Page 67 of Untamed
Britany smiles and holds up Wyatt’s overnight bag. “There’s diapers and wipes in there. Along with a few changes of clothes.”
She acts like I don’t have all that here for him already, but I understand her need to be prepared, and let it go. Nodding, I glance down at her small bulge to her stomach. “What are you eating, pizza every night?”
“Asshole,” she mouths, glaring. She’s pregnant. This time it’s Reid’s. And I feel like an ass thinking like that, because Britany and I certainly didn’t plan on becoming parents. Especially when I knew all along she had feelings for Reid. Goes to show you friends shouldn’t get drunk and sleep together.
Ty pops his head up and lays it on the back of the couch, winking at Britany. “Am I next in line?”
Ignoring him, Britany walks forward and hands me Wyatt’s bag, knocking it into Ty’s head. He laughs. “You know you want to cover all three brothers.”
She doesn’t find amusement in Ty, and he shuts the fuck up the moment Reid enters the house, his burly presence intimidating. He stands in the doorway, his broad shoulders nearly taking up the entire space. Most bull riders aren’t big guys. Reid’s the exception.
Giving me a nod, he crosses his arms over his chest, his tense blue eyes focused on me. “Everything go all right back home?”
I look to Britany. She probably told him about Maesyn. She’s a shit like that sometimes. I nod, lying through my teeth. “I guess. I got everything filed with the county and Mac should be here by Sunday.” Sneaking a glance at his face, it’s hard, but there’s softness underneath the tension when Wyatt waves to him.
“Re,” Wyatt says softly, laying his head on my chest like he’s perfectly content.
I’m not sure what’s made Reid such a tough guy. Maybe because he had to be the man of the house along with my dad. How else was Dad going to raise four kids under ten by himself if it weren’t for Reid? He wouldn’t have, that’s for sure. In turn, Reid was forced to grow up faster than he needed.
Somehow, with the distraction of Wyatt, I avoid any conversation about Maesyn, which I know once we’re alone, Britany will be asking me about it. And I’ll tell her, because she’s the one person I can talk to about that sort of thing.
I take Wyatt into the living room with Ty where we watchBubble Guppies. His favorite show. I personally can’t stand it and if I never hear, “Bubble Bubble Bubble Guppy Guppy Guppy,” in my life, it’ll be too soon.
“Bubby gubby!” Wyatt shouts in my ear as he climbs all over me, never allowing an inch of space between us. I have him dressed in his pajamas, which was a task in itself. He literally never stops moving.
Ty pops his head up from his phone in his hand, a beer in the other. Ty looks like Dani. They could have been twins with their Joker-like jaws and wide goofy smiles. “What’s with you and that chick?”
I peek around Wyatt. “What are you talking about?”
He holds up his phone, grinning. “The chick you were bagging back home.”
My jaw tightens, and I’m tempted to send my fist through his jaw for even bringing it up. “What are you talking about?”
“Kade told me you were messin’ around with Archer’s daughter.”
Playing it off, I shrug indifferently, refusing to answer him.
“Fine. Don’t tell me.” He knows I won’t. Standing, he stretches his arms over his head and retreats down the hall to his room. “I can’t take any more singing fish.”
I tap Wyatt’s butt and make him sit. “It’s time for you to go to bed too, buddy.”
He frowns, rosy cheeks puffing up as he juts out his bottom lip. “No.”
“Yup.” I like to think I’m good with Wyatt. I give him everything he needs but more importantly, I’m a good dad, and I can say that without a question on the end of it. “C’mon.” I pick him up and carry him into his room. By the way he sags in my arms and worms his way into my embrace, I can tell he’s tired, but he fights sleep about as much as he fights putting shoes on.
And it’s in that instant, when I think of the way Wyatt doesn’t like to wear shoes, that my mind retreats back to the girl with an aversion to shoes and a reckless heart. Setting Wyatt in his bed, I hand him his blanket and the array of stuffed animals he keeps with him. He’s always been a good sleeper, even from the beginning, but I sit beside his bed until he falls asleep, singing Merle Haggard to him like my dad used to do for me when I couldn’t sleep.
Watching his eyes flutter closed, I can’t say I regret the decision to ask Maesyn to come to Biloxi, but I’m nervous what it means for Wyatt. Or what she’s going to think of him. I thought about telling her I had a son, but I didn’t.
My stomach drops thinking of her. A cold claw grabs at my insides and I try to reason with myself, tell myself I don’t even know if she’ll come. And I have to remind myself, too, she’s not mine. I didn’t give much thought to my decision. I only know I want more from her. And I’m not sure what I can provide for her either, other than a good time. I’ve been so focused on riding and the championship, I’ve forgotten what it’s like to be twenty-one, let alone what being with a woman might be like now that I’m a dad.
Maybe her wild-hearted wandering soul is exactly what I need.
