Page 61 of Wild Rivals

“Why is Wilde here?” Rhett asks, his tone filled with suspicion. It sends a thread of apprehension down my spine.

I close my eyes, taking a moment of respite before stepping back and running my hands over my hips. “He was my date.” I lift my chin a little higher as three sets of brown eyes narrow at me. “We were supposed to go out to dinner when everything happened.”

“You’re seeing him? Of all people,” Deacon demands, his brows raised with his accusation.

I level him with a stare and lift my chin in challenge. “Not that I think this is the place for this discussion. But, yes, I was going on a date with Wyatt ‘of all people’.”

It’s clear that Deacon has an opinion on this information based on the muscle ticking in his jaw and the tension coating his features. I’m sure this feels like a betrayal to him, and if it were up to me, I would have found a better way to break the news to him. As it is, I’m glad Wyatt is here and that we don’t have to keep this a secret anymore.

Wyatt approaches, standing beside me. I reach for his hand, taking the comfort I’m not sure he knows he gives me.

“Given everything that has happened today, I think maybe I should get going,” Wyatt says, keeping a wary eye on my brothers.

I squeeze his hand. “I’d like you to stay.”

He hesitates for a beat before nodding. “Of course, but only if it’s okay with everyone. I don’t want to overstep.”

Deacon shrugs a shoulder before brushing past us and leading the way to the seats. Sawyer follows in his wake, dipping his chin at Wyatt.

Rhett stares at Wyatt, folding his arms across his chest before saying, “Just don’t start any shit.”

Wyatt holds his hands up. “You won’t hear a peep out of me.”

Rhett grunts before heading toward Deacon and Sawyer. And just like that, my focus is back on how long it’s been since I arrived. I glance toward the doors that I’ve seen staff come and go from for the last half an hour before Wyatt loops an arm around my waist and guides me toward my brothers.

Someone dressed in green scrubs comes through the doors that lead into the patients’ area. They look around before spotting us and I feel the dread in my stomach drop to my feet. Please let this be good news.

I stand, followed by the men in my life, a tenseness to their features that I can’t quite get a read on.

When the doctor is in front of us, I know exactly what he’s going to say before the words slip past his lips. It’s layered in the way his brows are pinched and the fact that he doesn’t offer a reassuring smile as he reaches us.

“I’m so sorry.”

My legs buckle beneath me like the world has turned on its axis and ripped everything away from me. I feel Wyatt rather than see him as he catches me and lifts me into his arms, pressing me against his chest and being the pillar I need.

The doctor’s words break through, mingling with my cries as I bury my face in Wyatt’s chest.

“We tried everything we could.”

“He was too far gone.”

“I’m so sorry for your loss.”

How am I supposed to go on? How do I put one foot in front of the other and carry on with my life when the man that has always been a constant in it is gone?

37

MADDIE

The last week has passed in a blur. My days have been filled with making decisions I didn’t think I’d need to for years, and my nights have been haunted by the sound of my cries. All I can do is take each day as it comes and hope for the best. There were calls to make, people to speak to, and things to sign.

My brothers have been hovering in the distance, and although I have no doubt that they miss Daddy, I don’t think they feel his loss as harshly as I do. It’s as though part of me died with him.

Wyatt has been steadfast in his support, despite having no reason to be. It’s not like we’d been dating before this all happened, and yet he’s been calling or texting me nearly every night in spite of my lackluster replies. I’ve found it hard to feel anything beyond my grief and shutting down feels like the easiest way to cope right now.

The first night home after Daddy had gone was the hardest. Wyatt drove me back, and when I stared at the spot where it had happened, he held me as I tried to fight back my tears. I begged him to stay that night and broke down when he agreed.

He was so attentive, smoothing his hand over my hair as he murmured soft, reassuring words to me. It was around two in the morning that I realized he needed to go. That I needed to let him go. I shouldn’t be taking the comfort he so easily offers when I have nothing to give in return. Besides, he never signed up to take care of me. We had sex, and a date that never happened. That’s all.