28. Rosie

Chapter Twenty-Eight

Rosie

"Oh wow, that's a lot," Tessa said.

McKenna sat beside me and curled her arm around my shoulders, squeezing hard before leaning back in her chair. We were having one of our get-togethers. It happened to be the evening after my brother told me everything, and I was filling them in.

So far, it was me, Tessa, McKenna, and Haven. Fiona was on her way, but she was running late. We were at Tessa's new house, the one she'd moved into with Adam.

"Have you talked to Wyatt yet?" Haven piped up as she returned to the table, setting a stack of pizza boxes in the center.

"Thank God, this is a big table," McKenna teased as she set the pizza boxes in a row in the center.

Tessa began passing out plates and napkins.

"No, I haven't talked to him yet. Well, maybe my brother did. I'm not so sure they're not talking to him every day and keeping him up to speed on my life," I said dryly.

Haven let out a soft laugh. "Maybe. I doubt it, though."

"Your dad, but probably not your brother," McKenna interjected. "I adore your dad, and he can't help but worry about you."

I let out a small sigh. "I'll talk to Wyatt. It's just been a lot to deal with."

Just then, Fiona arrived. After the brief commotion of greetings and starting to eat, the conversation circled back to me, unfortunately.

"Do we have to talk about me?" I asked as soon as Fiona mentioned she'd seen Wyatt that day at the restaurant.

Fiona's eyes slid to mine. "Well, we don't have to, but the poor guy looks brokenhearted. I'm serious. It's kind of sad."

McKenna pressed her lips together to keep from laughing.

"Is that funny?" I couldn't help but interject, suddenly feeling protective of Wyatt.

"Oh, now it's getting to you," Tessa teased lightly.

I tried to chew my feelings away with a vigorous bite of pizza.

Fiona set her slice of pizza down and glanced toward me. "Wyatt wanted to tell you. Your brother asked him to give him a chance to tell you. Considering how sensitive issues are around substance abuse, I think it would've been awkward for Wyatt to tell you without your brother being okay with it. It's a seriously touchy subject."

Pain twisted in my chest. "I know, I know. It's just…"

The next thing I knew, I was telling my friends the whole story of how emotionally raw I'd felt after the situation at the hospital and how it brought up so many feelings about my mother. I was surprised that I didn't just break down in tears and fall apart.

While they all knew my mom had died when I was little, none of them had known the details about what happened. When I finished explaining, McKenna looked over at me with tears shining in her eyes. "I knew that your mom died when she gave birth to your brother, but I didn't know how it happened. I'm so sorry." She was sitting beside me and leaned close, curling her arm around my shoulders and squeezing tight for a moment.

McKenna and I had bonded when we were younger through a shared, silent understanding of what it meant to lose a parent you loved. She had been some years younger than me when her father died, but she understood what it meant. Like those days in school, they would assign a project to make something for Mother's Day or Father's Day. We were the ones who didn't have anything to make for one of the days. No one meant to hurt others when those things happened. It was just part of life. You learned to deal with the jagged edge of the pain that came up in those moments.

"So that happened, and then you found out what your brother's been dealing with. That's a lot," Tessa said softly.

I swallowed through the tightness in my throat. "It's been a rough patch."

I got some much-needed understanding and a few hugs.

"What do you want?" Fiona's question was soft.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"With Wyatt," she clarified.

Her question sent me spiraling inside. For a second, my mind tried to take hold of the reins, but my heart kicked hard and fast, zooming past it. My heart knew I loved Wyatt.

I took an unsteady breath. My lips twisted to the side, and I felt a little sheepish as I looked around at my friends. "Well, I mean, we're married," I began slowly.

McKenna tipped her head to the side. "You are, and somehow, you kept it a secret from everybody but Rhys."

"Rhys told you what he saw?" I glanced toward Haven.

She hitched her brows up. "He did. We chalked it up to you and Wyatt being drunk. I was positive you didn't actually get married. I kept telling him there was no way you really went through with it. He swore me to secrecy, and I didn't dwell on it since I didn't think it was real. None of us knew about your other thing, though."

"What other thing?" Fiona interjected.

Heat flashed into my cheeks. "Right before I went to nursing school, uh, Wyatt and I kind of had a fling."

"And nobody knew?" Fiona squeaked.

I shook my head quickly. "Not everybody was in town. McKenna was already living in Seattle and—" I glanced toward Tessa. "Where were you?"

"Dating my asshole of an ex and trying to avoid everyone because I was miserable," she said flatly. "I wasn't paying attention to much of anything at that point."

I took a deep breath and let it out in a gusty sigh. "I am so glad you divorced him."

She nodded before a slow smile unfurled across her face. "I am too."

Tessa's ex had been abusive, but now she was very happily in love with Adam. She deserved every bit of goodness she got after what she'd gone through.

Fiona was determined to keep this conversation on track. "So no one knew you had a fling with Wyatt before you went to nursing school, and you never got over him?"

I bit my lip to keep from laughing. "I don't know if I would put it that way. It was a really great week, but we were young, and he was leaving to be a firefighter. I was headed straight to nursing school. Even though it was amazing, we didn't, or I just didn't think anything would come of it. He has always been the most memorable. Not that I dated much because I didn't. Dating is annoying. Dating apps are hell—mostly dick pics and obnoxious guys who don't want any commitment. In a funny way, minus the dick pics and being obnoxious, that's what I had with Wyatt back then—no commitment and a week of great benefits. In hindsight, it didn't feel like that. It felt like more, but off to school I went. I didn't think about it much since he wasn't living here when I moved back to town. Then we were in Vegas and—" My cheeks were on fire, and I shrugged because I didn't know what else to say.

McKenna nudged me with her knee, and I glanced over at her. "What?"

"Wyatt loves you, and he's sad. Please put him out of his misery," she said, her words solemn.