Stay with Me

“I’m so happy.”

She immediately holds up her hands. “Do not death squeeze me again.”

“Can I kiss you?”

“No.”

“Spoilsport.” I laugh and pull her bag inside, stowing it next to the closet. “I was just about to order room service. Are you hungry?”

“Hungry and grimy from the flight. Is this the only bed?”

“Yeah,” I say. “Choose something to eat, and then you can shower while I order food.”

“Does this mean we’re sleeping together again?”

“Of course. Seriously, though, look at the menu. I’m starving.”

She narrows her eyes at me menacingly. “I’m not snuggling with you.”

“Of course, you are. What do you want?”

“I should have stayed home.”

“You love me.”

She laughs and takes a quick look at the menu. “I’ll have the five-hundred-dollar kid’s cheeseburger. Jesus, why is room service so expensive?”

“That might be an exaggeration. I’ll get you the five-thousand-dollar big person’s cheeseburger.” I laugh and shoo her into the bathroom. “Enjoy your shower, and I’ll order. And, Stasia?”

“Yeah.”

“Thank you. I’m seriously happy that you’re here.”

“You’re welcome. I want the two-thousand-dollar onion rings, too.”

“Done.”

~Wyatt~

There’s a moving truck parked in Amelia’s driveway. I don’t know if she’s over there. I haven’t seen her.

Not that I’ve been looking for her. If anything, I’ve been avoiding any and all reminders of her. Not that it helps to dull the ache that’s set up permanent residence in my chest.

Almost three weeks without her has been torture that I don’t wish on my worst enemy. But I have to learn to get over it because, otherwise, it’s going to be a very long, painful life.

I grab my keys and walk out to my car. I’m meeting Jace and Levi for lunch. Before I can climb into the vehicle, I hear my name being called from across the street.

“Wyatt!” It’s Archer, jogging toward me. He doesn’t look like he’s going to take a swing at me.

Yet.

I don’t say anything, I just wait for him to join me.

“I’m going to cut to the chase,” he says. “You should cut her a break.”

“She lied.”

He rolls his eyes and pulls his phone out of his back pocket, scrolling. “Here. These are photos from her divorce party, months before she even met you.”

I take the phone and scroll through photos of a smiling Amelia. She’s holding a cake that says HAPPY DIVORCE.

“She was divorced, man. She even has signed papers from the court. Then the asshole contested it, and some jerk judge decided to entertain it. I’m not going to tell you everything because that’s her story to tell, but I have a feeling that she tried to explain, and you weren’t ready to hear it.”

“It doesn’t change the fact that she was married when I met her, and she didn’t tell me. Even knowing the way I feel about marriage, she didn’t say anything.”

Archer holds up his hands. “All I’m saying is give her a chance to talk before you decide to cut her off for good. And now, I’m out of it. Good luck, man.”

He jogs back over to the truck, and I climb into my car.

She did text and call, and I didn’t respond. There wasn’t anything to say that hadn’t already been said.

I quickly scroll through her texts. It’s mostly, please talk to me.

There’s one voicemail that I haven’t listened to. I hit play.

Hey, it’s me. Again. I can’t get you to talk to me, so I’m going to try to quickly explain some things in this voicemail. I don’t know how long I can talk before it cuts me off, but here I go.

I didn’t intentionally lie to you, Wyatt. I am divorced, and I can show you the papers if you want to see them. Vinnie contested because he wasn’t happy with the settlement amount. I’ve made a lot of money in the past few years, and he thought he should have more, even though he’d been verbally abusive and mean to me for a long time. He hated my job, like I told you.

Anyway, months after the divorce was final, I got a letter saying that it wasn’t final, and that we’d be going back to court. I met with my attorney, and she recommended I get out of L.A. for a while so she could handle the legal stuff.

And then I met you.

And I fell in love with you.

She sniffles.

I was so happy and busy being with you that I never even thought about Vinnie and his stupid contest case. It had been such a long and difficult divorce that I was just happy to be with my family and with this amazing man who loved me back, the way I deserve to be loved.

I do love you, Wyatt. But I’m going to leave you be now because you clearly don’t want to hear from me. All I ask is, if you cared for me even a little bit, please let me talk to you in person so I can apologize and explain. Please don’t let this be something that he takes from me, too.

Okay. Bye.

The message ends, and I blow out a breath and toss my phone onto the seat next to me. Am I being stubborn? Ridiculous?

Is there a grey area here?

I start the car and drive to the restaurant where I’m meeting my brothers. They’re both already there, and there’s a beer waiting for me.

“I need this.” I take a long sip.

“You still look like shit,” Jace says.

“Thanks. I feel like shit.”

“Have you seen her?” Levi asks.

“Do we have to talk about this? Don’t either of you have something else to discuss? A woman? Work? Something?”

“I don’t,” Jace says and looks at Levi. “You?”

“Nope, I’m good.”

“You both suck.” I sigh. “No, I haven’t seen her. I have no idea what’s going on with her. Because she fucking lied to me.”

But for the first time, doubt has planted itself in my head.

“What are you thinking?” Levi asks. I tell them about my encounter with Archer, and the voicemail from Amelia.

“Huh,” Jace says.

“So, she doesn’t necessarily have a lovesick husband pining away for her,” Levi points out.

“And she’s most likely divorced now. Again,” Jace adds.

“Yes.”

I drink more of my beer.

“You know,” Jace begins, “you keep punishing her for Cruella’s fuck-ups. Maybe you shouldn’t be together.”

I narrow my eyes at him, but he keeps talking.

“I’m not saying that to be a dick. You know I saw Lia a few days after it all went down, and she told me quite a bit. I think she needed to explain it all to someone, and you wouldn’t hear her.”

I swallow, guilt sitting heavily in my stomach.

“And I think Cruella really fucked you up, man,” Jace continues. “I get it, she’s a selfish bitch, and what she pulled isn’t cool. But Lia isn’t her. And she may have screwed up, but she wants to make it right.”

“I fucked up,” I say and drain the last of my beer.

“I think you both fucked up,” Levi says.

“I wouldn’t listen to her. I didn’t let her talk.”

“Okay, you fucked up more,” he replies with a shrug.