Falling for You Read online

  “I’m here! I’m here! Only five minutes late!” Zack was grinning sheepishly, but that smile froze when he saw Wyatt. “Have I been replaced?”

  “Zack, you know I could never replace you.” I grabbed my coffee and stepped around the counter. “The coffee is already brewing. Tyra will be in for the first shift in 30 minutes. Try not to burn the place down.”

  “You are such a strict boss,” Zack said.

  It looked like he was about to introduce himself, so I grabbed Wyatt’s arm and pulled him out the door. “This way,” I said when he hesitated. “Come on.”

  “Are you embarrassed to introduce me to your employee?” he demanded.

  “No. It’s just a much longer conversation than I have time for right now.” I kept walking and eventually Wyatt caught up. “If we stayed much longer he would recognize you, despite your amazingly incognito hat. Then he’d want to know how you and I met and if we’ve stayed in touch all these years…Who has time for that whole saga?”

  “We did,” Wyatt quipped easily. “Are you going to introduce me to your family or just hope they don’t notice the strange guy sitting at the table?”

  “Oh, there’s no way the girls aren’t going to notice you.” I grimaced a little. “The twins are the oldest at thirteen. Kelsey and Arya are obsessed with Ryder Strong.” I glanced at him. “They have pictures of you on their walls.”

  Wyatt chuckled. “Thirteen-year-old girls do love Ryder Strong. Have you told them that you know me?”

  “Nope.” I ignored the hurt look he gave me. “Like I said, who has time to dig up the saga that is Wyatt Hudson and Brooklyn Monroe?”

  “You keep saying that like us having a past is a bad thing.” Wyatt grabbed me by the elbow, forcing me to stop walking. “I thought most of our past was good.”

  “Except for the part where Ryder died? Or the part where you left? Or the part where we both pretended those things hadn’t happened and spent one amazing night together?” I tried to yank my arm away, but he was holding on tight. “When you remember us, what do you remember?”

  “All of it.” Wyatt looked right into my eyes. “I remember every detail, Brooklyn. No matter how hard I tried to forget you, I couldn’t. Why do you think I’m here right now at 7:00 in the morning about to have breakfast with your family?”

  I shook my head. “I have no idea, Wy. Anytime I think I’ve finally figured you out, you do something that makes my head spin.”

  “Welcome to my word,” he muttered.

  “We’re running late.” I looked at him until he let go of my arm. We walked the last block in silence. I entered the house through the side entrance, knowing it would be unlocked. It led right to the kitchen where Brian was drinking a cup of coffee.

  “Good morning,” I said lightly.

  “Brook, you know I love you, but you can’t just bring your random hookup to breakfast,” Brian said, adding dramatically, “What about the children?”

  I thought about throwing my coffee at him. “This isn’t my hookup, Bri. That guy took off right after the sex. This is an old friend I ran into this morning at the café.”

  “Old friend, huh?” Brian gave Wyatt a skeptical look. “I’m the brother-in-law, Brian.”

  “Wyatt.”

  They shook hands and Brian flinched. “You look really familiar. Have we met?”

  “Definitely not,” Trisha said as she sailed into the room. “But we have. Good to see you again, Wyatt.”

  “Trish. You haven’t changed a bit.” He flinched in surprise when she threw her arms around him. It was a vastly warmer greeting than he’d received from me.

  “Good to see you and my sister are talking again.” Trisha turned to me. “The kids had a late night because somebody didn’t put them to bed at their normal time.” She glared at Brian. “I have a feeling they’ll be sleeping in a little later than usual. I’m sure you’ll find a way to occupy the time.”

  “Have fun,” I said.

  Brian said, “Wait. Is anyone going to tell me who this guy is?”

  “I’ll tell you in the car, honey.” Trisha nudged him across the room. “We’ll be back in a few hours.”

  “Trish is just as friendly as I remember,” Wyatt said when they were gone.

  “Oh god. Please tell me you didn’t hook up with her in high school.” I was fairly sure that Trisha would’ve told me if that had happened, but she also hadn’t been a prude in high school so it was certainly possible.

  He laughed. “No, we did not. I wouldn’t have done that to you.”

  “To me?” I asked.

  “Brooklyn, if I’d hooked up with your sister you would’ve murdered me.” Wyatt took a seat at the kitchen island. “It would’ve been a lot like how I felt when you started hooking up with Ryder.”

  “What?” My mouth dropped open.

  “He was like a brother to me. You know that.” Wyatt was avoiding my gaze, focusing instead on his coffee cup. “It was weird when the two of you started dating.”

  “You and I were never a thing, Wy.” I knew I didn’t have to remind him of that fact, but he was acting like he might not remember.

  He chuckled. “Yeah, I know. That doesn’t mean I liked seeing you with another guy.”

  “You hooked up with almost every girl in our class,” I protested. “I wasn’t allowed to have one boyfriend just because he happened to be your best friend?”

  “I didn’t say my feelings were fair.” He finally looked at me. “Why’d you have to pick Ryder, though? I could’ve handled it if it had been any other guy.”

  “I never knew that it bothered you. You never said anything.” I tried to remember if there had been any signs.

  “I’ve had a lot of practice hiding my feelings,” Wyatt said. “I never really understood what you saw in Ryder. He was my best friend, but I saw how he treated you, Brooklyn.”

  I shrugged. “There’s a reason we broke up so much.”

  “But you always took him back.” Wyatt shook his head. “Why? You deserved so much better than that.”

  “You knew me in high school, Wy. I was a wallflower. I was shy and awkward and didn’t have many friends. When Ryder started looking at me as more than just the girl he’d lived next door to for ten years, I was flattered. I wanted to have someone to kiss at New Years and to take to prom.” I felt a little embarrassed admitting that I’d been so desperate. “Ryder wasn’t the best boyfriend, but he could’ve been a lot worse.”

  “Did you just write our second song?” Wyatt teased.

  “I hope we can do better than that.” I reached over and plucked the hat right off his head. “No need to hide in here,” I said.

  Wyatt ran a hand through his hair. “I’ve got hat hair.”

  “You look fine,” I said, then corrected myself. “Better than fine, actually.”

  “Yeah?” He grinned. “You want to run your hands through my hair, don’t you?”

  “No. But it’s nice to be able to see your eyes. You always had the most beautiful eyes.” I let myself look into them for a moment. “Glad to see they haven’t changed.”

  He didn’t say anything for a long time. When he finally did speak, my heart nearly stopped. “There’s a line in Falling for You about the guy having the most beautiful eyes you’d ever seen. I’d always assumed that you were talking about Ryder…”

  “Ryder had boring eyes,” I said quietly. “They never had the same effect on me that yours did.”

  “Brooklyn, I–”

  “Aunt Brook! It’s pancake time!” The littlest of my sister’s kids ran into the room in his dinosaur pajamas. Jaxson had no idea what he had just interrupted, nor did he care that his shirt was on backwards and his hair was sticking straight up.

  I turned away from Wyatt and bent down to scoop him up. “I’m so glad you’re finally awake. I’m starving. You need to make me breakfast.”

  “Aunt Brook! I’m only four!” He laughed and squirmed out of my arms.

  “Are you expecting me to make
breakfast?” I asked with mock indignation.

  “You always make breakfast on Sundays,” Jaxson said confidently.

  I sighed elaborately. “I suppose that’s true. Do me a favor. Go wake up your sisters. Be extra loud this morning. Jump on them if you have to.”

  “Really?” Jaxson asked excitedly.

  “Sure. Just don’t hurt anyone. If any more of you kids end up needing stitches while in my care, she’ll never let me watch you again.” I ruffled his hair and he ran from the room.

  “Do children often need stitches while in your care?” Wyatt asked with laughter dancing in his eyes. “Should I be worried?”

  I winced a little when I heard screaming upstairs. “I have a lax babysitting style that sometimes doesn’t end well. But how else would I have become their favorite aunt?”

  “Does Brian have a lot of siblings?” he asked.

  “Nope. He’s an only child.”

  Wyatt laughed. “You’re being extra-adorable this morning, Brooklyn. I find you very charming right now.”

  “Aunt Brook! Jax is being a total brat!” Kelsey stomped into the room in her pink flannel pajamas, looking like she may have just murdered her little brother.

  “Kels, we’ve talked about this. Don’t call your brother a brat,” I scolded.

  “Fine.” She crossed her arms stubbornly over her chest. “Jax is being an impudent rascal. Better?”

  “Much better. Way to keep up your vocab studies,” I said. “Where are the other impudent rascals that look like you?”

  Kelsey had just noticed Wyatt for the first time. Her mouth was practically on the floor as she stared at him. Wyatt didn’t seem to know what to do, so he looked at me. “Right. Kelsey, this is my friend Wyatt.”

  “Kels, did you steal my phone charger?” Arya was so busy looking down at her phone that she smacked right into Kelsey. They were dressed in identical pajamas which I was sure had been an accident since they hadn’t dressed the same in ten years. “Why are you just standing in the doorway? Move!”

  Arya had to look up to squeeze past her sister and she had the same reaction when she saw Wyatt. “I really wish I would’ve thought to record these reactions,” I mumbled.

  “I think you’d lose your favorite aunt status,” Wyatt joked.

  “Girls, stop being weirdos and close your mouths. This is Wyatt. We went to high school together.” I pointed to each of them. “That’s Arya and Kelsey. You’ll never be able to tell them apart, so you can stick with just calling them both Twin. They love that.”

  “Aunt Brook,” Kelsey hissed, like if she spoke quietly enough Wyatt wouldn’t be able to hear. “That’s Ryder Strong.”

  I pretended to look closer at Wyatt. “My goodness! You’re right! I didn’t notice earlier because he was wearing a hat.”

  “Adorable,” Wyatt mouthed to me with a shake of his head.

  “Alright, girls. You are correct. Wyatt Hudson is also that ridiculous singer you worship. But he’s also just a person and he’s here to help make breakfast.” I snapped my fingers as they both started to back out of the room, likely to run upstairs and spend an hour doing their hair and putting on makeup while calling their friends. “No. Get in here.”

  They both shuffled forward looking like they wanted to kill me, or at least severely injure me. Arya was nervously fidgeting with her hair while Kelsey kept shooting glances at Wyatt.

  “Please do not tell your friends right now,” I said, giving them each a firm look. “We are going to eat breakfast together as a family and I don’t want the entire middle school peering through our windows.”

  I felt a little bad at the crestfallen looks on their faces. If I was in their position, I knew I’d want to tell all my friends right away.

  “We can take a picture together later,” Wyatt promised with an easy smile. “After breakfast.” They both smiled at that. “And I’ve already promised your aunt some backstage passes to the show next weekend, but I’ll add a few more for your friends.”

  “Really?” Kelsey squealed.

  “Sure. Not a problem.” Wyatt got up from his seat and came over to me. “Aren’t we supposed to be flipping pancakes or something?”

  It was a nice reminder that it was just another Sunday morning. I was relieved to turn my attention to the routine task of making pancakes and frying bacon. It turned out that Wyatt was pretty handy with a spatula. Jaxson returned to the kitchen with the last two nieces, Gabbie and Hanna. They were seven and eight respectively and still too young to appreciate Wyatt’s alter ego.

  The twins stared dreamily at Wyatt while the other kids helped add blueberries and chocolate chips to the pancakes he was flipping. I forced the twins to set the table even though they would’ve much preferred to continue staring at Wyatt.

  “Aunt Brook,” Jaxson said, tugging at my leg. “I like having another boy here for breakfast.”

  “Oh yeah?” I smiled. “It’s not the worst thing in the world, I suppose.”

  “Hey!’ Wyatt shot me a hurt look. “I just helped Jax crush these blueberry and chocolate chip pancakes.”

  I nodded. “I see that. Good to know you have the culinary skills of a four-year-old.”

  It took a few more minutes to get everything to the table and get the younger kids set up with the pancakes they wanted. Jax insisted on sitting next to Wyatt which hurt a little since he always wanted to sit by me.

  “Don’t pout,” Wyatt said with a wink. “You can sit next to me.”

  “Oh joy.” I sank into the chair on the other side of him, across from Kelsey. “You guys aren’t really going to eat those things, are you?”

  “Why wouldn’t we?” Wyatt asked as he forked a giant bite of his messy pancake. Jaxson did the same and they took a bite in synchronized fashion while I faked a gag.

  Wyatt smacked his lips. “Delicious. Well done, Jax.”

  “Mhmm,” Jaxson agreed. “You should try it, Aunt Brook.”

  “You should,” Wyatt said. “You wouldn’t want to hurt our feelings, would you?”

  I glared at him. “Fine. I’ll have a small bite.”

  “Let me.” Wyatt selected and especially gooey bite of pancake with his fork. “Open up,” he said with a devilish smile.

  “Do not smear it in my face,” I said.

  “I would never.” Wyatt’s grin continued to grow as he brought the fork closer to my mouth. “Open wider,” he said and even though I knew he wasn’t trying to be seductive, I still felt a warm tingle run through my body.

  Just as the fork passed over my lips, my eyes locked onto his. The smile on his face turned from joyful to tender. I put my hand over his, just to be sure he wouldn’t miss.

  “Okay, that’s not bad,” I said after swallowing.

  “Your praise is making me blush,” Wyatt said.

  My hand was still on his with the fork hovering in the air between us. Five sets of eyes were watching us. When Wyatt’s phone rang, I let out a relieved breath.

  “I should get this,” he said apologetically. “It’s my agent.”

  Wyatt didn’t just leave the room, he went all the way outside. Kelsey and Arya hadn’t spoken once throughout breakfast, but now they started talking at once.

  “Oh my gosh, Aunt Brook. You’re friends with Ryder Strong?” Arya said.

  “He’s so in love with you!” Kelsey said. “Are you two going to get married?”

  “Are you dating him?” Arya asked.

  “Have you kissed him? What is it like?” Kelsey said.

  I sliced a hand through the air. “Stop. Both of you.” I waited until they both closed their mouths. “Wyatt and I are just friends. We’ve known each other since we were about your age. We have never dated and we are not dating now. We’re just friends.”

  “But he likes you,” Kelsey protested. “He just fed you pancakes. Friends don’t do that.”

  “That’s true,” Arya said. “Sometimes Mom and Dad share bites of food from their plates. That’s a couple thing.”

&n
bsp; “It was one bite,” I said. “You two have watched to many chick flicks.”

  “He’s soooo cute, Aunt Brook.” Kelsey’s dreamy look had returned. “I would’ve died if he looked at me the way he was looking at you.”

  I clapped my hands and stood. “Alright, enough. Let’s get the dishes put in the dishwasher, okay? If you two move fast enough, you might have time to change out of your pajamas for that picture Wyatt promised you.”

  They both gasped, having forgotten both that they were wearing their pajamas and that Wyatt had promised them a picture. I had never seen them move that fast as they raced to rinse the dishes and load them in the dishwasher. They had disappeared upstairs before Wyatt returned to the kitchen. I sent the other kids away to watch television while I wiped down the table and counters.

  “Hey, sorry.” Wyatt said when he caught me on all-fours cleaning up the mess Jaxson had made. “I would’ve helped you clean up.”

  “No worries. This is part of my weekly routine.” I jumped to my feet. “You were really good with the kids. I think Jax likes you better than me.”

  “I’m very likeable,” Wyatt said. “Except to you, apparently.”

  I shrugged. “I just know you better than everyone else.”

  “That’s true.” He was looking into my eyes in that unnerving way again. “I need to take off soon to work on some things for the concert. We’re still on for tonight, right?”

  “Yep. The café closes at 6:00 on Sundays, so come by any time after that.”

  “I’ll be there at 6:01,” he said. “I’ll bring dinner.”

  “Will it involve blueberries and chocolate chips?” I asked skeptically.

  Wyatt laughed. “Probably not, but no guarantees.”

  I went to the bottom of the stairs. “Twins! If you don’t get your butts down here in the next 30 seconds, you’ll miss the opportunity of a lifetime to get your picture taken with the one-and-only Ryder Strong!” And then in a much quieter voice, I said, “Porn-star extraordinaire.”

  “Stop making fun of my stage name,” Wyatt said, but his eyes were sparkling.

  The girls flew down the stairs at lightning speed and I spent the next five minutes acting as their personal photographer. Once I’d taken at least 100 pictures of each of them, Kelsey said, “Now it’s your turn, Aunt Brook.”