AllFreeNovel
Share Us
If anyone would have told me that I would have Wyatt Sullivan, former NFL quarterback and head football coach, doting on me and impressing me with a romantic picnic, I would have called them a damn liar.
Yet there we were.
Finally, he stacked two sandwiches, also wrapped delicately in paper, on top of one another and lifted a chilled bottle of white wine from the cooler.
“Did you do all this?”
Wyatt looked offended, his hand spreading wide across his chest. “You doubt me?”
I pinned him with a stare and tried not to laugh.
“Fine.” He pulled the cork from the wine and filled two stemless glasses. “I had a little help. But itwasmy idea.”
I took the glass he offered and looked out onto the lake. The night was so clear you could see the hundreds of stars reflected on the water’s surface. I sipped the wine, and the dry-but-buttery flavors of fruit and tanginess rolled over my tongue.
“Mmm. This is really good!”
Wyatt took his own sip and hummed in agreement. “I caved and paid a visit to Charles Attwater’s shop. Just don’t tell Lee. He’ll be pissed and paint me as a traitor.”
“Because Lee’s clearly in love with Annie, right?”
Wyatt shrugged. “I think Lee’s too stupid to see what’s right in front of him, but I’m not going to be the one to tell him that.”
We laughed and drank and listened to the sounds of cicadas filling the night air. Wyatt fed me small bites of salami and cheese, peppered with kisses in between our easy conversation. I recognized a glow in his eyes, and it wasn’t from the lanterns.
Gently I teased the top edge of my dress with my fingers. “Let’s go for a swim.”
Wyatt growled as his body covered mine, kissing me as he made quick work of removing my dress.
Stripped down, I stood at the edge of the water with one hand over my naked breasts. Wyatt stood, gloriously naked and unashamed.
We held hands as we toed closer to the edge of the lake.
“It might still be a little cold,” he warned.
I gripped his hand in mind. “Let’s do it.”
I ran forward, pulling Wyatt with me and splashing the cool water as we ran into the lake. I screamed and laughed. Wyatt lifted me as we got deeper into the water. His mouth found mine, and we tumbled forward, soaking us both. My legs wound around his waist as he supported my weight.
When we broke from our kiss, Wyatt rested his forehead on mine. “Lark.”
“Yes?” Our breaths were heavy pants as I clung to him.
He didn’t answer but instead moved me lower until he slipped inside me.
I let my desperate cries ring out into the night. Held by him, I had never felt safer or more cherished.
When we came down from the high of our lovemaking, we settled by the outcropping of rocks that I had once used as a hiding place. Wyatt was next to me, chest deep in water, and I rested the side of my face on the arm I had flung across the rock. I openly stared at him. I loved that I could do that now our feelings were out on the table.
Well, mostly.
Wyatt and I hadn’t exactlyopenlydiscussed our scary, deep-down feelings or what this relationship/arrangement really was, but I didn’t care. Things were too good to screw it up with messy talk about labels or the end of summer.
“I think we should talk about the end of summer.”
Well, fuck.
Wyatt wasn’t looking at me but rather out into the dark woods beyond the far edge of the lake.
