String Beans (The Girls of Beachmont #2) (9 page)

“No way,” I laughed, shaking my head.

“C’mon…please?”

“Actually, I think I’m ready to get back home.”

“What? It’s only one,” she said as she stuck out
her bottom lip. “I’m not ready to go yet.”

One? What the hell!

I pulled out my phone and was shocked that she was
right. It wasn’t late by my standards and I knew I was lame for checking out
early, but I was ready to go.

“Have we really been here almost two hours?” I
asked of no one in particular.

“Yeah,” she laughed. “It only took thirty minutes
to get into this place.”

“How much longer do you plan on staying?” I asked.

“What’s your hurry? You don’t really want to
leave, do you?”

Before I could answer, Wyatt spoke up. “Don’t
worry about it. I’ll take her home. I was heading out anyway.”

Callie’s eyes went wide and I made a face, trying
to silence her with a death stare, but she was too far gone to notice.

“Sorry, Vi’s with me,” I heard Dallas say from
behind Wyatt. His friends were out of sight and I was grateful he spoke up. But
when Wyatt turned to face him, Dallas shook his head and smiled. “I mean…she’s
all yours. Take her.”

Thanks a lot,
I mouthed, narrowing my eyes.

You’re
welcome
,
he mouthed back.

I sort of wanted to hug him and kill him at the
same time.

***

Wyatt walked me to my door and I was talking about
anything and everything, but none of it was of importance. I pointed out where
Dallas lived and told him that Callie lived further down. He smiled when I told
him how I planned to sell my car because it hadn’t used it much since I’d moved
to town. It was an endless ramble that made no sense, and yet he seemed to
follow just fine.

I closed the door to my apartment and walked into
the kitchen where he trailed behind me. It was on the tip of my tongue to ask
him to leave, for no other reason than I needed space, but he’d been so nice. I
grabbed two water bottles out of the fridge and handed him one.

“Thanks for bringing me home,” I said, taking a
sip of water. “Sorry you had to leave.”

He shrugged and opened his bottle. “I was ready to
go anyway.”

“Do you want have a seat?” I pointed to the couch
and walked toward it. I still hadn’t purchased much in the way of furniture, so
seating options were limited. Bethany said the apartment had been painted the
week before I moved in but the walls had remained mostly bare.

“I like what you’ve done with the place,” he teased
as he sat down next to me and angled his body toward mine. Our knees were
touching, but there was sufficient distance between us. Enough that I wouldn’t
get in trouble.

“Yeah, I call it divorcée-chic.” I laughed softly,
but Wyatt didn’t seem to think it was funny. “Sorry. Bad joke.”

He cocked his head to the side, grinning, and I
wondered what he was thinking. It was then that I saw his eyes drop to my lips
for a brief moment, and I didn’t need to wonder anymore.

“Did you ever call Charles about the job?”

“I did. I’m supposed to meet him next week.” I smiled.
“Thank you again for that.”

“Happy to help.” His arm was draped across the
back of the couch and he extended his hand as if he were going to touch me, but
paused. “So…are you liking it out here?”

“It takes some getting used to,” I admitted. “When
we were first married, Will and I used to… sorry.” I shrugged off the thought
and took a long sip of water.

“Used to what?”

“It’s nothing. You don’t want to hear about my
ex.”

“I want to hear anything you want to share.” There
wasn’t a hint of sarcasm in his voice. And the more time I spent with him, the
more I began to think he was a genuinely nice guy. Nice, and attractive.

I can kiss him.

I’m single.

Almost.

I would have done just about anything to not have
to talk about Will. Or what went wrong. I wanted to forget that I was unhappy.
But then it happened.

Word Vomit.

“Will and I used to talk all the time about moving
to L.A. But his band was struggling and I was working, he was working…it just
never happened,” I laughed.

Wyatt regarded me silently and I just kept
rambling.

“You know, it’s funny, I was the one who loved
writing music. Will’s talented, don’t get me wrong, but I can do it all. Did
you know that I play guitar?”

Wyatt shook his head, a small smile tugging at the
corner of his mouth.

“Yeah. It’s true. But damn if he isn’t an amazing
guitarist too.” I smiled, thinking about happier memories. “This one time, we
decided to have a contest—see who could learn a song the fastest. We each
selected a song the other had never played and had two hours to memorize as
much as possible.”

“Who won?” Wyatt asked, startling me. I’d almost
forgotten he was there. It was the first time I’d talked at length about Will
with anyone other than Jolie and Dani.

“He did.” I smiled but then it faded as quickly as
it had appeared. I shrugged. “Probably cheated then too.”

I was thankful he didn’t say anything. I didn’t
need consolation and I certainly didn’t need pitying eyes. Wyatt was giving me
neither and I appreciated it.

I found myself staring at his hand that was
resting on his leg. His hands were large and looked like hands that had done
something in his life. Not those of the starving musician I’d helped support.
And then I looked up at his lips.

Before I could talk myself out of it, I leaned
over to kiss Wyatt.

Tomorrow I can blame it on the alcohol.

“Do you want to kiss me to forget?” he asked, when
I was close enough to feel his breath against my lips. “Or do you want to kiss
me
?”

I froze inches from his face, feeling embarrassed
and humiliated…mostly I felt needy.

“I’m sorry,” I said, leaning away as I pursed my
lips together.

“I’m not complaining.” He smirked, touching a strand
of my hair. “But I’d rather it be because you want me.”

Will kept taking and taking from me, and he wasn’t
even around anymore. But the ghost of marriage past seemed to haunt my thoughts
and paralyze me from moving on.

I wasn’t ready to exactly move on to a new
relationship, but I was ready to move on to something else. Maybe let go a
little.

I pulled away, mortified at what I had been about
to do, and more than a little embarrassed that I was rejected. Wyatt moved
closer so our legs were touching, but I knew he wasn’t trying to make a move.

“We can talk more about it…if you want.”

“My marriage?” I shrieked in horror. Only two
seconds earlier I was attempting to kiss him, and he was asking about my sort-of
ex? Granted, I’d just spent the better part of fifteen minutes babbling about him,
but then I’d tried to kiss him.

“Yeah. The husband.”

“I really don’t.”

Wyatt timidly wrapped an arm around my shoulder
and I leaned into him. As much as I wanted to pull away, I liked being in his
arms. He tucked my head under his chin as he leaned back, pulling me with him.
The innocent action must have been something I needed because I drifted off to
sleep, breathing in the scent of his cologne without another word spoken
between us.

Later, when my eyes fluttered open, I tried to
adjust to the darkness.

Wyatt was here.

He held me.

We were on the couch.

I felt around and realized there wasn’t a body
next to me, nor was I on the couch.

“Wyatt?” I whisper-shouted.

It didn’t matter that no one lived with me; I was
more afraid that he would actually answer.

As my feet touched down on the worn wood floors
below, I looked around as best I could and saw the time beaming on the clock
next to me.

I’m in my room.

In a panic, I ran my hands along my body and
exhaled heavily when I realized I was still in my clothes from the previous
night.

I leaned over and turned the knob on the old lamp
next to my bed, and glanced around since I was finally able to see. The bed was
still made and I was fully clothed, but I hadn’t walked myself to bed.

There was a note on the nightstand and I picked it
up, recognizing Wyatt’s handwriting from the other day.

I tried to wake you, but you wouldn’t budge. I took your key to lock
the door and I’m going to leave it with Dallas. Call me tomorrow.

Wyatt.

P.S. You snore—it’s cute.

Will had told me once that I snored and I was
mortified. He said it was so loud that he wasn’t able to go to sleep, so he
crashed on the couch. Looking back, it probably wasn’t my snoring that kept him
away.

Somehow, Wyatt sharing that with me didn’t bother
me in the same way.

“How is he going to leave it with Dallas?” I asked
out loud.

The last thing I remembered, Dallas and Callie
were still at the bar.

Did Wyatt go back?

That thought didn’t make me happy, but what
business of mine was it? I laid back down on my bed and stared at the ceiling
before finally getting up to change my clothes. There was a dull pain throbbing
in my head and I cursed myself for the tequila shots I’d had at the club. For
many reasons.

I walked toward the kitchen, only the faint light
from my room illuminating the way, and stopped in my tracks. There was a soft
grumbling noise, and as I listened longer, I knew it to be snoring. Tiptoeing
my way toward the sound, I prayed over and over.

Please let it be Dallas.

Or Callie.

Just. Not. Wyatt.

But I didn’t get the answer I wanted because it
was
Wyatt. He was on his back, one arm
tucked behind his head, the other resting on his stomach. The distant light
cast a soft shadow on his face and I looked down at him, admiring how
attractive he was.

He’s sexy when he’s not running his mouth.

I almost chuckled at the thought, but knew better.
I wasn’t thrilled about having him in my tiny apartment, but somehow I felt
safer knowing he was there. I hadn’t had a good night’s sleep in a while and I
hoped that would change. I turned on my heels and went back to my bedroom,
deciding against the medicine I knew I needed.

As I reached the door, I heard the snoring stop
when he moved on the couch, and I paused.

“Dallas and Callie weren’t back yet, and I didn’t
want to leave your place unlocked,” he said quietly.

“Oh…thanks,” I whispered back.

“Goodnight, Vi,” he whispered loud enough for me
to hear.

“Goodnight, Wyatt.”

I slept better that night than I had in a while.

The next morning I pretended to be asleep until I
heard the door close. Facing Wyatt and acknowledging what had almost happened
was too embarrassing. That and I had a pretty serious hangover. I knew I should
have taken some medicine.

“Vi,” Callie called from the other side of my
apartment door. “Are you in there? It’s Cal, let me in.”

I crawled out from the covers and walked as softly
as I could so as not to make my brain shake any more than it already was.

Stupid alcohol.

I opened the door to see Callie looking as wrecked
as I felt. She was in the same clothes but they were disheveled, and her makeup
was smeared. I started to worry and opened the door wider.

“Are you okay?” I asked urgently, stepping aside
to let her in.

“Yeah. Great. Why?” she asked cheerily.

“Did you just get home?”

“Nah. But I just got back from Dallas’s,” she
answered, wagging her brows.

“In your dreams,” I laughed and then grabbed my
head from the sound. “I need to take something, and then you can explain.”

“Explain what?”

I pointed to her face and then the mirror hanging
on the wall. “The reason you look like you took makeup tips from Alice Cooper.”

She walked toward the mirror and asked over her
shoulder, “What are you….oh.”

Callie started swiping under her eyes, but it did
little to fix her appearance.

“Bathroom. Cotton Balls. Makeup remover. Soap,” I
said, pointing down the hall.

Callie smiled and disappeared into the bathroom
while I located some pain relievers and water.

“You and Wyatt left early,” she shouted, and I
winced before swallowing the medicine. She peeked around the corner while she
wiped under her eyes. “Did you two kids have
fun
?”

I sat down on my couch next to the folded blanket
and pillow Wyatt had used the night before. I leaned over, resting my head on
the pillow, and could still smell his scent. Memories of my drunken rambling
and subsequent attempt at kissing him clouded my mind and I felt the humiliation
all over again. Luckily, I couldn’t dwell because Callie walked in looking
refreshed and joined me on the couch.

“So?”

“So? What?” I asked.

“Did you and Wyatt have fun?” she repeated.

“He brought me home and we talked. That’s it,” I
said.

“Anything else?” She grinned.

“You mean besides when I…fell asleep?” I almost
divulged more. I was close to spilling the details of my lax seduction skills,
but I decided against it.

“Boo.”

“Care to explain why you looked like a hot mess
when you walked in?”

“Oh, that,” she laughed. “Dallas and I were
watching
The Notebook
when we got
back. I wasn’t tired and he’d never seen it before.”

“That sounds…fun?”

“It was, actually. I mean, I can’t watch that
movie with any guy I’m interested in because then he’ll freak out at my crying,
and let’s face it, no guy is Noah Calhoun. Am I right?”

I laughed and agreed. We sat in companionable
silence for a beat when she looked at me again. Her concern was evident and I
knew she was going to try to get more information out of me. Truth was, I was
too exhausted to fight her.

“Were you able to have fun last night? Really?”

“I was,” I answered. And it was true. It was nice
to get out and do something I hadn’t done in quite some time.

“But? You’re holding out… Did something happen?”

“Nothing happened,” I said, taking the pillow and holding
it protectively in front of me. I didn’t mean to, but I sniffed the pillow, and
the light must have gone off for Callie because her eyes were wide. “What? Why
are you looking at me like that?”

“You didn’t sleep on the couch, but it sure looks
like someone did.” She smiled.

“It wasn’t anything. I fell asleep before he left
and Wyatt put me to bed.”

Callie continued to look at me with crazy,
excitement-filled eyes until I shook my head.

“No. I put these on myself.”

“Too bad,” she muttered, her smile waning.

“What time did you and Dallas get back?”

“About two. Why?”

Two? Wyatt said Dallas wasn’t home.

“No reason,” I lied.

Callie perked up and smiled. “Do you have plans
today?”

“Well, I did have a date with a book, but it’s not
set in stone.”

“Who knew all it took was taking you to a club to
get you to loosen up,” she teased.

“I’ve been to clubs before,” I said. “Besides, you
just met me. I
am
loose.”

“Are you now?” she teased and I rolled my eyes. “Then
maybe it was just spending time with me, or maybe Dallas… Wait, is Wyatt the
reason you’re nice today?”

“What?” I asked, shocked at her accusation. “I
am
nice.”

“If you say so,” she said as she stood up and
walked to the door.

I looked at her over the back of the couch and
watched her leave.

She was holding the door open and looked at me.
“I’m thinking of going for a hike at Griffith Park. Wanna join?”

I groaned and waved her off. The idea of walking,
let alone walking the way I felt, was not appealing.

“Fresh air. Beautiful view. It’ll do you some
good.”

“Fine,” I mumbled into the pillow I was still
holding. “Give me an hour.”

“You got it,” she said before closing the door.

“That girl is too perky,” I muttered.

***

“
Knockity-Knockity
,”
Callie said as she thumped on the door.

I was glad she gave me more than an hour because I
needed those extra forty-five minutes. I was showered and looked better than I had
earlier, but still felt like shit.

“You know, most people just knock, they don’t
actually say the word,” I said when I opened the door.

“And she’s back,” Callie said with animation.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing…You look better,” she said, ignoring my question.
“Are you ready?”

“Yeah, just need to grab my keys and my phone. Do
you want me to drive?”

“Get some water too. You’ll need it. And you can
drive, I’ll navigate,” she said.

“No way, you’re a terrible navigator,” Dallas
said, appearing behind her. “I’ll tell her where to go.”

He was dressed in long black running shorts and a
T-shirt with cutoff sleeves. I hadn’t known that he planned on coming with us,
but I was grateful he was. And glad I’d chosen an appropriate outfit. My pink jogging
shorts and purple tank seemed to almost coordinate with Callie’s green shorts
and blue tank.

People are going to think we planned this.

“Fine, but I’m still sitting in the front,” Callie
conceded.

“Navigators always sit in front,” Dallas argued.

“Kids! Kids!” I laughed. “Dallas, you get shotgun
on the way there, Cal, you get it on the way back.”

“Yes, Mom,” both muttered simultaneously and then
laughed.

“You two suck,” I said with a grin.

“You’re right,” I heard Dallas whisper to Callie.
“She is nicer.”

“I told you,” she muttered back.

I walked over and held the door open for them to
leave so I could lock up. “You know I can hear you, right?”

“Do you think we care?” Dallas teased. “C’mon,
let’s go.”

The first half of the drive was spent listening to
Callie and Dallas argue about which one knew the shorter route. Dallas insisted
that since he’d lived there longer, he was right, while Callie reminded him
that he was just plain wrong. I opted to override them both, and plugged the
address into my phone and let it tell me where to go.

“Just park over there,” Dallas said, pointing to a
line of cars on a sloped driveway.

“Where do we go?” I asked, grabbing my water from
the holder in the car.

My hair was pulled into a ponytail and I was
thankful I’d remembered my sunglasses. The sun was blazing down on us and I
wished I’d brought another bottle or two of water.

Callie adjusted her hat and smoothed her shirt
when she stood next to me. Dallas pointed to a trail and smiled. He looked like
he was about to model for athletic wear or something as he flexed his arms.

“We get it, you have guns,” Callie said with a
huff.

“What are you talking about?” Dallas asked. “I was
merely pointing where we need to go.”

“Do I need to separate you two?” I laughed.

Dallas flashed a toothy grin and started walking
away. Callie grabbed my arm so we could follow and she was practically skipping.

“You two are so weird,” I told Callie. “You argue
like brother and sister.”

“You think?” she asked.

“Yeah.”

“He’s seriously my best friend out here…maybe
ever. We met a week or so after I moved in. He took one look at this scared
country girl and made me his pet project.”

I stopped walking and looked at her. She turned to
face me and cocked her head to the side.

“What’s wrong?”

“Please tell me I’m not
your
pet project.”

“Even if I wanted you to be, I think you’d be more
trouble than I could handle.” She laughed.

“Will you two hurry up?” Dallas called out.

“Coming,” we said, picking up the pace.

It was quiet and I liked it. Sure, there were
people around and the sounds of birds could be heard overhead, but it was nice
and peaceful. I’d never really been one to do the whole nature thing, but it
felt good to be outside.

“Dallas went to get some coffee this morning and
saw Wyatt,” Callie said.

I knew there was more to her statement, and maybe
she was waiting for my reaction, but I remained quiet.

“He said that they got to talking and Wyatt
mentioned that he was looking for a new apartment. Did you know that he’s been
staying with his parents to help with his mom?”

I remembered Wyatt talking about his mom and her
needs. But he never mentioned where he lived. Then again, I never asked.

I’m a terrible person.

“I had no idea.”

“Dallas told him that he should talk to Bethany to
see if she has anything available.”

“What did he say?” I asked.

“What did who say?” Dallas asked.

I hadn’t realized that we’d finally caught up. I
was too distracted by other thoughts.

“Wyatt,” Callie answered.

“What about him?” Dallas asked over his shoulder
as we continued to walk.

“I told Vi that he’s trying to find someplace else
to live.”

“Yeah. I feel bad for the guy. Has to put a damper
on your social life to live with your parents,” he said.

“Does Bethany have any vacancies?” I asked. “I
thought I got the last place.”

“No idea. But it can’t hurt to ask,” he said.

“Besides, think of how easy it would be for him to
get to work,” Callie said.

“And how close he’d be to you,” Dallas added.

“Me? What do I have to do with it?”

“Please.” He scoffed and pointed at Callie. “You
know this one doesn’t keep her mouth shut. And if you didn’t know that, now you
do. He slept on your couch? We’re not stupid.”

“But…”

“We know,” Dallas said.

“You’re married,” they said together and I rolled
my eyes.

“I guess I do sound like a broken record,” I
huffed.

“Then do something about it. Change it, listen to
a new song.” Dallas smiled. “You’re only twenty-four. Life is just getting
started.”

I stopped walking abruptly, his words echoing in
my ears.

“Um, you two go on without me,” I said, waving
them forward and pointing at the short wall next to us. “I’m just gonna hang
out here.”

“Are you okay?” Callie asked.

“Yeah. I’m good. Just need a break.”

“If you’re sure,” Dallas said. “We’ll be back in
thirty.”

“No rush.” I smiled.

I watched them disappear among the other people
walking the trails and enjoyed the quiet around me.

I’d spent the night before talking about
Will—something I hadn’t planned on doing. And even after I’d said I was
done talking about him, I had still thought about him—something I hadn’t
allowed myself to do for a while because it was too painful.