Sadie
“I cannot believe that we are flying to North Carolina.”
“Why, you don’t like flying?” Wyatt looked at me from the seat next to mine.
“I love flying. I just can’t believe that we’re going on this trip together.”
“Well, I’m glad you said yes. It’s going to be so exciting. I’ve already written down all the horses that I’m interested in.” His jaw tightened. “I just am unsure how the auction’s going to go.”
“You’ll be fine. I bet you’ll get all the horses that you want.”
“I sure hope so, but I don’t know if I’m going to have enough money. These horses are expensive. Do you know what some of the prize money is for some of these races?”
“No.” I said, “But I was wondering …” I paused, trying to be tactful. Do you really know enough about training? I’m not trying to offend you or anything,” I added quickly, “but you’ve never trained a racehorse.”
“I may not have trained a racehorse, but I’ve trained horses, Sadie, come on. We grew up on horses. You know how many horses I’ve broken in that none of my other brothers would ride.”
“That’s true.”
“And I can ride fast. True, I’m not light enough to be a jockey, but there’s some kids in town and I’ll train them up. They just need to be able to hold on. I can do this.”
“I know you can. I’m excited for you.” I patted his arm reassuringly.
“Thanks. I’m excited, too. You know what I was thinking?” he asked. I shook my head. “I was thinking that while we’re in North Carolina, we should act like tourists.”
“What do you mean, act like tourists?”
“You know, when we were young, we always said we wanted to travel. So, let’s make North Carolina our first destination.”
“When I said I wanted to travel, Wyatt, I meant I wanted to go to Italy and France and Greece and Cypress and Portugal, not North Carolina. North Carolina doesn’t feel like an adventure.”
“Leave it to me. I’ll make an adventure.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, really. We’ll have fun.”
“Sure, Wyatt we’ll have fun.”
I looked at his handsome face, and for a moment, all I could think about was a different kind of fun. Maybe he was thinking the same thing because his eyes twinkled.
“You need to get your mind out of the gutter. You know that, right, Sadie?”
“What are you talking about?” I said innocently.
“You know what I’m talking about.” He laughed. “You’re thinking about my lips on your lips.”
“Wyatt, you’re obsessed with that kiss.”
“Am I? Or are you?”
“You know what? I’m watching a movie,” I said and closed my eyes.
Wyatt laughed. “You can’t watch a movie with your eyes closed.”
I opened them. “I mean, I’m going to sleep.”
“I’ve got you all befuddled, don’t I?”
“You’ve got me something, Wyatt Hamilton. You’ve got me something.”
When we checked into our hotel room in Raleigh, I was relieved to see that there were two full-size beds. I’d been wondering if he might have gotten one king-size bed. I mean, we were used to sleeping together, but we hadn’t slept in the same bed since everything had gone down, and I wasn’t sure that I could deal with that familiarity right now. Not when things were still quite awkward between us.
“So I figured we could go and get a drink.” Wyatt opened up his suitcase. “You ready?”
“Can I wash my face and put on some fresh make-up and maybe change?”
“Typical girl,” he grumbled.
“Yes, Wyatt. I am a woman. That’s why you kissed me.”
“So you don’t think I would’ve kissed you if you were a man?”
“I don’t know, Wyatt. Would you have kissed me if I was a man?”
“I don’t know. Maybe if you looked as hot as you do now.”
“Wyatt Hamilton, really?”
“What?” He stepped closer to me. “You don’t like to hear that you’re hot?”
“I think you’re a weirdo.”
“What? I’m just happy to be alive. I’m happy that we’re here. Don’t you understand how big this is for me?”
“I do.” I said, “Trust me. We’re both really making changes in our lives and doing things for a better future. And I’m so proud of you.”
“I’m proud of you too. Sadie.” He grabbed my hand and pulled me towards him.
“What are you doing?”
“I think that we should talk.”
“I thought you wanted to go for a drink,” I said, my voice suddenly hoarse.
“Well, I do want to go for a drink, but that doesn’t mean that we have to go for a drink right away.” His lips got closer to mine and my breath caught. “What are you doing?”
“What happens on vacation, stays on vacation, Sadie,” he said softly.
As he kissed me, I wrapped my arms around his neck and pressed my mouth to his. He stroked my hair and my body melted against his. It just felt so right. Kissing him, holding him, his body warm and hard against mine. Finally, I pulled back breathlessly. “We shouldn’t be doing this.”
“Why? Because we’re best friends?”
“Yes. That’s why.”
“I think that’s the best reason for us to be doing it.”
“Let’s go to the bar.”
“I have an idea.” He walked over to the mini-bar at the side of the room. “We can get drunk in here if we want.”
“In the bedroom?”
“Yeah.” He laughed. “You know what I wanted to show you?”
“What?”
“Hold on.” He opened a small bottle of rum and chugged it.
“Wyatt, you’re going to get drunk!”
“Well, I need to get drunk to show you what I’m going to do.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Remember that movie that you loved back in the day?”
“I love a lot of movies.”
“Remember the one that got you all hot and bothered?”
“Not really.”
“Well, you’ll remember this one.” He started gyrating his hips.
“Wyatt, what are you doing?” I laughed at his odd movements.
“Come on now. Play some music for me.”
“Play what music for you?”
“I don’t know. Some pop, some rock, some hip hop.”
I grabbed my phone and played the first song I found, a Drake song. I caught Wyatt rolling his eyes, but he began moving his hips to the beat. “Wyatt, what are you doing?”
“My name’s not Wyatt, my name’s Mike.”
“Your name is Mike?”
“Yeah, Magic Mike.” He winked at me and started undoing his shirt.
“Magic Mike?” I grinned at him. “Are you going to dance for me, Wyatt Hamilton?”
“Well, I don’t know. Would you like me to?” He threw his shirt onto the ground.
I nodded eagerly. “Ahhh, yes, please!”
“Well, what’s the magic word?”
I giggled. “I said please, Magic Mike.”
“Nah, I don’t think I’ll go by Mike.” He ran his hands down his abs toward his belt buckle. I swallowed hard. “Why don’t you sit over there, young lady?” He pointed to a chair.
I walked over and sat down. Was Wyatt going to give me a striptease? This was absolutely crazy. “Uhm, what’s going on, Magic Mike?”
“I told you, I’m not Magic Mike.”
“Uhm, Magic Wyatt?”
“That’s my name.” He pulled off his belt and threw it to the ground, then grabbed my hand and placed it on the button of his jeans. I looked up at him with wide eyes. “What would you like me to do, Miss Sadie?”
“I thought we were going to the bar to have a drink and walk around the city before we got ready for tomorrow—”
“There’s plenty of time for that, Sadie.” He leaned down and blew into my ear. My whole body trembled. This was hotter than anything I’d ever experienced. There was no way I was going to stop Wyatt now.