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She giggled and pointed to the closest queen-size bed. I gently set her down. It didn’t take long for the two of us to be completely lost in one another.
With Skylar wrapped in my arms, I held her close to my body while she drifted off to sleep. I made a silent vow that I would do whatever I had to do to prove to Skylar that she was the only woman I wanted, that I would ever want.
I knew we both had a battle ahead of us.
***
Skylar’s phone rang next to the bed. She jumped up and reached for it. “Hello?” With a frown, she dropped back to her pillow. “Yes, I’m very aware of how worried everyone was, Mom.” She turned and looked at me. “We’ve been…talking.”
Her smile caused me to smile. I slipped out of bed and pulled my jeans back on. Skylar reached for her shirt and pulled it on as she sat up. The way it barely covered her body had me wanting her again. I pushed my wayward thoughts away as Skylar continued to speak to her mother.
“I’ll be in class on Monday, I swear. But, hey, Mom, I was thinking maybe I’d like to talk to someone. Yes, like a counselor. I really feel like I need to confide in someone neutral about some of these feelings I’ve pushed down.”
When she grinned, I knew her mother was agreeing with her. Probably offering to help her find someone.
“Thank you, Mom. I’m sorry I scared you and Daddy, but I did call and let you know we were okay.” Her body sank. “I know. I’ll call Mitch and Skip and apologize to both of them. I love you, too.”
She hit End and let out a long sigh as she made her way over to me. “I guess that went better than I deserve.”
With a lighthearted chuckle, I shook my head. “I feel like I need to put you over my knee and spank you.”
Her brows lifted.
Reaching down, I quickly kissed her on the lips. “We haven’t really talked yet, Sky.”
Gripping my shirt, she buried her head in my chest. “I’m so sorry I worried you.”
I took her hand in mine and led her over to the bed. Once we sat down, she turned to face me.
“I saw the text and couldn’t help where my thoughts went. Zeb had mentioned y’all didn’t have a team meeting, but you never told me it was canceled. Then, I saw this girl texting about y’all meeting up, and I…I let my biggest fear take over my logic.”
With a nod of my head, I squeezed her hand a bit more. “Sky, I love you. I’ve asked you to marry me, and I only want to be with you. It was totally my fault for not telling you the meeting had been canceled and that I was heading to a study group. At the time it all happened, I honestly didn’t think twice about it.”
She chewed on her lip. “I don’t want to have these doubts. But…I see how Skip treats women, and I think, if my own brother does it, why wouldn’t you?”
“Because I’m not Skip. I’m not Mitch. I’m not Joe Blow. I’m Wyatt, and I’m crazy in love with you.”
A smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. I smiled, and that was all she needed.
Her eyes lit up, and she threw her arms around me. “I’m crazy in love with you, too.”
Tightly folding my arms around her, I inhaled her sweet vanilla scent. “We have to promise to talk to each other if something like this happens.”
Skylar pulled back, twisting her hands in her lap. “I think, with me talking to someone, it might actually help a lot.”
“I agree. But we have to be honest with one another. Things are going to be stressful with school and football and, hell, just life in general. The last thing I want is for that to affect us.”
She nodded.
I placed my hand on the side of her face. Skylar grinned and leaned into it. The need to protect her caused my chest to feel like a vise was squeezing it. I hated that she was dealing with things she couldn’t talk to me about. I hated that she was still hurting from what that asshole had done to her.
“I’d never hurt you, Sky.”
Her hand lifted and covered mine. “I know you wouldn’t, Wyatt.”
I hoped like hell she believed those words.
Inhaling a deep breath, I slowly blew it out. “Finish getting dressed. Skip wants us to meet him for dinner. Be ready for your next lashing.”
With a moan, Skylar was soon dressed. After pulling her hair up into a ponytail, she put a bit of makeup on, and we headed down to the lobby to meet her brothers.
Squeezing my hand, she took in a deep breath and slowly blew it out as we stepped off the elevator.
