Page 114 of Playing for Keeps
“Then the charity auction was the perfect setup,” Wyatt finishes with a quiet laugh.
“I owe her,” I say, shaking my head with a smile. “Makes me wish I’d told her I had a thing for you when I was sixteen.”
He smirks. “Okay, I’ve got to know, if you had a crush on me at sixteen, did you have one on Seb too? I mean, back then, we looked exactly the same. No tattoos to tell us apart.”
I raise a brow, playing along. “Youdorealize all your brothers were pretty easy on the eyes, right? All of you were genetically blessed. It was like walking into a Calvin Klein ad every time I came over.”
I laugh, squealing as he tickles my side. “Are you admitting you had a thing for all of my brothers?”
I squirm on the bed, pushing his hands away. “Stop! Okay, okay! I didn’t have a crush on all of you.”
He pauses, his eyebrow raised. “So… just Seb, then?”
I shake my head, all humor gone from my voice. “It was only you. Even when you and Seb looked like mirror images… you were the only one I saw.”
His grin turns into something more real, more tender. “Damn, Ivy. That might be the best thing anyone’s ever said to me. I wish I’d known back then.”
“Me too.”
His phone buzzes on the nightstand, breaking the moment. He sighs and grabs it, his thumb swiping across the screen.
“Everything okay?” I ask, watching his expression tighten.
He nods, but I hear the reluctance in his voice. “Yeah, baby. It’s just Seb wondering where I am. I should probably head out.”
“Okay. I’ll walk down with you.”
I slip out of bed and watch him tug on his hoodie, grabbing his keys from the dresser. We head downstairs, our hands intertwined. As we reach the bottom, Tessa’s voice cuts through from the kitchen.
“Wyatt Henry Brookes! What are you doing here?” She appears in the hallway, her expression a mix of shock and motherly disapproval. “Have you been here all night?”
I step forward instinctively. “It’s my fault, Tessa. I got upset on the phone last night.”
Wyatt wraps an arm around my waist, pulling me into his side. “It’s not Ivy’s fault. I wanted to be here. Ineededto be here.”
Tessa looks at me, her brows pulling together in concern. “Did he upset you?” she asks, nodding toward Wyatt.
“Oh! No, not at all,” I say quickly, shaking my head. “Wyatt’s been amazing.”
I glance up at him, and he smiles before dipping his head to brush a kiss against my lips.
A pointed throat clear snaps me out of my Wyatt-induced daze, and my face flushes as I turn back to Tessa, who’s wearing a knowing smile.
“Let’s get one wedding wrapped up before we start planning the next one,” she teases, her tone light but unmistakably suggestive.
My eyes widen as heat rushes to my cheeks, and Wyatt chuckles beside me.
“All right, Romeo,” Tessa says, waving a hand. “Back to Cade’s. Make sure everybody eats something before they start running on adrenaline and nerves. You’ll see Ivy soon enough.”
She flashes me a wink, then disappears into the kitchen, leaving me standing there, slightly stunned and very red-faced.
“Stop overthinking,” Wyatt says, slipping his arms around me and drawing me into his chest. “She’s just getting a little ahead of herself.”
“A little? We’ve been together a week, Wyatt.”
He chuckles. “I know. But for the record, she’s never wrong. Just saying.”
Before I can respond, he leans in and kisses me, cutting off my train of thought. And even though his words rattle me a little, I quickly melt into him, letting everything else fade away as I get lost in his kiss.
