “Ugh, see you later.”

Before she gets into the car, she waves her arm dramatically to Wyatt and Cal to signal that she’s leaving, and then I watch as her brother’s sports car speeds away. Heidi can complain all she wants about her family, but I know better than anyone how much she adores them. Seeing them will be good for her.

Since Wyatt and Cal have a few things to take care of with the Hazard Anthem guys, I stay in our room after we check-in. The moment that Wyatt leaves, after promising me that he’ll be back as soon as possible, I adjust the thermostat back to a normal temperature.

When I lie down to watch a marathon of The Walking Dead, I don’t plan to fall asleep, but it’s pretty much inevitable. The sound of Wyatt returning to the room gets me up, and I flick my eyes to the clock by the bed to see that it’s 8:37 p.m.

Yawning, I sit up and swing my legs off the side of the bed. “Didn’t realize it was so late.” I smooth a bunch of stray pieces of my hair behind my ear. “Do I have time to get ready?”

He nods. “I’ve been calling you,” he says, sitting down in the armchair across the room. “We go on in a little over an hour.”

I grab my phone from the nightstand and release a groan when I realize it’s dead. Since it’s useless, I throw it down on the bed. “The battery in that thing sucks.” If Wyatt’s been trying to get in touch with me, chances are Heidi has too. I rub my hand over my face in frustration. “Hey, you don’t happen to have Heidi’s number saved in your phone, do you?”

He shakes his head but pulls out his cell. He runs his finger up and down the screen, probably scrolling through his contacts. “Nope, but Cal does. He’s having drinks with Nate and Ben, but he’ll answer.” He presses a button and then tosses the phone to me. I reach up and catch it easily with my right hand. “Going to wash my face before we get going. Be right back,” he says, disappearing into the bathroom.

Just as Wyatt promised, Cal answers on the fourth ring. After he teases me about not knowing my best friend’s number, he promises to text it to me as soon as we hang up. A moment after I hit the End button, the message comes through. “Impressive, Cal,” I say, opening the text.

It takes me approximately five seconds to figure out that the string of messages I’m staring down at isn’t from Cal, and even though I jab the Home button quickly, the last three texts between Terra and Wyatt have dug their way into my head.



6:29 p.m.: You don’t even want to know the room # in case you change your mind?

7:01 p.m.: I won’t, so let’s not waste our time. I told you the other night that it was one time. Fucking drop it.

8:42 p.m.: You know what? Go fuck yourself, Wyatt.



I hear the bathroom door ease open, and he’s talking about Your Toxic Sequel’s summer tour as he rounds the corner. My face must say it all because the moment he looks at me, his words fade away, and the color drains from his naturally tan face. Struggling to keep my breath steady, I stare into his eyes, and I repeat the question I asked him a couple nights ago, the question that I’m absolutely certain he answered with a flat-out lie.

“Did you screw Terra?”





Chapter Sixteen

He lowers his dark blue eyes to the phone that’s lying on the bed just as another text message comes through. I know that this time, it’s probably Cal getting back to me with Heidi’s number, but right now, that’s the furthest thing from my mind. Right now, I desperately need to know the truth from the man standing in front of me.

“Did you lie to me?” I ask, standing. I take a tentative step toward him and then another, feeling my heart race faster and faster with each movement. Once my bare toes hit the toe of Wyatt’s boot, I straighten my back. “Did you fuck Terra?”

Drawing his eyebrows together, he pinches his bottom lip between his thumb and forefinger. I never let my gaze fall even though I want to. At last, he swallows hard, giving me a brisk nod. “Yeah, I did.”

I feel like something has collided into my chest, and I rub my hand back and forth over the center, hoping it will lessen the pain. It doesn’t. “And you’ve done it again since we came here? Since you and I have been together like this?”

Sucking in his upper lip, he shakes his head vigorously. “Absolutely not.”

“Then, why not just tell me when I asked? Why make it a big secret?” He’s had one-night stands before—and even though we weren’t a couple, all those times ripped out my heart—but this is the first time he’s lied to me. “Why didn’t you just tell me the truth when I asked?” I demand, my voice cracking.

“Because you said her name like—”

My nostrils flare, and I hold up my hand. “Like what? Like I wanted to choke her? Who gives a damn how I said her name? All I wanted was for you to tell me the truth, to be straight with me. I can handle everything else, Wyatt.” My shoulders begin to shake, and I drop my eyes to my bare feet. “When?” I ask.

“What?” he asks, his deep voice breaking.

“When did you do it?”

“Kylie, please.” He holds out his hands, wanting to touch me, but I shove them away. I ignore the dull pain in my ring finger as I wait for him to answer me. When I release a sob, he exhales. “Why would you want to put yourself through that? Why does it even matter now?”

Of course, he doesn’t understand. Maybe he never will. I take a few steps backward. “Because. You. Lied.”

He drags his hand over his face, releasing a strangled noise from the back of his throat. “The end of last year.”

I press myself against the wall for support. “Let me guess, it was a couple of weeks after Thanksgiving, huh?” His expression is blank, and I immediately realize that I’ve called it accurately. Clenching my teeth, I shake my head to each side. “You are so goddamn unbelievable, Wyatt.”

His face flushes as he takes a step toward me. “You push me away at every turn. You told me you wanted to see other people. What the—”

“You’re right,” I say, nodding my head. “You’re absolutely right. But if you still want to know why I stopped calling you after Thanksgiving…there, you’ve got your answer. I thought…” I pause and take a deep breath. “I guess you were too busy fucking Terra when I needed you.”

This time, when he reaches out to touch me, he succeeds. He draws me to his chest, not seeming to care about the pain it might cause the area where he got the bluebird tattoo last night. “What were you going to say, Ky? You thought what?” he demands.

Since we’re laying it all out on the table tonight, I glare up at him. “I thought I was pregnant. I thought that I was going to have a kid with someone who can’t even say he loves me, and I panicked.”

His grip tightens on the small of my back. “You’re not, are you?” The tone of his voice is low and dangerous, and I know he’s thinking about all the partying we’ve done over the past few days. “Are you?” he says more urgently.

I shake my head. “Do you really think I’m that stupid and selfish?” I ask. I close my eyes, squeezing them so tight that the tears have no other choice but to stay put. He releases a long exhale, but when I speak a moment later, he loses his breath once more. “Wyatt…I really can’t do this anymore.”

He clenches his jaw. “Yes, you can. I fucked up. I know that I did, but that doesn’t mean we can’t fix ourselves.” When he touches his forehead against mine, I pull away from him, pressing my back to the wall again.

“I’ve done exactly what I told you I’d do. I came here with you. I let you remind me of our past, the good and the bad. But, Wyatt, I just can’t anymore.” Each word takes an excruciating amount of effort, and I know that if we don’t end this soon, I’m going to be sick to my stomach.

“We can fix this, Ky,” he says.

I shake my head again, wiping tears from my cheeks. “We’ve been doing this for so long,” I whisper. “After Brenna and my ex and so much bullshit, it’s amazing we didn’t already give up on each other years ago. Don’t you see it? If we haven’t fixed ourselves by now, how the hell do you think we ever can?”

“I refuse to believe that.” He’s breathing heavily, his chest rising and falling against mine. “I love you, Kylie.”

The sob that I’ve been so successfully holding back finally makes its way past my throat, and I gasp. I lower my head, shaking it slowly, as my shoulders tremble. He’s dealt me the most painful blow of all, and surely, he must know that because he backs away from me slowly. When I manage to lift my gaze, the agony in his blue eyes matches the sting spreading across my chest, consuming me.

“Fuck … I mean, you had to have known that already,” he says hoarsely.

I press my hand to my chest for a moment, pushing hard as if it will stop my heart from pounding so rapidly, as if doing so will keep me from crumbling apart. Once I’ve managed to control my tears, I say, “I have waited so goddamn long to hear you say that, and now that I have…it just hurts.” It hurts because of all times to tell me that he loves me, he picks the one moment when losing me is a certainty.