I glanced up at him with hope on my face. 揥ould you??
He nodded down at me with a smirk. 揑 owe you one after this morning.?He winked and dropped a quick kiss on my cheek. 揃e right back.?
I peeked around the corner as he approached the group and gestured to Randeep.
揋ot a second??
Randeep followed Wyatt a few steps away. 揇o you have some info??
揢h, sort of.?Wyatt chuckled. 揟hat woman you heard last night wasn抰 in distress.?
Randeep frowned and leaned in. 揥hat do you mean??
Wyatt cleared his throat and straightened up, looked weirdly proud. 揟hat was Hannah and I.?
Randeep frowned in confusion. 揥hat do you棓 His mouth dropped open. 揙h. So you two棓 He raised his eyebrows.
Wyatt nodded. 揧ep.?
揥ell, then.?He put his hands on his hips. 揟hank you for telling me. Guess I should call off the search party.?He stared at the ground with a frown, thinking. 揧ou and Hannah Nielsen??
揗hm.?Wyatt shifted so I couldn抰 see his face.
My heart beat hard in my chest. The way he was talking, he was making it sound like we were?
A couple?
The thought melted into my bloodstream. A couple. Wyatt and I as a couple.
I mean, of course we weren抰。 We were practicing. He was helping me and I was helping him.
But the thought was nice.
Randeep clapped Wyatt抯 shoulder. 揋ood for you, Wyatt. I抦 glad everyone抯 okay.?
Wyatt nodded once and Randeep returned to the group.
揊alse alarm, everyone. There抯 no one in distress,?he announced to the group in a loud, booming voice. 揑t was Hannah Nielsen and Wyatt Rhodes fooling around.?
A strangled noise of humiliation gurgled out of my throat. My face burned so hot I might melt. Wyatt returned to my side with a huge grin while I watched in horror.
揌annah Nielsen??Miri asked. 揂nd Wyatt Rhodes??Her eyes were bigger than I had ever seen them. She grabbed Randeep抯 arms with force. She was a tiny woman of five foot two, but he reared back in fear at the savage fire in her eyes. 揟ell me the truth. Are you kidding right now??
揌e told me himself.?
Her sharp, interested gaze whipped to us, where I peeked around the corner.
Wyatt抯 hand slipped into mine and he tugged. 揕et抯 get out of here, bookworm, before we have to answer some awkward questions.?
He didn抰 have to ask me twice. We returned to the truck and Wyatt started the car. In the side mirror, I spotted Miri running towards us. Wyatt started the truck and exited the parking lot, rolling down the window to wave at her.
揑抦 so happy for you two!?she called after us.
Wyatt took one look at my face and burst out laughing again, the lines around his eyes crinkling and his grin reaching ear to ear.
揑抦 going to move to Newfoundland.?I covered my burning face with my hands. 揈veryone knows now.?
He shrugged, still wearing that grin. 揝o what. Let them know.?
Know what? What were we?
I was living in the present, or trying to, and those were questions for the future. I blew a breath out, glanced at Wyatt, and burst out laughing.
19
Hannah
The next evening, I sat at the counter in a bar in Port Kennedy, a nearby town, waiting for Naya and watching my phone as the video of Wyatt chopping wood went viral. I had sent him a screenshot of the video, pointing out the views and comments, and he responded with nice work, bookworm and a winky emoji.
A shiver rolled down my spine at the memory of what Wyatt had done with me. How he had touched me and made me moan.
And then I remembered Miri and Randeep reenacting those moans and I cringed for the thousandth time that day.
揧ou must be Hannah.?
I glanced up from my phone. Naya greeted me with a huge smile and a warm hug.
揝o good to meet you,?I said as she took her seat on the stool beside me.
Naya beamed at me and her brown eyes shone. 揑抦 excited to talk concepts with you. Thanks for sending over that Pinterest board.?
Earlier in the week, Liya and I had trawled for images of murals we loved, and they all had a common theme梫ivid, striking, and colorful.
I nodded and swallowed as guilt caught me by the throat. I was sitting in a bar planning a mural to which my dad had said no. I was going to cover up the mural my mom had commissioned.
The mural needed an update, though. The books in the existing mural were from a different time, and they didn抰 represent the world anymore. They didn抰 represent Queen抯 Cove, and they didn抰 represent publishing.
There was no doubt I was erasing her by painting over it, though. My heart twisted.
Naya pulled out a tablet and tapped through screens. 揑抳e been thinking a lot about our conversation about your mom.?
My chest was tight. 揙h??