Page 23 of Shy Girls Can’t Date Celebrities (Shy Girls Sweet Romances #6)
Wyatt shifts uncomfortably. “Dang. Did I mess up a name again?”
“Wyatt,” Erika says in a low tone. “Why do you know that name?”
Wyatt looks at me and then back at Erika. “He’s my assistant. Isn’t he?”
“Wyatt,” Lexy says, trepidation dripping off each syllable. “Umm, we... He...”
Randall’s face pales. “Do you remember Devon?”
“No,” Wyatt replies. “Josie told me about him.”
Every eye zeroes in on me, burning me with a blazing heat.
“What?” Wyatt drags out the word. “What is it?”
Erika sucks in a breath, edging her way closer to him. “Wyatt, honey, we had to let Devon go.”
Wyatt shifts beside me. “Umm, okay?”
Lexy steps in. “He was with you when you had your accident. He’s the reason you were in the hospital.”
My hand rushes to my mouth as a gasp wooshes out.
“He...” Wyatt closes his eyes, shaking his head. “He hurt me?”
“We didn’t want to bring it up and trigger you,” Erika says. “We were hoping to keep him from you while you were recovering.”
I can’t help noticing the dig when Erika’s eyes flash in my direction. I lower my hand and utter, “I had no idea.”
“Why would you,” Lexy replies. “We were keeping it on the down-low.”
I clasp Wyatt’s hand. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean...”
“Don’t be, be sorry. I don’t re-remember him.”
“Nothing has come back?” Erika asks, scrutinizing Wyatt’s reaction.
He shakes his head, lifting his palm. “No. I don’t remember anything from the accident.”
Erika and Lexy release exhales, filling the space with shared relief.
Oh my gosh, what the heck happened? It’s so bad they don’t want Wyatt to know anything about it? Do they even know the full extent? Or, was it only Wyatt and Devon on the scene when the accident happened?
I squeeze Wyatt’s hand, giving him another apologetic look .
Wyatt shrugs. “I guess I don’t have a cool guy in my corner.”
I frown. “I’m sorry. I never should’ve brought him up.”
“You didn’t know. You were excited. Can’t blame you for that.”
My insides slush with a gross, gooey feeling. Online, it always looked like Wyatt and Devon were friends. Best friends, even. But he did something to hurt him. Is he in jail? Let go . Does that mean fired? How responsible was he? Shouldn’t he be held more accountable?
Wyatt notices the questions scrambling my expression, and he gains the attention of everyone in the room. “Hey, can you all leave? Josie and I need some time alone.”
“Ah, Wyatt, we needed to discuss...”
He cuts Erika off. “Now.”
“Don’t stress him out,” Lexy says to Erika. “Okay, Wyatt. We’re off.”
Erika relents, and the four of them leave the penthouse via the private elevator.
Wyatt’s hands slip along my jaw until his hands cup around my ears. “Don’t get upset. I can’t miss someone I never knew.”
I struggle against my frown. “He just didn’t look like someone who would hurt you.”
“But isn’t everything altered online? Maybe, before the accident, I did know the real him and we got into it?”
I nod in his hands. “Yeah, maybe.”
His fingers tremble against his face, and when they lower, I capture them in mine.
“All we have to do is focus on you getting better,” I say.
“I’m already better since the day you arrived.”
He leans in to kiss me, but my teeth chatter as fear takes over. I slide his hands away from my face, and his chin drops.
“Joze?”
“Wyatt, I...” I falter, teeth chattering harder .
He squeezes my hands. “Josie. What is it? You look, terr, terrified.”
My eyes water with no hope of drying up. “I... I...”
He pulls me closer, running his arms around my waist and pressing his hands into my back. “You’re shaking. What is it?”
“I don’t... You can’t...”
“Hey, hey,” he coos. “Take a minute. Don’t get upset.”
“But I...”
He shakes his head. “Take the minute.”
I swallow the lump in my throat and squeeze my eyes shut. Tears leak out and I hold my breath, waiting for my heart to stop hammering against my ribs.
“Wyatt,” I whisper, keeping my eyes closed. “I’m scared because...” I swallow another lump and open my eyes to a blurry version of him. “You’re relying on me to get better. But I can’t stay with you forever.”
“You can because we can work it out.”
I shut my eyes again as the tears overwhelm my sight. “No, you don’t understand. You’re a big star, and have all these commitments. My life is back home in Victoria Falls.”
He pulls me so tight our chests collide. “I’ll quit. I’ll move back home.”
“Wyatt, you can’t.”
“I can. I don’t care about it. I just care about you.”
I open my eyes, blinking through the blur.
His lips meet mine before I can utter a word. The gentleness of his touch spread tingles against my lips. When he pulls away, his words vibrate against my lips. “All I care about is being with you. You don’t need to be scared. I’ll make this work.”
“I don’t think it’s that easy.”
“I already got everyone out of the room. Obviously, I have some kind of pull. I’ll find a way. I promise. I’m not letting us get separated again.”
His chest puffs with his words, and I pull my hand around the back of his neck and rest my face by his. When I sigh, his hand presses between my shoulder blades, guiding me to flop against him. All cried out of energy, I go limp against him as he rubs a circle on my back.
“Life would suck without you,” he whispers. “I think a head injury is the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”
Exhausted, I puff a laugh. “Don’t say that.”
“It brought you back to me. I can’t be ungrateful for that.”
“I’d never see you again if it guaranteed you never getting hurt again.”
“Not an option, Joze.”