Page 23 of Wyatt (The Black Roses MC #5)

Chapter ten

Maizie

I t’s Friday night, and I’m working—as usual—but at least the girls are here to keep me company.

Not that I’ve had a lot of downtime. It seems like just about everyone in town is starting their weekend at Thorn and Thistle tonight.

Lucy even offered to hop behind the bar and help me out for a minute, but I thrive in the chaos.

This is easy for me. I can get in the zone and work like a well-oiled machine.

Plus, it helps keep my mind off what happened in this very bar just a few nights ago.

“So you have another date with Steven tomorrow?” Lucy says, eyeing me over her glass.

“Yup. He’s taking me to dinner,” I say when I’m finally able to stop and catch my breath for a minute.

“He’s coming to Shine?” Charlie asks.

“Yeah. He’s never been here, not that there’s much to see, but he didn’t want me to have to drive to meet him this time.”

“That’s thoughtful,” Charlie says.

“He seems to be that.” Once again, when I think about Steven, there’s not even a hint of…anything.

We’ve talked over text messages a couple times this week—normal run-of-the-mill stuff.

Nothing like hey, one of my bosses almost kissed me the other night, and I really wanted him to, but I’m scared shitless of losing him as a friend, but I also can’t stop thinking about him, so we should probably not see each other again.

I should cancel the date, but I told myself I would give Steven a shot.

Whatever happened between Wyatt and me the other night doesn’t change that.

It’s not like anything really happened anyway.

We maybe almost kissed. But we didn’t. Because I stopped it.

Because I’m an idiot. Knock it off, Maizie. You were being responsible.

“You don’t seem particularly excited,” Charlie points out.

“I am. It’s just a busy night, and I didn’t sleep well last night.”

I don’t tell her it’s because I’ve been tossing and turning in bed the last few nights, thinking about the kiss that never happened with the man I want in said bed next to me. And his name does not start with an S .

I’ve thought about pulling out my toy and seeing if getting some physical relief would help. But I swore to myself I wouldn’t do that while thinking about Wyatt again. It muddles my brain and my boundaries too much. Since he’s all I’ve been thinking about lately, I’m not even willing to try.

“I don’t get it, sister,” Lucy says, placing her drink on the bar and folding her arms before she rests them on the bar. “I’m not saying don’t go out with Steven again, but we all know he does nothing to tickle your fancy.”

Charlie snorts. “ Tickle her fancy? I see Jude’s been rubbing off on you.”

Lucy rolls her eyes in Charlie's direction then turns back to me. “As I was saying, I don’t get why you’re so adamant about giving a guy who you're not excited about a shot. There’s a guy who does give you butterflies, who lives in Shine, and you don’t have to convince yourself to go out with him.

You actually want to. Are you afraid he doesn’t feel the same way?

Because if that’s the case, you are as blind as a damn bat, my friend. ”

“No, I know he’s attracted,” I reply, looking to the side and thinking of the other night.

“Oh-ho-ho,” Lucy says, sitting back and pointing at me. “There’s a story there that you haven’t shared. Spill it.”

Blowing out a breath, I look at Charlie, but I can tell from the excited look on her face that she’s not going to be any help.

“We may have…had a moment. The other night. In this bar,” I confess.

“Tell us everything right now!” Lucy exclaims, jumping around in her seat.

“Nothing happened. I stopped it, and he blew it off like it was no big deal. Said something about being on a long ride and his head not being right. I don’t know, I kind of freaked out and was more than willing to drop it.”

“That’s why you haven’t been sleeping. I know you, and the only thing that keeps you from dreamland is when something is bothering you,” Lucy says.

I love my friends like sisters. But damn, I really wish they didn’t read me so well.

“Where’s Mia tonight?” I ask, not wanting to talk about the why behind how tired I am.

“At her grandmother’s for dinner. Jude and Linc are working on the bike. Wyatt was on his way over when I grabbed Lucy to come get a drink. And don’t try to change the subject. You aren’t smooth about it at all,” Charlie answers. See? Absolutely no help .

So Wyatt’s at Linc’s and not partying on a Friday night at the clubhouse or at Midnight Rose. That shouldn’t make me feel as good as it does. Not that he doesn’t have every right to do whatever he wants. He’s single without any commitments, least of all to me.

I look over, and people are lining up at the bar again.

This I can do. Pouring drinks and talking to customers comes a lot more naturally to me than one would think, seeing as I was raised in such a religious household.

But I like being friendly, I like seeing familiar faces and sharing a laugh.

Not that we get much more than familiar faces here.

That’s one of the things I hated about Shine when I was young, but absolutely love now.

I feel safe here. This is my town—my people.

“Sorry, sister. Duty calls,” I say to the girls.

“Don’t think this conversation is over. We’ll drop it for now, but be prepared for a night of wine and spilling your guts,” Lucy calls as I head over to the other side of the bar to get back to work.

The next day at Colby’s T-ball game, the club shows up again, and again I’m hit with so much appreciation for my friends who have become the closest thing to family I could hope for.

The girls made T-shirts with Colby’s number on the back and our last name.

He got a big kick out of that one. Of course, I teared up and my son was confused.

“Happy tears, buddy,” I reassure him.

He studies me for a moment. “I don’t cry when I’m happy,” he says in confusion.

“You might someday.”

He shakes his little head. “Girls are weird.”

A laugh escapes me. “Yeah, we can be sometimes.”

Even Wyatt is here, which I was unsure of, considering I haven’t seen him since our almost something didn’t happen.

He’s his usual friendly self, not even a hint of discomfort or awkwardness coming from him.

I should be happy about that, and I am. But it stings a touch that he seems to have forgotten the moment between us and is acting like everything is normal.

Maybe to him it is. I’m probably the only one blowing the entire encounter out of proportion.

Even though we don’t keep score for the teams at this age, every time one of Colby’s teammates runs home—spoiler alert, they all do—the club and all of the people who came out to see Colby cheer as though the kids are T-ball phenoms. I love it.

Gramps and Elaine come to say hello since she didn’t ask me to pick her up this morning.

“The boy has good form,” Arthur says, watching Colby swing his bat, knocking the ball off the T .

“I told you, Arthur. He’s a natural,” Elaine says then turns to me. “Mia tells me you’ve been seeing a young man you met on one of those dating apps.”

“I don’t know if seeing is the correct term. It’s only our second date tonight,” I say.

“In my day, it didn’t take more than a few dates to know if there was enough there to build on,” she says.

“Kids these days are different, Elaine. Always waiting to see if there’s a more attractive fish in the sea before they settle,” Gramps says, shaking his head.

It always cracks me up when Gramps refers to any of us as kids. I may be young, but I feel ten times older than the typical person my age.

“Are there?” Elaine asks me.

“Are there what?”

“More attractive fish in the sea,” she answers.

As though my eyes have a mind of their own, my gaze drifts to Wyatt. Yeah, one in particular. He must feel my unintended stare because he turns to me, giving me that half smile that causes all kinds of fluttery things to happen in my chest.

When I take too long to answer, Elaine’s eyes travel to where I’m staring. “Hmm. Well, I guess that answers that.”

I turn my head and meet her gaze. “I’m not sure what you mean.”

She doesn’t comment, just gives me one of those knowing smiles I see from her from time to time. “Whatever you say, dear.”

When the game ends and everyone is saying their goodbyes, Colby asks Wyatt if he’s going to bring Pepper over tonight.

“No, can’t tonight, buddy.” He sees the disappointment on my son’s face, and it's clear to me that it pains him. “How about we go fishing tomorrow? I heard you’re practically a pro now.”

I have to stifle my laugh, remembering the look on his face when the fish was flopping all over as Knox tried to show Colby how to unhook it.

“Can we, Mommy?” my son asks with pleading eyes.

I look at Wyatt, who is wearing a similar imploring expression. “Sure, monkey,” I concede with a chuckle.

Colby turns to Wyatt and gives him a high five as though their master plan came to fruition. He runs over to where he left his bag and grabs it, being stopped by one of the kids on the team. I watch them laugh at some joke, and Colby waves goodbye as he makes his way back to us.

Before he reaches where we’re standing, Wyatt asks, “Is that okay? I didn’t mean to put you on the spot, but when he looked at me with those disappointed eyes, I couldn’t…” He shakes his head.

“Trust me, I get it. And it’s completely fine. I like that you have a hard time disappointing him, if that makes sense.”

Wyatt shoots me a soft smile. “It does.”

Colby is back a second later. “See you tomorrow, Wyatt,” he says.

“Can’t wait,” Wyatt replies, then looks at me. “See you later.” He’s doing that half-smirk thing again. He means tomorrow. He’ll see me tomorrow. Because tonight I have plans with another man.