At girls’ night the next night, Wyatt kissed me in front of everyone. I had to deal with all the questions, but at least I knew they all liked him. It wasn’t nearly as bad as some of the introductions to the new guy were since Wyatt was basically one of us.
“I don’t think it’s fair that no one is grilling Wyatt,” Vicki whined. “You guys almost had Hunter running for his life.”
“He fucked with you,” Carrie said. “He didn’t show up when he was supposed to and wasn’t around when he should have been. He deserved what he got. He’s lucky all we did was grill him.”
“I wanted to filet him,” Olivia confessed. “He’s grown on me and I like him, but when he first showed up? Nope. I was ready to lock him out.”
“He was really sorry.”
“He should have been,” Tara added. “They ripped Noah a new one. And I know he’s not the only guy who was handed a sack for his balls after this group got a hold of him.”
Sam and Carrie laughed. I just sat there quietly so they didn’t decide it was worthwhile to attack Wyatt. I really liked his balls. And everything they were attached to.
“We were pretty ruthless with Xander,” Addi admitted. “He was the first guy to try to break into our group. When he hurt Mandy, we were all ready to castrate him.”
“He made up for it though. It was a misunderstanding,” Mandy defended her husband.
“It was. Just like with the rest of them. Granted, they were all jerks at one point or another, but they made up for it.”
“I was the jerk with Joey,” Addi said. “I can’t believe he ever gave me a chance.”
“None of us are perfect,” Sam said, reaching for her best friend. “Joey isn’t either.”
“He’s close.”
“He is close. We all found the perfect person for us. We’re lucky. And it looks like Peyton is getting lucky, too.”
So much for keeping my head down.
“I didn’t say that.”
Sam snorted. “Your fuck me eyes said it for you.”
“I do not have fuck me eyes!” I shouted, drawing the attention of everyone in the room.
“Mommy? What does-”
“Stop!” Olivia yelled to silence Becca. “It’s an adult thing to say that you aren’t allowed to repeat. Ms. Peyton is sorry she said it.”
“But I-”
“Right Peyton?” Olivia asked in her stern mommy voice.
I nodded, meeting Becca’s eyes. “I am. I shouldn’t have said that. It’s not a good thing to repeat.”
Becca watched me carefully for a long moment, then shrugged and turned back to her table. I should have known better than to look at Wyatt at that moment, but he was sitting right next to Becca and my eyes couldn’t be controlled.
‘Fuck me?’ he mouthed.
I shrugged.
He winked at me before letting his eyes trail down my body, hovering at my chest. When he met my eyes again, I knew exactly what Sam was talking about.
And that she was right.
He winked again then turned back to the conversation at his table. I forced my eyes away from him and realized everyone at my table was watching me.
“Want to explain it again?” Sam asked.
“Shut up, Sam,” I said in a very mature voice.
They all laughed at me. I deserved it.
“Okay, fine. I was giving him-” I glanced at Olivia and whispered, “fuck me eyes. He’s damn good at it, and I want it again. Are you happy?”
The table was silent for about half a second before everyone started cheering. I laughed in spite of myself, accepting the compliments that I’d done well. Not that I did anything. Wyatt was with me all on his own. Not because I did anything to make it happen.
“Tell us all about it,” Carrie demanded.
“No!” Olivia shouted. “He’s my boss. I really don’t think I could handle knowing what sex with him is like.”
“Oh, please. You have Ethan to go home to. You won’t be thinking about Wyatt,” Abby said.
“True, but I don’t think I’ll be able to look Wyatt in the eye again if I hear how big he is.”
“How big is he?” Sam asked, her curious eyes swinging to me.
I glanced at Olivia. She plugged her ears and squeezed her eyes shut. I held my hands apart to show them. They all cheered again, prompting Olivia to unplug her ears and open her eyes.
“No more,” she begged. “Please!”
“One more question,” Carrie demanded. “How many did you have?”
“Last night?”
“Ooh! So there was more than one time?”
“No! I mean, yes, but not sex. Last night was the first time we had sex.”
“Oh, shit,” Olivia groaned. “I wondered why he was in such a good mood today. I really didn’t think he was screwing my friend.”
“Well, he’ll be in a really, really good mood Thursday so you might want to take off.”
“Gah!” Olivia shouted as everyone else laughed and reached out to high-five me.
“Okay, okay,” Vicki said. “Let’s give Olivia a break. Me, too. I’m not sure I can handle hearing about my sister’s sex life.”
“Really?” Riley asked. “My sisters and I talk about sex all the time.”
“You do?”
Riley nodded. “Definitely. Haven’t you guys?”
Vicki and I exchanged a look. The truth was, we talked about Vicki having sex a lot, but she’d never asked about me. She didn’t know any of my sexual past. It wasn’t that I didn’t want to tell her, but she never seemed interested. She told me about a few guys she’d dated over the years, and shared a lot more than I wanted to know about her and Hunter, but that was it.
“I can’t even think of the last time I had sex before yesterday so there was never really much for me to tell,” I hedged, knowing Vicki was realizing our conversations were relatively one-sided. “Vicki’s definitely had more to share.”
“You make me sound like such a slut!”
I shook my head. “I don’t mean that. You’ve been dating Hunter for a while. And before that you dated other guys. I’m so absorbed in my work that I barely see any men besides the husbands of my patients.”
“Except Wyatt.”
I nodded. “Well, yeah, but we’ve only been talking for a few weeks.”
“How did you two get together?”
“We’re not really together. We’ve gone out a few times and slept together once. That’s it.”
“But you have plans to sleep together again?” Carrie asked.
“Yes, but that’s just because he wants to cook me dinner and have sex in front of his fireplace.”
“Wait, what?” Olivia exclaimed.
“Sorry Liv.”
“No, now I need to hear this.”
I chuckled. “At Thanksgiving we were talking about the holidays and I told him I hate this time of year. He decided he wanted to convince me this time of year is great so we’ve been doing things that he enjoys. Ice skating. Sledding. Shopping for Christmas ornaments.”
“He took you shopping for his snowflake?” Olivia asked.
I nodded. “Um, yeah. Why? What does that mean?”
She looked around at the group then dropped her voice. “He hasn’t taken anyone besides his mom or sister in years. He told me once that the only woman he ever went with was his ex-fiancée.”
All eyes swung back to me, waiting for my reaction.
“Shoot,” Olivia said. “I assumed you knew. I was trying to make you feel better, not worse.”
I shook my head. “It’s fine. He has a past. It’s to be expected. I knew about her but not the ornament.”
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to make you feel weird.”
I squeezed her hand. “It’s fine. I promise.”
But it wasn’t fine. Not really. I felt like he’d kept something major from me. Something significant. Like things were very different between us than I thought they were.
And I wasn’t entirely sure how I felt about that.
“I know this is hard to hear,” I began, “but I think it’s time.”
Grace nodded, tears slipping down her cheeks. “I know. We’ve been talking about it, but we were hoping it wouldn’t come to that.”
“I know. And I’m not saying we give up completely. We can keep trying if you want to. But the toll it takes on your body after a while is tiresome. I want to save you from that.”
She nodded again. Her husband, Brian, held her against his side. He looked like he was about to cry also.
“There are some great adoption agencies to choose from. And you know you can do domestic or international adoption. Unfortunately, the process is not quick, but you know you’ll have a child of your own at the end of it.”
“That’s all we really want,” Brian said.
“I know. I want that, too. I was really hoping I’d be able to give you a natural child, but there are so many kids out there in need of good homes.”
Grace and Brian nodded and looked at each other. “I think we’re ready for that. We want to keep trying with you, but we don’t want to miss a chance to bring a child into our home. We know there are kids out there that need us.”
“Good. I think you’re making a good decision. I know it’s not an easy one.”
Grace shook her head. “It’s not, but over the last eight years, we’ve talked off and on. I’m a lot older now than when we started trying. We know every year that passes reduces my chances of getting pregnant.”
“You can still have children when you adopt. They’ll be yours in every sense except genetics. And you’ll be helping children who need the help.”
“Thank you, Dr. Prescott. We really appreciate the help.”
“Of course. Anything you need, call my office and we’ll do whatever we can to help you.”
“Thank you.”
I left the exam room and went straight into the next room. My day continued as I rushed from one patient to the next and by the time I was done, I was ready to collapse.
Laura walked into my office smirking. “You keep running yourself ragged like this and you won’t be able to enjoy your all-nighter with Mayor Hotness.”
I laughed. “I never should have told you about that.”
“Oh, please. I’m your best friend. Who else are you going to tell?”
“True.”
“I still can’t believe you’re spending the night with him. Have you ever spent the night with a guy? In your entire life?”
I shook my head. “Nope. But it’s not a big deal. It’s just a lot of sex.”
“Do you really believe that?”
I shrugged.
“Pey, you’re kidding. It’s not that simple. You’re sharing personal space with someone. Sharing a bathroom. Waking up with morning breath. It’s not just sex. It takes sex to a whole new level when you spend the night with someone.”
“I’m not moving in. He just wants me to stay so we can have lots of sex.”
“You said he wants to wake up with you, right?”
I shrugged. “So?”
“That’s not about sex. He likes you. And I know you’re falling for him.”
“I am not,” I argued. “Why would you think that?”
“I’ve never seen you walk away from work for a guy. Or for anyone. Don’t get me wrong, I love it, but it’s not like you. You’re having fun with him. He’s good for you.”
“You’re reading too much into this, Laura.”
She shook her head. “I don’t think I am. I know you like to keep your head in the sand, but do you really believe that you can keep all night tonight to just sex?”
I sighed, knowing she was right. “I don’t know. I thought I could, but now I have no idea.”
“How about this? You go over there, you enjoy the night. If you fall for him, deal with it later.”
“That sounds like a perfect way to get hurt.”
“You’re Peyton Prescott. No man can hurt you.”
“If any man could, I think it would be Wyatt Ramsey.”