Page 67 of Tempting Wyatt

“Smart.” She sets him on the driveway and climbs inside.

I can smell the alcohol on her breath. She’s visibly intoxicated, and she spends most of the drive alternating between crying about how hurt she is and proclaiming she’s totally over it. Briefly, I wonder if this is what I looked like on my drive to Montana.

“It might not seem like it now,” I tell her, “but in a few years, we’ll be talking about this night, and you won’t even remember their last names.”

She blinks slowly at me with damp eyelashes. “You really think so?”

I nod. “I know so. Because I can’t remember the full name of the guy who dumped me the night before my senior prom. Matt something. But I was crushed at the time. Completely devastated. Probably because the dress was so fantastic and I didn’t get to wear it.”

Sutton inhales slowly. “I mean, do you think we’ll still be friends in a few years? Me and you?”

Her eyes are wide when they meet mine.

“Of course we will be. You have my number. And I’m kind of attached to Montana already. I’ll probably have to make a trip back every now and then.”

I don’t tell her that I’m halfway through a screenplay with her family ranch as the backdrop. I try not to discuss any of my work until it’s complete because I’m always scared I’ll jinx it somehow. But I’m tempted to this time, just so she knows I’m not going to bail on her when my rental on the cabin is up.

“And you can always visit me in LA,” I add.

She smiles brightly. “I hope you mean that because I will definitely take you up on it as soon as I can.”

I smile back as we pull into the driveway. “Hope so.”

“Oh crap,” Sutton blurts out, glancing down at her strappy wedge sandals. “Do we have to walk to the cabin from here?”

I can’t help but laugh at what that would look like. She barely made the walk down the short driveway where I picked her up.

“No. Isaac taught me how to drive the side-by-side.”

We both do our best to exit the car quietly so we don’t wake Laurel in the house.

“Can I ask you a personal question?” she whispers as we walk gingerly toward the barn where I left the side-by-side earlier.

“Sure.”

“Do you have any interest in Isaac or Wyatt?”

My eyebrows nearly hit my hairline. “Um, interest, as in romantic interest?”

She nods.

My throat constricts as my stomach muscles clench. I am unprepared for this line of questioning.

“Isaac is sweet and super charming. But I think he’s got many more years of playing the field before he settles down with anyone.”

Sutton looks thoughtful as I retrieve the keys to the side-by-side. “You’re probably right.”

When I don’t comment on Wyatt, she nudges me as we climb into the utility vehicle. “And Wyatt?”

I clear my throat and try to gather my thoughts. “Wyatt is . . . I . . . He seems to have a lot on his plate at the moment.”

She makes a face. “No girlfriend on his plate though. Just sayin’.”

I can’t help but smile. “I do find himinteresting. And alittle intimidating. And some other adjectives I would prefer not to say in front of his little sister.”

She waves her hand. “My friends have been lusting after all my brothers since we were thirteen. It’s gross. But I’m used to it.”

An odd, overwhelming wave of jealousy at the thought of a bunch of cute young girls throwing themselves at Wyatt hits me harder than it should. The side-by-side cranks easily, and we head down the trail toward my cabin. I’m about to ask if Wyatt has ever shown any interest in her friends when we hit a huge divot in the ground just before being jolted so hard that I lose my breath. Sutton lets out a startled scream.