“Whatever. I gave him hell when I got home.” He’d called Ryder the minute he walked in the door and didn’t care he could hear Candi giggling in the background. Ryder didn’t mind though and pointed out how they all did that to each other and always had and Wyatt had to get his panties out of the crack of his ass.
Then he remembered that his brothers and cousins all got pissy when it happened to them when they were serious about their women too.
Was he serious about Adriana though? He wasn’t sure about anything.
“I know. He called to tell me. Then it got me thinking about when you did it to me. So you must be making progress if you went to dinner?”
“Still friends in her eyes. But we’ve been doing things a lot. That was the fourth time.”
“Dude. That’s dating. She’s playing with you.”
“She isn’t,” he said. “She’s not that way.” At least he didn’t think so. It was more like she was skittish.
“Only one way to find out,” Sam said.
“How’s that?”
“Invite her to the party this weekend. There will be lots going on. She likes to play sports. We’ll have horseshoes and basketball. See what she says.”
“I doubt she’ll do it.”
“Then put the guilt on her. Make something up. Or trick her.”
“I won’t trick her.”
“Oh man. Yeah, you’ve got it bad. You want to trick everyone.”
20
Afraid To Admit
As if Ryder showing up during the dinner wasn’t bad enough, somehow Wyatt managed to talk Adriana into going to his aunt’s house for a Memorial Day party on Saturday.
She had to be nuts to agree to this, but he talked it up like it was a big activity fest and they’d been spending their weekends doing stuff outdoors anyway.
He’d told her they had pickup basketball games and horseshoes, volleyball. Lots of food and drink. He was going and that meant she would have been by herself on Saturday.
She was getting used to his company and the thought of sitting around or doing something by herself on a beautiful day had no appeal.
Was he wearing her down? Yeah, he kind of was, but she was afraid to admit it.
She answered the door when Wyatt knocked. He was standing there in gray cargo shorts and a red fitted T-shirt. Nothing ever was loose on his body other than his shorts or scrubs.
Did she like looking at him in those fitted shirts and seeing muscles that most men only dreamed of having? Yeah...the woman in her could admire that all day long and have some body gushing dreams about it at night too.
“Ready to go?” he asked her.
“Yeah. Am I dressed okay?” Normally she didn’t care one way or another. But she would be meeting some of his family yet she wanted to be comfortable enough to move and play games too.
“You look perfect,” he said.
She’d put on the shorts she wore hiking that day; they were stretchy and comfortable, allowing her to breathe. She had a purple T-shirt on with breathable material too. It didn’t look athletic but it was. One of those hybrid outfits where you could be active, not stink, and still look good. That was what she was going for.
She grabbed the bag by the floor and put it over her shoulder. “I’ve got a change of clothes in here. I know it’s a party and in case I get too sweaty or something I can change. I don’t know. I’m not used to things like this.”
“That’s good,” he said. “I always have a change of clothes too. But you know that already.”
When they were in the car and on the way, she asked, “So how are you introducing me?”
He turned to look at her. “As Adriana Lopez.”
She shook her head. “You know what I mean.”
“How do you want me to introduce you?” he asked. Damn, he was putting her on the spot.
“We are friends,” she said but not as firmly as normal.
He pulled over to the side of the road. “Let’s be real here. Do you want to keep lying to yourself or me? Or to my family.”
Now was the challenge he was laying down. He knew her weak spot. She wouldn’t lie. “I don’t want to be compared to all the women you’ve dated in the past. I don’t want to be looked at like that. Your cousin Ryder already pointed it out and that almost made me not agree to come today.”
“But you did. Why?”
“It sounded fun. We’ve been spending weekends doing things like this.”
“We have. Why else?”
“I didn’t want to be alone today,” she said. “You didn’t have to ask me, but you did. Why is that? This is your family. How did you think you were going to introduce me?”
“Maybe because I’m not considering us just friends like you. I’m waiting for you to catch up. We’ve been out multiple times doing things that friends would do, but there is a heat and sizzle between us that you are fighting. I’m letting you have your way.”
She wanted to bare her teeth at that comment. “My way?”
“You said you weren’t ready. I’m waiting for you to be. If you want to be just friends...for now. Fine. But your body can’t lie even if your words are.” He put his hand on her thigh and ran it up and down. Her body erupted in shivers. The kind that heated her up, not cooled her down. “Want to argue with me?”
“No,” she said. “Just introduce me by my name. Let people assume what they want.”
“That works,” he said, pulling back into the road.
When they got to his aunt’s house, Adriana asked, “Where do your parents live?”
“Not that far. About a mile or so away in the same development. My father and his brother are twins. Did I tell you that?”
“No,” she said. “I guess multiples run in the family.”
“They do. You know my brothers are twins and I’m a
