Page 53 of Dare (Fighting Fate)

Slipping out the front door, I crossed the street and headed for the shortcut home, across the park. It wasn’t the shortest of walks, but I liked the time it gave me to think. I needed it at the moment.

Following the path that wound throu

gh the trees, I thought over my current predicament. As much as I was disappointed with the way things had gone with Eli, I couldn’t argue about it. He had warned me that he wasn’t prepared to commit to anything. It was stupid of me to think that I could persuade him differently just by sleeping with him. But in a nutshell, that’s what I’d done. I’d thought that if he could just get an idea of how good we were together, he’d see that it wasn’t so bad—that he could still be with me and study—that I wasn’t the horrid distraction he thought me to be.

A shiver ran through my body as I remembered the feeling of him on top of me. That was at least one thing I’d been right about. The memory I had of that moment was freaking unbelievable, but now that I had it, I wasn’t so sure it was a good thing. It was just a constant reminder of something I didn’t think I’d ever be able to match. It was a form of torture disguised as pleasure.

Sighing, I turned past the playground and shook my head. This was it for me. I’d had enough of guys and their freaking dramas. And they said women were drama queens. Right now, I begged to differ.

As I ducked under a hanging branch, I glanced across the park and frowned, my steps slowing as I moved. Halfway across the park, sitting on a bench with his head hanging low, was Wyatt.

Coming to a complete stop, I chewed on my lip, indecision niggling in my gut. One part of me was telling me to look away and keep walking, but the other had so many questions she wanted answered, it was practically driving her insane.

Narrowing my eyes, I sucked in a breath full of bad-assery. I was tired of carefully treading around everyone else. If I had questions I wanted to ask, then I was damn well going to go ask some freaking questions.

Hoisting my bag higher on my shoulder, I started striding across the grass. I had no idea exactly what I wanted to achieve doing this just yet, but I was sure I’d figure it out when I got there.

Wyatt glanced up as I approached, his eyes flashing with surprise, but that wasn’t what caught my attention. That would’ve been the large purplish bruise on his cheekbone. “That doesn’t look good,” I said, deciding to address the elephant in the room before anything else.

His gaze turned sullen. “Nice to see you too, Jess.”

I sighed before climbing up to sit beside him. “I haven’t decided if it’s nice to see you yet. I’ll let you know as soon as I do.”

He rolled his eyes, but there was a kindness in them that hadn’t been there before. Letting out a soft laugh, he shook his head. “That was one thing I liked about you, Jess. You always told it how it was.”

“Oh, wow,” I said, nudging him with my shoulder. “There was only one thing you liked about me?”

He shook his head again, but the corner of his lip curled up with it. “You’re impossible. What are you doing here?”

I inhaled deeply as I thought about my family. “Just walking home from Mom’s. It’s Bianca’s birthday today.” He’d never met Bianca, but he’d heard me speak of her quite a lot.

“Ah, I see,” he said, lifting his head with understanding.

We sat in silence for a little while, the both of us contemplating life or some crap like that. After a while he turned his head on the side and smirked. “Just go ahead and ask. I know you’re dying to.”

I deadpanned him before raising an eyebrow. “Dude, I’ve got a million questions for you. Where do you want me to start?” I laughed, but then I looked over the bruising on his face and the sullenness returned. “What happened?” I asked.

“This,” he said, pointing to his cheek, “was what happened when my father heard the rumors about me and Zac.”

I tried not to react, but it was hard not to. “He hit you?”

Wyatt shrugged. “It wasn’t anything I didn’t expect.”

I shook my head, my eyes wide with disbelief. His own father gave him a black eye because he liked guys? I didn’t realize people were still so close-minded. “So, what now? I mean, God, I don’t even know where you’re at to know what to ask.” I screwed my eyes shut with a long blink before meeting his gaze again. “I feel rude asking, but I think if anyone has a right to know, it’s me. Are you gay, Wyatt? Or is it a bi thing? What?”

He looked out across the park, his expression so sad it bordered on depression. “You know, I’ve never actually said it out loud before,” he said, turning to gaze at me. “But, I guess it’s time to be honest. Yes, I’m gay.” His brow twitched with concern as he glanced down at the grass.

“Why?” I said, my eyes begging for a reason. “If you don’t really like girls, why were you with me, Wyatt?”

The breath he released was full of pain. “I’m really sorry if I hurt you, Jess. It was never my intention. I was so caught up in trying to have the perfect image, I didn’t think about what that meant for you. I thought I could provide a future for you that you’d love—give you everything you wanted, but I can see now that it never would’ve worked. You deserve more than that.”

I wanted to scream. Why did I have all these guys telling me that I deserved all these amazing things, but none of them were willing to give it to me? Letting out a deep huff, I tried to let it go. “So, are you . . . out of the closet now?”

He shrugged. “Not intentionally, but I guess I am. Zac saw to that.”

“Are you still seeing Zac?”

Wyatt’s gaze narrowed. “Hell, no. He fucked that the minute he decided what was best for me. But even if that didn’t concern me, he drugged you, Jess.” He shook his head with disbelief. “I still can’t believe he could do something like that. He could’ve killed you.”

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