28. WREN

28

WREN

"Do you want any of the mugs?" Charlie yells from the kitchen. We're finally getting around to packing up what remains in the kitchen.

I can't believe I'm saying goodbye to Newhouse, Charlie, the girls, and Wyatt.

Driving to Georgia tomorrow is going to be the hardest thing I've ever done. It feels like my heart is going in one direction and I'm headed in another.

The time we'll be separated has no end date and that's the hardest part. Like walking through the desert with no destination in sight. If there was a timeline. If I knew it would be two weeks and we could count down together, it would make the distance easier.

"You can have them." I join her in the kitchen. "Except this one." I reach into the cabinet and grab the hedgehog mug Wyatt bought me.

My heart speeds in a panic. It's been weeks, maybe months, since I've felt a rush of paralyzing anxiety. Charlie watches me with concern. "I'm fine." I take the mug and bring it to my room.

Sitting on my bed, I take a few deep breaths.

It's temporary.

Weeks, maybe days.

He loves me. Being apart changes nothing.

You are stronger than this.

I inhale one last deep breath and wipe the tears from my eyes.

"Feel better?" Charlie asks when I enter the living room.

"Not really but I have to be," I say, bringing her an empty box. "I'm going to miss you too."

She wraps her arms around me. "I know, but those tears aren't for me. We already cried and laughed those out." Any free night we had, Charlie and I have spent together watching movies, drinking wine, laughing about all of her bad dates over the years.

Charlie is more than a friend. She's family. She is someone that I will never forget. I will miss her fearlessness. She isn't afraid to try new things. If it doesn't work out, she dusts herself off and tries something else. Her resiliency is inspiring.

"I'm still sad we won't be roommates anymore."

"I'm going to miss you keeping my life together. I might end up joining the circus without you keeping me in line," she jokes.

"Have you decided what you're going to do when you get home?"

"Okay, don't laugh at me." She wraps a bowl in newspaper and places it in the box. "I think I'm going to get a job on a yacht. I saw an advertisement for a company hiring stewardesses for the summer. They'll be sailing through the Mediterranean."

"There will be a lot of potential husbands in the Mediterranean."

"I know!" She squeals.

"I was joking, Charlie."

"I'm not. That's my goal this summer. Get engaged. Look at us. You're looking to ditch a fiancé and I'm trying to lock one down," she says, grinning. I can't seem to muster up the same amount of amusement.

Not with my whole situation being unpredictable. My feelings for Wyatt are the only thing that feels steady and true. Knowing he will be waiting for me when this is all over pushes me to keep fighting until the end.

"It will all work out, you know. If anyone can make a man regret crossing them, it's you. You're smart and you were born with a sharp tongue. You know where to cut him to make it hurt the most."

"I'm glad you are confident in me. I just want it to be over with," I admit. Charlie passes me a box to tape. I secure it shut and walk the box over to her stack of growing cargo.

"I think I'm going to hire some guys from the hunky moving company to help me with all of that." She nods toward her growing pile of things.

There's a quiet knock on our door. "What would your Mediterranean fiancé think of you flirting with other men?" I joke, before opening the door.

"Hi," I greet Wyatt who's currently holding a large moving box of his own. He looks devastatingly handsome in a backwards hat, jeans, and T-shirt.

"Hi." He brushes his lips against mine for a quick kiss. "Hey, Charlie."

"Hi, Wyatt. Good to see you. I'm going to check on Syd. See if she needs any help packing up all her books." Charlie walks out of the room. Once the door closes, I direct my attention back to Wyatt.

"What's in the box?"

He sighs. Then walks the box to my room. "Looks like you're almost done packing," he says, glancing around the room.

"What's in the box, Wyatt?" I ask again, ignoring his stalling tactics.

"All your stuff I found while I was packing up my room. I thought you might need it in Georgia," he says, void of any emotion.

I lift the lid and glance inside. It appears to be a bunch of random pieces of clothes, underwear, a hairbrush, a few books. Nothing I can't live without.

"You could take it with you and keep it for me."

"How long is that going to be? Weeks? Months? I don't know if I can stare at a box of your stuff for that long." His face hardens except for the slight feathering of the muscle in his jaw.

"I don't know. Let's say it will be months. I think I'll manage living without old notebooks and highlighters." I push the box out of the way.

"There's more than that in there. Your stuff was everywhere cluttering my room."

I almost laugh at that. "If you think you are getting anything back from me, you're shit out of luck."

"I don't want all my clothes you stole." He leans in closer. "I know you've been taking all my T-shirts. But that's fine, you can keep them. Wear ‘em at night and think of me."

"I always think of you. Every choice I've made has been with you in mind, Wyatt." My hands ball into fists so tight my nails are going to cut through my skin. "If it wasn't for you, I wouldn't give a fuck. This is all happening because of you. You've made me feel something. This is the fallout you've caused."

"Right, this is all my fault. How quickly I forgot. I'm sorry I love you so fucking much that the thought of being away from you is driving me insane."

"We've been driving each other insane for months. This should be like wearing an old hat. You're already good at doing that," I tease, nodding toward the hat on his head.

"My dad bought me this hat my senior year in high school. It was a reminder of my dream of playing baseball and becoming a knight. I've worn it almost every day since." He takes the hat off and throws it against the wall with a curse. "I hate this," he whispers before sitting on the bed and burying his face in his hands.

"I hate it too. I would rather be at the farm with all the bugs than dealing with this snake of a man. My dad seems to think it won't take longer than two months." I step in between his legs and wrap my arms around his neck.

"A lot can happen in two months." His hands slide over my hips and down my backside. "I fell in love with you in less time." His eyes fill with raw emotion. "Why aren't you telling me everything? I feel like I'm the one who's laying it all out there and you're keeping secrets."

"I'm telling you everything I can," I say softly. "I don't know what else you want from me."

"I want you to trust me."

"I do trust you."

"Doesn't look like it from where I'm sitting."

I let out a shaky breath. "I'm doing this for you. For us."

"It doesn't feel that way," he mumbles. "It feels like you're leaving me."

Tears spring to my eyes. "You're breaking my heart."

"I don't think that's possible."

"It is possible. I feel it." I rub a palm over my chest to ease the ache that's pressing on me.

"I can't break your heart, if you never really gave it to me."

"What are you talking about? I have given you all of me. If I'm not enough. If you need something else, then maybe you need someone else." I turn my back to him.

Wyatt spins me around and wraps his strong arms around me. "You are all I need. But I need you with me. You say you've given me your heart but I don't believe you. If you did, you wouldn't be hurting. That pain you feel. That's on you. You're the one clamping down so hard you' re bleeding out. Let me have it, birdie. Give me your heart and I promise I'll take care of it."

"Maybe, I want to take care of you." I wipe a tear off his cheek. "Maybe you need to trust me," I beg. "Trust me to handle this. I'm not going to ask you to believe in me again but I need you to believe in us."

"Baby, I do. I would feel better if I knew the whole story. I can't help you if I don't know how."

"If I tell you, you will jump into action and try to fix it yourself. That's what you do. You help everyone. It's one of the things I love about you. It's my turn to help you." I've already said too much. His eyebrows furrow trying to figure out what I mean. I press my lips against his. He can't find out I'm doing this for him and his family. " Please let me do this ."

"Fine," he sighs.

"Good. Now that we've settled that." I reach for the hem of his shirt. "I want to enjoy our last night together."

Wyatt stands and silently strips me of all my clothes. I work his jeans off him. Getting on my knees, I help him step out of his pants, underwear, and socks. My hands glide up his muscular thighs.

"Birdie." I can't tell if he's warning me or asking me.

"One taste," I say before swirling my tongue around his dick and taking him in my mouth. He begins to groan when I suck him all the way to the back of my throat.

His fingers dig into my head and he gently pulls me off him. "I need to be inside you." He helps me stand and escorts me to the bed. "Spread your legs for me. "

I'm dripping for him. His eyes darken as he stares me down from the end of the bed. "You're gonna have to change your sheets when I'm done with you, birdie." He kneels at the end of the bed. Rough palms wrap around my calves and with one swift motion he yanks me to the edge of the mattress, making me yelp in surprise.

With my legs propped up on his shoulders, he dips his fingers into my core while his tongue works over my clit. I know I hated on his mustache when we first met but it does wonders rubbing against my inner thighs.

My spine tingles and tightens as he pulls every bit of pleasure he can from me. "Wyatt," I moan his name, and my hands dig into the sheets. "Don't stop." I can feel him smile against my thigh as he moves away from clit. I need to stop warning him that I'm close. He does this every time. "I said don't stop." I try to redirect his face, but he slaps my hand away.

He flattens his tongue and leisurely roams at my core. "You know, for someone who eats every meal with Flash like speed, you sure do take your time with me," I say annoyed and desperate.

"That's because you're the best thing I've ever tasted. Don't worry, baby. I'm going to let you come. But first, I'm going to enjoy my favorite meal of the day." He squeezes my thigh.

This time he immediately does the thing I like with his mouth where he alternates licking and sucking on my clit. My heels dig into his flesh and my back bows as I climax.

"We're going to have to do that a few more times before tomorrow morning," he says, kissing me and lifting me off the bed. I'm so relaxed I'm basically dead wait. Once we've settled back on the mattress, I flex my hips, rubbing myself against his erection. "Is this okay?" he asks, the tip of his cock waiting to enter my pussy.

"Yes. I'm clean. I'm also on birth control."

"I'm clean too. I've never had sex without a condom before. Fucking hell," he groans, sliding inside. Wyatt rocks his hips back and forth making me feel so full. "Your pussy is so greedy for me, birdie. Look at the way you pull my cock in. Just like that."

"I need more." I'm already so close. My nails dig into his back. He will have scratch marks in the morning, but I can't help it. This orgasm is strong and intense—my toes curl and I see stars.

He pulls my legs up over his shoulders and thrusts into me in quick succession until he is groaning my name and cumming inside me. Wyatt covers me with his body. His elbows rest on either side of my face.

I graze my fingers up and down the sides of his body while he pushes my hair out of my face. "I'm going to miss you. Not sure I can make it two months without you."

"You were prepared to move to California a few weeks ago."

"I wasn't thinking straight. Ain't no way I would have been able to do that. That was never a viable choice after I met you. It died the minute you started throwing insults my way. I was fooling myself for even considering it still."

Wyatt slips out of me and rolls me onto my side. He kisses me on my shoulder and pulls me tight against his chest. "It'll be alright, birdie," he says when my first tear falls.

"I'm a mess. I'm falling apart. You've reduced me to pieces," I whisper, wiping tears off my cheeks.

"Baby, you can always fall apart with me. I'll pick up every single piece and carry it for you. You're not alone anymore."

Sometime in the middle of the night, Wyatt woke me up and made love to me. He moved carefully in and out of me as if he was afraid one of us would break irrevocably.

With every kiss he said I love you.

With every touch he said I'll miss you.

With every thrust he said don't forget about me.

"Fly back to me, birdie," he whispers into the hollow of my neck while I cling to him for dear life.

It's an easy promise to make and one I don't intend on breaking.