Love Song(74)

“What do you mean if? We’ve already given each other orgasms.”

“I mean if we continue giving each other orgasms. We can’t let it get messy.” His voice strains. “We can’t, Blake.”

“Okay. So what rules are you proposing?”

He’s quiet, thinking it over. “It ends when the summer ends,” he finally says.

I raise an eyebrow at him. “You think it’ll even last that long? Because you keep telling me you’re only good for a short time, remember? Now you’re okay with a monthslong fling?”

He falters for a moment. “As long as we keep it casual, I guess I’m cool with it.”

Something about his smooth, careless response has me hiding a smile. He’s cool with it, huh? I should be bristling about the way he phrased it like he’s doing me a favor, but I’m not. If he needs to tell himself that “casual” is the only way we can move forward, then I won’t get in his way.

Besides, this has to end when summer’s over. How can it last beyond that? I’m going back to college at the end of August. He’s going…wherever he’s going. Wyatt can barely handle an actual relationship, let alone a long-distance one.

“But we don’t drag it out,” he says. “Summer’s over, and we walk away.”

“Okay,” I agree.

“And the friendship comes first.” He speaks without hesitation now. Brisk and self-assured. A line drawn in the sand. “It comes before everything. If hooking up gets in the way of it, we stop the hookups. Not the friendship.”

“Friendship first. Always.” I snag my lip between my teeth, a thought occurring to me. “What if one of us wants to stop before the summer ends?”

“Then we stop.” He shifts onto his side, meeting my eyes. “No questions asked. No explanations required. You say the word, it’s done.”

I search his face for a beat, then nod. “Okay. So those are the rules.”

Wyatt nods back. “Those are the rules.”

1 NEW EMAIL





From: County Records Department

Subject: Re: Records Request

Dear Ms. Logan,

The County Records Department has completed processing your recent request. Please find attached the certified copy of the death certificate for Darlene Beth Gallagher.

As for your request of medical examiner records, please note that no such report exists under this name.

We also conducted a search for death certificates for the additional two individuals you listed; however, no records were located for them in our files. Regarding your inquiry into property records to determine house purchases in Nevada under those names, please note that such records are maintained by a different office.

This link can provide further assistance with regard to property ownership and transfer documentation.

If you have any further questions regarding death records, please feel free to contact our office.

Sincerely,

Fiona Baker

County Records Department





Chapter 25


BLAKE





“YOU STILL HAVEN’T HAD SEX.” Annaliese sounds dubious.

“Nope,” I confirm.

“Why are you stalling?”

“Oh, you sweet, naive girl. I’m not the one who’s stalling.”

Laughing, I reach for my Diet Coke and bat away the persistent wasp that’s been buzzing around, determined to land on my straw. We’re having lunch at an outdoor patio in town today.

Her jaw drops. “Bullshit. Wyatt Graham, the guy who’s fucked half the lake, refuses to have sex with you?”

“Jeez, when you say it like that, it’s terrible for my ego.”

“Oh, shut up. He undresses you with his eyes any time you’re within a hundred feet of him. That’s why I’m so mystified.”

I’m not. I’m starting to understand Wyatt’s modus operandi: distance. He always maintains just the right amount of distance to prevent you from getting too close to him.

Unless it’s in bed. Then? He’s all in.

He lamented about women always falling for him. Claimed his dick is so good that they inevitably want more. And there’s no denying his penis is downright enchanting. It hasn’t even been inside me, yet I would already sign a statement declaring it the world’s greatest dick.

But his dick isn’t the reason women fall. They fall because he makes them believe he loves them. Not with words but with his actions. He’s attuned to every breath, every soft noise, while his eyes devour you, burning into your soul. The first time he went down on me, he spent an eternity tracing his lips over every inch of flesh. Listening to every microscopic bodily response, every whimper. Taking the time to learn and memorize what I liked, what made me shiver.

In the moment, Wyatt Graham makes you feel like you’re the only woman in the world. Like you’re his oxygen. His one true love.

It’s no wonder women are left bereft when he moves on. Who wouldn’t want that intoxicating feeling back?

“I think he’s afraid of breaking my heart,” I tell Annaliese, sipping my soda.

“I mean, he has the track record for it. Remember what he did to Rosie Tipper? Girl was so devastated she forced her parents to sell their house.”