“A battle of wills. Sounds interesting.”
“Instant chemistry,” he said. She felt her face flame up. “I think no one thought anything of it at first when they went at it and then they realized they just annoyed each other so much because they were attracted. Or that is what Drake says. Anyway, now they are engaged.”
“Tell me about Drake’s twin. Noah, right? He’s engaged too?”
“Yes. That was at Easter. Noah is a high school principal. Sebastian had gotten in trouble and was in his office. Noah called Paige, his aunt who has custody of him.”
“Can I ask why that is? Or is it too personal?”
He looked at her, and she could tell he was weighing his options. “It’s not really a big secret. Paige’s sister is in a mental institution. High security. She murdered one of her boyfriends. She has schizophrenia.”
“That had to be so hard on her son.” She couldn’t imagine and the things she thought of her own mother were small in comparison.
“It was. It is. But Paige is trying to adopt him. Cora, her sister, is signing the papers to allow it to happen. It’s for the best for everyone. Anyway. That is how Noah and Paige met. It wasn’t long. They only dated about six months before he proposed.”
“I guess when you know, you just know,” she said. She’d always thought that, but it seemed her radar was broken lately. It’d flashed and pointed right at Spencer and look at how well that turned out.
* * *
Yes, when it was right you knew. That was what Wyatt kept telling himself with Adriana. He just had to get her to see that.
Was he thinking of love and marriage and kids? No. Absolutely not.
He wasn’t stupid. They hadn’t even kissed.
But he liked her as a person. He enjoyed the time they spent together.
And he was drawn to her like he was to pranking his siblings. It was a need. A want.
A desire to do it.
To get attention?
To feel needed?
To make people laugh?
All of those things.
He did it because it made him feel good more than anything. Sometimes in life he felt he had to do that for himself.
His parents never neglected him or his siblings.
They were all loved and taken care of.
But Drake was the oldest. Noah was close enough and they were twins. They had each other and they were referred to as one most times.
Jade was the baby and the only girl.
Wyatt was just...the one that made people laugh.
He needed to be known for something and that was what he ended up gravitating toward.
“Well, so far everyone is happy and that is all that matters,” he said of his brothers. “Speaking of happy. I’m glad it’s a movie today. I’m not sure my body could take much more after yesterday. Not that I didn’t have a great time, but damn, I noticed some bruises on my body today.”
She laughed. The soft one that sent heat to his body more than he could control lately.
“I’ve got a few myself. One on my butt. I’m not sure if it’s a handprint or not. Maybe it’s from hitting the wall climbing over it, or your palm pushing me up.”
He remembered putting his hand on her nice lush ass and just wanted to squeeze and knead, not give her a boost to get her over the wall.
“Could be a combination of both,” he said. “Sorry about that.”
“Nah. Don’t be sorry. It was so worth seeing the other couple arguing over being beaten by us. Did you hear them complaining that we were old? Really? I’m not old. I take offense to that.”
“They were probably still in college or just out of it. Probably barely legal to drink. To them we are old.”
“They could only dream to be in as good shape as us!”
“You’re right.” He pulled into the mall parking lot and they both got out and made their way to the movie theater.
Before they got to the window, she said, “I’m paying. You paid for everything yesterday. You’re not doing it today. Got it?”
He could tell by the look in her eyes that he wasn’t going to win this. Since he was here with her right now, he’d take that and not fight her over movie tickets. “Fine. Just don’t tell anyone I let you buy.”
Once they got a bucket of popcorn to split and two drinks, she asked, “Does it hurt your pride to have a woman buy? What world are you living in?”
“A world where I was raised to pay.”
“If we were dating,” she said. “Maybe. But we are just friends.”
“What’s wrong with your nose?” he asked. She started to scratch it fast.
“Nothing. I swear I’ve got a bite on the bridge of it. It itches.”
He looked closer, but it was dim in the theater and he couldn’t see anything. “Looks fine to me.”
The lights went out and the movie started. The two of them ate their popcorn, their hands touching more than once. It became a game to him after that to do it once it occurred to him she was going to try to yank her hand away and the motion spilled the popcorn.
“Grow up,” she whispered. “Half of this is going to be on the floor if you keep doing that.”
“Do I have germs that you’ve got to pull your hand away every time our fingers touch?”
He could see the narrowing of her eyes by the glow of the movie and wanted to laugh but knew enough to hold it back.
“You’ve had your fingers in your mouth though. It’s like double dipping.”
“You have too,” he said back. He was trying not to be insulted.
She laughed at him. “Fine. Just keep your fingers on your side of the bucket.”
He rolled his eyes and decided he had enough fun with her for now. No use angering her.
When the movie was done, they decided to get dinner. Munching on popcorn just held them over, nothing more.
They went
