Page 29 of Shy Girls Can’t Date Celebrities (Shy Girls Sweet Romances #6)

Wyatt lowers his head, cowering from his crowding parents.

“Wyatt?” his father presses. “Come on, son. We’re just helping you get back to form.”

“St-st-top,” Wyatt stammers. “I-I-I can’t t-t-take this.”

“ See ,” Mrs. Hayes yelps. “We need him moving forward, so he’s not stuck in this horrible mess.”

“Mrs. Hayes,” Randall cuts in. “With all due respect...”

“Don’t even think about telling me how to deal with my son,” she spits. “You people all forget that he’s mine.”

Wyatt hunches further, hanging his head in his hands, despite the pain it causes to his back.

“You need to stop!” Fire burns in my gaze as I stare down Mrs. Hayes. “Can’t you see what you’re doing to him? He can barely talk. Haven’t you worked out that his stutter gets worse under stress? My God, you need to back off! ”

Mrs. Hayes sucks in a ragged breath. “How dare you...”

“Josie, this is a family matter,” Mr. Hayes cuts in.

Wyatt’s hands tremor as they cover his face. “What f-f-family?”

His dad leans closer to him. “What was that, son?”

“Wyatt, sweetheart, we love you and just want to take care of you.”

A shattered sigh—littered with the effort to keep back tears—pours out of Wyatt.

“Don’t let Josie hold you back,” his mother whispers harshly. “You need better than this. That’s why we encouraged you to stop contact with her.”

Wyatt’s brow furrows. “You did what?”

“You strived when you didn’t have your old life weighing you down,” Mr. Hayes adds on. “Without Josie’s calls and texts distracting you, you were able to work harder.”

“You had years of success, thanks to us.” Mrs. Hayes says with wild desperation. “You can have it again.”

“You...” Wyatt pivots between his parents, unable to fathom their words. “You’re not my parents. Get out!”

At that, my heart shatters into a thousand tiny pieces.

Erika snaps her fingers at Randall. “Alert security. This needs to be over.”

“No, this isn’t over.” Mr. Hayes glares at Erika. “We’re not leaving things like this. We need to be alone with our son.”

Wyatt’s palms rub over his eyes as his head hangs low. All I want to do is hold him, but I’m scared. If I move one step closer, Mrs. Hayes might crash-tackle me to the ground.

“Wyatt, sweetie,” his mother says softly. “You don’t mean this. You’re confused. Let us stay and help you see things clearly.”

“I, I know what you want,” Wyatt stammers, keeping his face covered. “Y-you just want me to g-go back to work.”

“We want you to feel like yourself again,” Mr. Hayes responds .

Wyatt sniffs hard. “You want me to get back to work so, so, so I can mm-make you more money. You don’t love me.”

Mrs. Hayes’s expression shatters as she clutches her chest. “Sweetheart, that’s not true.”

His dad squeezes Wyatt’s shoulder. “Son, we only...”

Wyatt bumps him off. “No, don’t touch me. You’re not making me do anything. That includes keeping me away from Josie.”

“That’s it,” Erika steps in. “The room needs to be cleared.”

At that, security moves in. As if they’ve been through this before, Wyatt’s parents back away. My heart thunders in my chest as security escorts them to the elevator. With my pulse blocking my ears, I watch Erika and Randall close in around Wyatt.

I will myself back to life as Erika pulls a manilla folder out of her large handbag. I can’t stop blinking as she slips it in front of Wyatt.

Wyatt’s hands still shield his eyes, but it doesn’t stop Erika from softly saying, “This form is an emancipation document. Our legal team had it drawn up before your accident because it was something you wanted to sign. Wyatt, honey, dealing with your parents won’t get easier.

I’ll leave this with you. If you want further information, I’ll have someone from legal drop by and walk you through it.

” She snaps at Randall again. “Come on, let’s go. ”

Erika and Randall leave the dining area, disappearing toward the elevator. I move closer to Wyatt as his hands lower from his face. Before he can reach for the document, I slide it away and wrap him in my arms.

“You don’t need that right now,” I whisper, cuddling him against me. “I’m so, so sorry. You don’t deserve that kind of treatment.”

His body shivers against me and he lets out a shattered sigh.

I rub his back, standing as I hold him in his seat. “You can let it out. It’s okay.”

“I, I...” he stutters. “I hate this.”

Before I realize it’s happening, a tear drops from my eye and lands on the top of his head. I sniff hard, attempting to dry my eyes. His head shifts, but ultimately rests against me again.

“They...” He exhales roughly. “They kept us apart.”

Unable to respond, I cling to him.

“How, how...” Tears morph his tone. “How did ev-everything get so, so, ruined?”

I grit my teeth, urging myself not to say it, but it slips out anyway. “Money?”

Wyatt tugs on my shirt, motioning me to crouch down. I lower and his face hides in my curls. “I, I never should’ve done what they said. I, I should give it all away. Just, go home with you.”

I slip my hand to rest behind his head and shush him. “You don’t need to dwell on this. They’re all gone. We’ll just work on lowering your stress levels.”

“They won’t, Joze. My parents won’t stop.”

His head turns away, angling at the table. I peer over my shoulder, spying the same document as him.

“I wan-wanted to sign it before...” He pauses, swallowing hard. “I, I didn’t want an-anything to do with them.”

“You don’t really know what was happening before the accident.”

“But it feels right.” He grips the back of my shirt into a bunch. “It’s like the only thing from the present that I can remember.”

I massage his head. “Are you sure?”

He gulps and nods. “It makes sense to me.”

“I’m so sorry, Wyatt. I hate that things have gotten so bad with your parents. I wish I’d known sooner.”

He tilts his head, showing me his red and puffy eyes. “You didn’t know, and that’s the point. My parents got between us.”

My heart pangs in angst, remembering the way Mrs. Hayes spoke about me. She accused me of stunting Wyatt’s recovery. She believed my past influence would’ve stopped Wyatt from becoming famous .

She, along with her husband, are the reason my contact with Wyatt ended.

Hubert approaches the dining table and places a glass of water and a porcelain dish, with two of Wyatt’s pills, down.

“Umm,” Wyatt falters, wiping his face dry. “Can you ask security not to let my parents back in?”

Hubert nods. “Certainly, sir.”

Hubert leaves as discreetly as he entered, and I gesture at the medication. “You should take them. You’ve been in pain for a while.”

He hugs me close, kisses my cheek, and then reaches for the porcelain dish. I pull the water glass closer, knowing his hand will tremble and he doesn’t need the trigger.

He swallows the two pills and sets the glass back down. “I love you, Josie.”

I choke on an intake of air, kneeling beside his chair. His hand presses into my back, keeping me upright.

He smirks. “You okay, cutie?”

“What, what...” I shake my head, mumbling a laugh. “What did you say?”

He crooks a finger, lifting my chin. “Josie Bartlett, I love you so much. You’re my only person and I never want to be without you.”

I throw my arms around him and lay a kiss, filled with heightened bliss, onto his lips. His hands run up and down my back as I shiver with the thrill of his words.

He tucks one of my curls behind my ear, whispering, “Tomorrow, it’s just you and me all day. I’ll ask Hubert to arrange something where no one will find us.”

I get tingles at how clear his words were spoken. “Really?”

His grin stretches. “Yeah. Too many people can make their way in here. I want to be sure we’re alone. I hate looking over my shoulder.”

I nod in overwhelming joy. “Okay, yes, let’s do it. ”

He tilts his head at me. “You changed clothes?”

Guilt sours my happiness. “I had a shower after running into your mother downstairs. I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have wasted so much time before I told Erika. I was just overwhelmed, and...”

His hands lock around my wrists. “Joze, it’s okay. It’s not your fault.”

“But they got up here because of me.”

“It’s okay. It happened. They’re not getting back up here. I’m almost glad it happened so I know to keep my distance.”

I pout. “I’m sorry.”

He smiles, releasing my wrist and stroking my chin. “Don’t be. It freed me to love you.”

At that, I’m jelly.

Slowly, Wyatt gets up from his seat and he’s wobbly. He’s beyond tired, so I walk him back to his bedroom, where he says he’ll take a shower. I leave him for my room and change into my pajamas. After brushing my teeth, my ears prick to the buzzing of my phone.

I round the bed and find the display saying, ‘Dad Calling.’

With a quick exhale, I answer. “Hi Dad.”

“Josie,” he rushes. “What exactly is going on over there? Your mother told me...”

“Oh, Dad,” I say, mid-sigh. “It’s so much worse.”

“I was talking about Wyatt’s parents. Is there something else that...”

My chest tightens. “No, it’s them.”

“I just can’t believe his parents would abandon him,” Dad says. “I want to get their number and speak to them about this.”

“I don’t think that’s such a good idea.” I wince. “A really chaotic scene went down in the penthouse.”

“What happened? Are you okay?”

“Yes, I’m fine,” I rush. “But Wyatt’s parents went ballistic and put him in tears. They’re pushing him to go back to work, instead of prioritizing his recovery. It’s really sick and twisted.”

“What exactly did they say? I can’t believe that...”

“Dad, his mom was yelling at everyone. She didn’t even care how bad she made Wyatt’s headaches. Gosh, Wyatt is devastated. He had to ask security not to let them back in the penthouse.”

Dad’s voice turns raspy. “It was that bad?”

“Yeah, it’s awful. Erika gave him emancipation papers. Apparently his team drew them up before his accident.”

“This is bad. So there was already damage to their relationship?”

“Looks that way. It seems Erika was keeping them away for good reason.”

“This is a mess. I don’t like that you’re in the middle of this.”

“I’m okay. Besides, Wyatt told me I’m the only person he can count on. Dad, I can’t leave him.”

Dad sighs. “No, you can’t. He’s in a fragile state and doesn’t have family support. We know very well that you’re a wonderful caregiver. Even though I want you back yesterday, I’m glad he has you by his side.”

“Are you giving me your blessing to stay?”

“On the condition that you don’t fall behind on school. Wyatt has a lot of resting to do, right? During the downtime, you can do your homework. I’ll make sure the school emails it all through.”

“That’s cool with me. I promise to get it all done.”

“I know you will, kiddo. You were already ahead in half your subjects. Give Wyatt my best.”

I sigh with happy relief. “I will. Thanks, Dad. I love you.”

“Love you too, Josie.”

Love.

Wyatt said that word to me.

Wyatt loves me.

I drop my phone on the bed and walk to Wyatt’s room to say goodnight. I stumble in his doorway as he dries his hair with a towel, shirtless, and wearing gray sweatpants.

“Ah, hi,” I stammer, reddening by the nano-second.

He lowers the towel, grinning at me as pale pink dusts his cheeks. “Hi. Dang, don’t you look cute.”

I giggle, smoothing a hand down my pink satin, button-down pajama shirt that matches my pink satin shorts.

Wyatt flings his towel over the chair adjacent to his bed, and grabs a charcoal T-shirt and carefully pulls it on. He winces as he pulls it down over his abs.

“Are you good?” I ask.

Wyatt motions at the nightstand, where a glass of water and two blue and white pills sit in a small dish. “Hubert already hooked me up.”

“Well, I just wanted to say good night.”

His eyebrow crooks. “Wh-where do you think you’re going?”

I giggle. “To my bedroom.”

He chucks a thumb at the California king. “This could fit five people. Are you really gonna make me stay in it all alone?”

My heart thumps with frantic desire. “You, you want me to stay with you?”

He rubs his chin, looking away with a soft chuckle. “Don’t tell me the stutter is catching on.”

I dab my forehead, giggling out of nervousness. “No, it’s just, the thought of being with you always makes me nervous. But giddy.”

Wyatt sits down on the bed. “Why are you nervous? It’s just me.”

I sit next to him, stroking the side of his head. “Because I’ve always been in love with you. For the last few years, I’ve been building you up in my head.”

He hisses, frowning. “Am I not living up to what’s in your head?”

“No,” I rush. “Of course, not. You’re amazing, wonderful, and incredible. But you’re, like, mega famous. How could I ever... ”

He plants a finger on my lips, muting the rest of my sentence. “Don’t you dare say you’re not measuring up.”

My shoulders slump and I let out a heavy exhale.

“I love you, Josie. Nothing in this world could change that.” He looks around the room. “I’ve seen how my world has changed, and it hasn’t stopped how I’ve felt about you. If anything, it’s made my feelings for you stronger.”

I hug my arms around his neck, settling against him as his hands stroke my back. When we settle under the covers, sleep comes easy, snuggled next to the most beautiful boy in existence.