Page 14 of I Found You (Wilder #1)

Her bathroom was small but clean. I washed my hands and splashed cold water on my face.

I would have used my shirt as a towel, but it was soaked through with sweat, so I left it hanging from the pocket of my jeans, where I had tucked it.

I opened the closet, hoping to find a clean hand towel.

What I was not expecting to find was a sex toy.

It was still in its box, so I picked it up to look at it closer, a shit-eating grin plastered on my face. A slim vibrator with a remote control.

My Maeve is a dirty, dirty girl. This was a surprise.

Well, not my Maeve. She wasn’t mine. I didn’t even know where that thought came from.

I put the box on her bathroom counter though, just to fuck with her.

* * *

Harpoon’s on a Saturday night was always a good time. I grabbed a high-top table and nursed my beer while I waited for Luke. A pretty little blonde sidled up next to me and took a seat at my table.

“You look bored. Are you here alone?” she asked. Her makeup was expertly applied, making her pale blue eyes pop. She wore short jean shorts and a cropped top that looked to me like a bra. Her hair was styled in perfect waves and trailed down to the middle of her back.

“I’m alone for the moment. Meeting my brother here in a bit. Why? Are you looking for company?”

I had no reason not to chat up this brazen woman. She was beautiful, clearly confident, which was always attractive.

“Oh my, two of you? Now I’m going to have to hang around just so I can see this,” she said coyly as her tongue darted out to wrap around the straw in her glass.

“Sorry, darling. He’s married.”

Luke walked in just then with Seb following right behind. “But it looks like you’ll have some options anyway,” I told her.

After they each got their drink from Ronnie, they came to join us.

“Wyatt, who’s your friend?” Seb asked as he pulled up a chair on the other side of her.

He was as single as they came and didn’t struggle for female attention.

He was a big dude, broad and muscular. His tattoos ran the length of his body.

The ladies seemed to love it. I just had my upper arm and part of my chest inked, and it’d helped me seal the deal multiple times.

It struck me that I didn’t know her name as we hadn’t made any introductions. After greeting the guys, I waited for her to introduce herself.

“Candace,” she said, smiling at the group. “I’m actually meeting a few friends here too. Why don’t we join you?”

“The more the merrier, Candy.” Seb smiled back at her.

“No,” she said with a laugh. “You’re hot and all, but that’s a no go for me.”

We all laughed at that. Her friends, Shana and Rachel, joined us a while later.

The conversations kept flowing, right along with the liquor.

One of the ladies had us order round after round of shots.

Seb was flirting with one of them—Rachel, I think.

Candace seemed to have taken a liking to me.

She stayed by my side all night, getting more and more touchy-feely as we continued to throw back the booze.

Her hand was on my upper back, drawing circles on the back of my neck.

She leaned in to talk into my ear. “I’m just going to run to the bathroom, but maybe after that, we can take off somewhere quiet.” She didn’t wait for a response before getting up. Luke stumbled over from the other side of the table to take her vacated seat.

“Fuck, Wyatt. I can’t drive like this. I thought I was just coming out for a beer or two.” He looked panicked. None of us were in a position to drive home. Luckily, I lived within walking distance, but Luke lived on the other side of town.

“Can you call Jules for a ride?”

“I can’t call her. It’s too late. She’d fucking kill me.

” With his head in his hands, he scrubbed his face hard.

Like he was trying to remove a lot more than one night out drinking with his brother and his best friend.

We’d had women around us all night, which Jules wouldn’t have been very happy about, but Luke was the most loyal person I knew.

He never once crossed a line with any of them, never gave them the impression that he would welcome any advances.

“Just text her, tell her you had too much to drink and you’re staying the night at my place. We can walk over there as soon as I close out the tab,” I said.

“No, I can’t do that to you. I’m pretty sure Candace will be sorely disappointed if she doesn’t get to see what’s inside your… house.” He laughed at himself and almost fell off his chair .

“Okay, brother. Let’s get you out of here.

” I gave the signal to Ronnie to close out the tab and told Candace that it’d been fun, but I wouldn’t be taking her up on her offer tonight.

Apparently, Rachel wasn’t far from here, so she and Seb headed to her place.

Candace didn’t seem too happy about how the night ended, but she gave me a hug and told me to “take care.” She didn’t ask for my number, and I didn’t ask for hers.

Back at my place, I threw a blanket at Luke so he could get settled on the couch.

“What about a pillow,” Luke asked with a huff.

“What are you talking about? The couch has pillows on it already.”

“Those are throw pillows, idiot. I need a bed pillow.”

“Oh, fuck off, Fancy,” I said. Grabbing one of the pillows off my bed, I threw it at his head as hard as I could.

I expected to hit the bed and crash. After a long, laborious day working on Maeve’s house and a fun night out with the guys, I was drunk and bone-tired, but for some reason, sleep was eluding me.

I should have been disappointed that I didn’t have someone warming my bed; instead, I had my cockblocking little brother in my living room.

But honestly, it didn’t bother me. It was nice to see Luke let loose a bit tonight. I think he needed it.

While I lay awake in bed, I thought about other work that I could do around Maeve’s house.

Thinking of Maeve caused visions of her playing with her toy to infiltrate my mind.

She must have seen the box on the counter.

She knew that I knew she had it. Knowing Maeve, she was probably mortified.

I could picture her face when she found it, eyes round and unblinking, pretty pink blush coating her skin, her mouth making a perfect O shape as her jaw hit the floor.