“I’m not leaving,” Mom insists. “So there better be a chair by his bed for me.”
The doctor smiles kindly. “You can stay. The rest of you can see him in the morning.”
“What time can we be here?” Wyatt asks, surprising me.
“Nine a.m. is when we open up for visitors,” he replies and shakes our hands. “He’s a lucky man.”
With that, he walks away, and we all stand here for a moment, stunned, looking at each other.
“I’m staying with him,” Mom says again.
“We’ll come in the morning,” Archer says. “We can take shifts with him if we can’t all be in with him at once.”
“He’s going to be okay,” I whisper and hang my head in my hands, hot tears running between my fingers. “Jesus, I was so scared.”
“Hey, it’s okay,” Wyatt whispers, rubbing my back in circles. “Let’s go home, sweetheart.”
“All of you go home,” Mom says. “You know I’ll call if there are any changes.”
I immediately cross to her and fold her into my arms. She feels smaller somehow, frailer, and I don’t want to let go.
“I love you, Mama,” I whisper.
“I love you, too, sweet girl,” she replies softly. “Go rest up.”
We say our goodbyes, and Archer insists on staying with Mom until she can join Dad. He looks tired. Worried.
“This is not how I thought we’d be ending the night,” I say once we’re in Wyatt’s car and heading home.
“Me either,” he says and sighs. “How are you?”
“Tired.” I rest my elbow on the windowsill and lean my head on my hand as he rests his palm on my thigh. “Worried. A little sad.”
“How can I help?”
I glance over at him and feel so fucking grateful. “You’ve done so much, Wyatt. Just having you with me is huge. You could have gone home at any time. Archer would have given me a ride home.”
“No, I couldn’t have left.” His voice is harder now. “I’m not going to bail when it gets hard, Lia.”
He rarely calls me Lia.
“That’s not what I meant. I just would have understood, that’s all. And I’m tired, so I’m saying the wrong things.”
He pulls my hand up to kiss my knuckles. “Go to sleep for a bit.”
But I don’t sleep. I close my eyes and drift in and out, in that in-between place where you’re still aware of what’s happening around you, but you’re a little dreamy, too. He’s flipped on the radio, and Ed Sheeran is crooning softly to me.
The car comes to a stop, and I open my eyes, surprised to be in Wyatt’s driveway instead of mine.
“You’ll have to help me walk home. I might be stumbly.”
“I want you in my bed tonight. I can take care of you here.”
I frown. “You don’t have to take care of me.”
He rubs his forehead, right between his eyes. “Amelia, I understand that you’re fierce and independent, but for God’s sake, let me take care of you tonight.”
I blink at him slowly and realize in this moment that I’m letting all of my walls fall with this man. It both terrifies me and fills me with hope.
“Okay.” I nod and sit back, waiting for him to walk around and open my door. He helps me into the house and pauses at the stairs.
“Do you need anything?”
“Just you,” I reply without thinking, and I’m suddenly swept up in his arms as he climbs the stairs. “You’re really strong.”
He smiles and kisses my forehead. “You’re a little thing.”
I just tuck my face into his neck as he carries me to the bedroom and sets me down carefully on the bed. He helps me slip my dress over my head, then surprises me by turning away for a moment and returning with one of his T-shirts.
Wordlessly, he tugs it over my head, pulls my hair through, and then literally tucks me into bed.
He wasn’t lying when he said he wanted to take care of me.
“I’ll be right back.”
“I’m not broken. Dad’s going to be okay.”
He kisses my forehead and walks out of the room, then returns minutes later with two bottles of water, setting one on my nightstand and the other on his.
The only light coming into the room is from the full moon through the balcony doors. Wyatt shucks his clothes, leaving his boxers on, and slides between the sheets, gathering me into his arms.
“This is really nice,” I say softly.
“Just sleep, beautiful.”
He’s kissing my nipples.
My eyes open into slits, watching him nuzzle and kiss my breasts through his shirt. His hands are under it, sliding up my ribs, pushing the cotton out of the way to bare my skin, and my body is already heating up under his touch. I bury my fingers in his hair, and he smiles against me.
“I woke you up,” he murmurs.
“In a spectacular fashion,” I agree as he pushes the shirt up over my head and tosses it aside. His sheets are warm, but he’s opened the balcony door, letting in the cool morning air, and it feels delicious.
The birds singing mixed with our heavy breathing are the only sounds as he nibbles his way across my torso. His fingers dip over my hip, just grazing my most sensitive center, making my hips buck, but then he’s gone again, touching my legs and waist.
“Teasing me.”
“Mm.” He kisses my sternum, then up to my collarbone. “Savoring. Enjoying.” He kisses my chin. “You’re so beautiful, Amelia.”
I cup his face in my hands as he presses the head of his cock against my core, pushing just slightly inside me.
“You completely undo me,” he says as he slides home. “I don’t remember what life was like before you, and I can’t imagine going through a day without seeing you.”
“Wyatt.” I wrap my legs around his waist and hold on as he starts to move. He’s kissing me now like his life depends on it, and in this moment, it just might.
He’s moving in a slow, steady rhythm, cradling my head in his hands. I want to tell him that I love him, but the first time shouldn’t be now when we’re having crazy amazing sex. I don’t want him to think that it’s just in the heat of the moment.
It’s too big for that.
His forehead is resting on mine as our hips move, the cool air swirling around us. His hazel eyes pin mine.
“I’ve never seen eyes so blue,” he murmurs, rubbing his nose over mine. He takes my wrist and anchors it over my head, lifting my chest and giving him easier access to my nipple.
He wraps his lips around it, my hips arch, and that’s it. I see stars, my world exploding spectacularly around us. Wyatt groans, falling over with me.
“Can’t resist you,” he murmurs, kissing my jawline, before rolling away. “Now, it’s time to get up.”
“You have a lot of energy this morning.”
He grins. “It’s going to be a busy day. Get up so we can get you dressed and to the hospital.”
“Shit, my dad!” I sit up, frantically reaching for clothes. “I need to get to the hospital.”
He rolls his eyes. “That’s what I just said.”
“You don’t have to go with me. I know it’s a workday.”
“Let’s not have this conversation again. I’ll go with you, and if things are good, I don’t have to go again, but I want to be there for you, Amelia.”