“Of course,” Katie said. “What’s up?”
“Do you feel anythin’ for me?” I asked.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, ever since our encounter. Was that just a bit of fun, or was it somethin’ more?”
She lifted her hand up to cup my cheek, and I closed my eyes. I nuzzled into the palm of her hand, my lips turning in to kiss her skin. Fuck, she was so damn warm. I wanted to pull her into my lap and have her all to myself. I couldn't believe another one of my brothers had touched her. She was mine. All mine.
She had to be.
“I’ve always had a thing for you, Wyatt.”
“Really?” I asked.
“Yep. Ever since we were kids. With you cheering in the softball stands and everythin’.”
“Why didn’t you say anythin’?” I asked.
“Because I was gonna go off to college in the city, and I knew being with you would’ve prevented me from going.”
“I would never have let you make that decision.”
“I’m a bullheaded woman, Wyatt. You can’t control me,” she said.
“So, what does that mean for us then?” I asked.
“I don’t know. I don’t know where we go from here.”
“Katie, I—”
Shit. Was I really going to say this? Was I really going to do this now? In the damn break room of the resort?
“I’ve always loved you,” I said.
“What?” Katie asked, looking stunned.
“Ever since high school. Ever since prom. Ever since those softball games and those parties and those bonfires. You’ve been the only woman who’s ever caught my eye, and all the women I was with after you left paled in comparison. Terrible substitutes for what I really wanted.”
“Wyatt, are you serious?”
“As a heart attack. I love you, Katie. I did then, and I do now.”
Before I could think about what I was doing, I raised up from her hand and captured her lips. She whimpered into my warmth, her body leaning toward me as I cradled her closely. I felt the tip of her tongue dance along my lips, begging me for more as I opened to let her in. She tasted like coffee and doughnuts. The sweetest taste I could ever have imagined. I tilted my head to the side and deepened the kiss, feeling her body buzzing for me.
Just me.
Not Dylan.
Not Andrew.
Not even Caleb.
But I had to know. And I knew I risked everything with her by asking this question, but it was going to gnaw at me all damn night if I didn’t ask.
I had to know if she felt the same way.
“Katie?” I asked.