Sadie
I felt overly warm when I woke up. I’d fallen asleep in the middle of the movie, and I blinked sleepily, trying to orient myself. Wyatt’s arm was sprawled across me, and I could hear him snoring. Not that he’d believe me if I told him. Wyatt refused to believe that he snored, but he wasn’t terribly loud so it wasn’t bad. I shifted slightly in the bed and lay on my back, staring at the ceiling.
It had been weird seeing Shane Wakefield the day before. I had such a huge crush on him in high school, but he hadn’t been interested in me at all. I mean, I had been a bit of a geek, and I’d always been around Wyatt, who everyone had automatically assumed I was in love with. Wyatt had been popular and handsome, and every single girl and every single boy seemed to think that I was lusting after him, but there’d never been anything more than that between us.
I looked over to the side and watched him sleeping. He was handsome, much handsomer than I would ever admit out loud. It was weird lying here in bed next to him almost as if we were boyfriend and girlfriend, even though we were nothing of the sort. In fact, I was surprised that his mom and dad let us still sleep in the bed together, but I guess they knew that we were just friends, and with six other sons to worry about, Wyatt was probably the last thing on their minds.
“Morning.” Wyatt smiled sleepily as he opened his eyes. “I’m surprised I didn’t have to wake you up, sleepyhead,” he teased me.
“Your breath stinks,” I said, but it was a lie. I couldn’t smell anything.
“No, it doesn’t. I used Colgate.”
“Ooh, Colgate?” I laughed.
“Yeah. So Bridesmaids was sooo good, huh?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I’m just saying it was so good, you fell asleep after about 15 minutes.”
“Because I was tired. I did have a full adventure in Idaho, you know?”
“Uh huh,” he said. “You and your ‘dates.’” He stretched and then pulled off his t-shirt.
“What are you doing?” I looked at him in the face trying not to look at his chest.
“I’m warm, okay?”
“I mean, I’m warm too, but you don’t see me taking off my T-shirt.”
“You can if you want to.” He grinned at me wickedly.
“You’re bad, Wyatt.”
“I know.” He yawned again. “I’m still tired. Maybe I’ll grab another hour or so.”
“No,” I pouted. “I wanted to go into town so we could get donuts. And then I thought we could go riding.”
“Donuts …” he repeated thoughtfully. “Well, now, my mom could make us something for breakfast.”
“I don’t want your mom to have to make us breakfast every single time I stay over here. She’s not our maid, you know.”
“My mom loves cooking for the family.”
“Yeah. But I want some fresh, hot donuts with cinnamon sugar. Doesn’t that sound good?” I pleaded with him.
“It sounds okay, but I think I’d like an omelet with cheese and bacon and mushrooms …”
“Fine,” I sighed. “We’ll stay here like we always do.”
“But if you really want to get the donuts,” he shrugged, “I’d be down.”
“Really?” I clapped my hands. “Really, really, really?”
“You only have to say really one time, Sadie. And yes, you haven’t been in town for a while, so we can have whatever you want for breakfast today.”
“I knew you missed me!” I laughed.
“I don’t know that I missed you,” he said. “I just don’t want to hear you moaning all day long about wanting donuts.”
“Whatever.” I jumped out of the bed. “Okay. I’m going to shower, and then we can go?”
“Well, I need to shower as well.” He stretched. “You’re goofy,” he said, looking me over.
“Why am I goofy?”
“Because your hair is all a mess.” He climbed out of bed and tugged on the ponytail at the top of my head.
“What? My hair was getting in my face, so I just put it in a high bun last night.”
“Okay,” he said. “Interesting.”
“Don’t be rude, Wyatt.”
“I’m not being rude. I mean, if I was being rude, I’d say you look like a hot mess in the morning, but did I say that?”
“Really, Wyatt?”
“What?”
“You look like a hot mess too.”
It was a total lie. He looked absolutely adorable with his floppy short blonde hair and his bright blue eyes.
“Don’t lie, Sadie.” He wiped the sleep away from his eyes and gave me his signature lazy grin. “It doesn’t become you.”
“I’m not lying!” I narrowed my eyes indignantly at him. “I’m just trying to be honest with you like you are with me. You look like a hot mess.”
“Sadie, you’re the only woman that thinks I look like a hot mess in the morning. Trust me.” He licked his lips. “Women can’t get enough of Wyatt Hamilton.
I hit him in the shoulder. “Really, dude?”
“Really.” He laughed. “Come on now. I’m sure you’ve heard the rumors.”
“What rumors, Wyatt? There are no rumors.”
That was a lie, too. I heard all the rumors. Wyatt Hamilton was supposedly one of the best lovers in town. At least that’s what three of his ex-girlfriends had said. They’d also said that he was very well equipped.
Not that I cared about that. Ew.
“I can tell by how red your face is that you know exactly what I’m talking about, Sadie.” He laughed, “Go on, get a shower, and then we’ll go.”
“So you don’t need a shower after all?”
“No, my natural scent is good enough. Who knows? Maybe there’ll be a line of women waiting for me in town.”
“Whatever,” I rolled my eyes. “Maybe Shane will be waiting for me.”
“Shane?” The smile vanished from Wyatt’s face. “Shane Wakefield?”
“What? He said he was very happy to see me and that he wanted to contact me.”
“Sadie Johnson, do not call Shane Wakefield. Do not get involved with him. I’m warning you.”
“What do you mean, you’re warning me? Warning me about what?”
“I’m telling you that Shane is not a good guy to get involved with.”
“I didn’t ask you for your advice, Wyatt.”
“I don’t care if you asked me for my advice. I am telling you as your best friend, do not call Shane Wakefield. He will only break your heart.”
“Oh my gosh, Wyatt. I haven’t even gone on a date with him. How’s he going to break my heart?”
“Sadie.” He crossed his arms and glared at me. “Don’t call him. I forbid you to call him and hang out with him. That’s all I have to say on the matter.”
“Yes, boss.” I rolled my eyes. Wyatt thought he could control everything I said and did. It was one of his worst personality traits.
“Don’t give me that look, Sadie. I will know if you call him.”
“And what are you going to do about it if I do?”
“You’ll see.” He smirked. “Trust me.”
“Whatever. Anyway, I’m going to get a shower now, and then we’ll go and get donuts. Okay?”
“Okay.” He nodded. “And then I guess we can go for a quick ride. I have to go out on the ranch again today. Turns out we have a locust problem. I’m going to have to spray.” He sighed. “Ugh, what a mess.”
“I can help you if you want. My dad had a locust problem on the farm a couple of years ago, so I know what I’m doing.”
“Are you sure?” he said. “I mean, I know you just got back from Idaho and you as might as well be [inaudible 00:09:36].
“Of course, I’m more than happy to help.” I smiled at him. “You know that, right?”
“I know.” He smiled. “And you know what, Sadie?”
“Yes?”
“I am glad you’re back. And yes, I did miss you. And no,” he said quickly, “I’m not going to watch Bridesmaids again. I’m choosing the next movie.”
“Fine,” I said, “but anything but a horror movie.” I grabbed my clothes up off the side table.
“Sounds good to me. I was thinking …” Wyatt began.
“Yeah. What?”
“Maybe we can have a barbecue this weekend. My mom was thinking it would be nice to welcome you back to town.”
I laughed. “I was only gone three weeks.”
“I know, but you know my mom. Any reason to have a party.”
“True. That’d be fun. And I’ll get to see Lucy and Olivia and Arya.”
“And Mom said you could also invite any of your other friends.”
“Cool. Can I invite Shane?” I gave him a wicked grin.
“Don’t even try my patience, Sadie Johnson.” He glared at me. “No, you cannot invite him.”
“I mean, if it’s my party and my guest list, I can invite whoever I want. Right?” I blinked innocently at him then turned and headed to the bathroom.
I had no idea why Wyatt was so opposed to me contacting Shane. It wasn’t like they were enemies. In fact, they’d been pretty good friends in high school. Wyatt was just one of those men that always had to have the final say in everything. But he had to learn that he wasn’t my dad or my older brother. He was my best friend.
I cared about his advice, but that didn’t mean I always needed to take it.