Impulsion (Station 32 #1)(10)

Harley swore to him that he was her only, that she had not so much as kissed another. He never asked for that declaration. She had read the question in his eyes, just like she read every part of him. He offered her the same promise. It wasn’t a hard one to keep. Not only was Harley the only one he could ever see, his best friends weren’t daters much either.

Memphis wasn’t ever really in town enough to date anyone. Easton was fine with picking up a girl here or there, but he was too unsharpened to hold on to one. If he didn’t feel the flowery words girls wanted boys to say, he wouldn’t say them. They would get ticked at Easton and bail.

Which usually landed Easton and Wyatt at the farm, riding, working on cars, stealing a few beers from Wyatt’s daddy’s fridge. No one ever questioned why Wyatt didn’t date anyone. They assumed Wyatt and Easton both just had flings, were too much of men’s men to worry about such things.

Neither Wyatt nor Harley had a plan for how they could break out of the mold they were in, at least not one that Wyatt spoke about. When he was around Harley’s dad, he did his best to charm him, to show him he was a good man. He hoped that once Harley passed eighteen, maybe even graduated college, that he could ask her to marry him. It would cause an uproar in her life, that much he knew. But he hoped by then it wouldn’t matter, that Harley would grow out of this fear she had of her mother.

Wyatt would hint to this secret plan, whisper it as they stared at the stars. Harley would only smile. Not enough to tell him that dream would come to pass.

“Do you think we’re being obvious by taking so many precautions?” she asked.

Wyatt slid behind her in the water. One hand landed on her hip, the other lower on her thigh, and that hand eased forward as he spoke. “Do I think we need to spend more time together? Yes.”

Before she could respond, both Ava and Kate fell from the rope, splashing the pair of them, dividing them.

Everyone splashed each other at that point. It was an all-out war filled with laughter.

“Fire?” Easton said from the bank. He pointed to the sky. “It’s getting dark.”

All the girls rushed from the creek giggling.

Wyatt went to follow them, but Harley pulled him closer. Under the water, her hands moved over his chest. “I want to spend time with you…I want…Wyatt, I think I’m ready.”

If Wyatt weren’t tall enough to stand in that creek, he was sure he would have drowned. They never talked about how far they went, it just happened. This summer, it had been harder and harder to stop. The night before last was the closest they had been. She had pulled him closer, but when his hand rushed across her chest, he felt her heart thundering, felt her body trembling, knew she was afraid—and truth be told, he was terrified himself. He was sure he had no idea what to do in the first place, at least not how to do it right. He also knew that would double or nothing every risk he was taking with Harley.

“You’re sure?” he asked, hearing how broken his voice was.

“If you’re sure, I’m sure.”

His blue eyes raced across her beautiful face. “You’re not scared?”

“I’m terrified.”

Now he was confused.

“Don’t laugh at me, but I know that no matter what…this way, a part of you will never leave me.”

“I’m not going anywhere, Harley. We have nothing but time.”

Harley had her doubts about that. Next summer was anyone’s guess. Her mother had been planning to prepare her for school and was determined to take Harley abroad before she started. With the class load Harley was set to take on, along with the charity events her mother had slated her to attend, riding would be a hit or miss event. Harley feared this was their last summer together, but she knew if she told Wyatt that it would break him. She’d rather feel that fear alone.

Their names were being yelled from above, and they could hear the sound of the four-wheelers roaring to life.

“I never want to forget this summer, Wyatt. When you’re ready, I am.” And with that, she rose from the bank.

She was too nervous to look over her shoulder and gauge the look on his face. She had been daring to say that to him for the past two months, had almost said it the first night she made it here. That night was hot, intense. They had been apart for months, which seemed to make the want that much more painful, but she chickened out.

She had figured out over this summer that though he flirted, he was the one that found the lookouts, or the safe places. He let her pace them. She knew if she weren’t blunt, he would never dare to push her, and even if she was, it would be like their first kiss, their first everything. There would be a question lingering in his eyes, asking if she was sure.

Ava and Kate had opted out of the four-wheeler ride back and had piled into the Jeep. Ava begged to drive, but Harley told her no as sweetly as she could.

“Hurry, Harley. I want a shower before the fire,” Kate yelled from the back seat.

Before Harley turned the wheel, her stare caught Wyatt’s. His hands were rushing through his hair, pushing out the creek water, and every muscle in his arms and chest was flexed. He stole her breath, and that was before she saw the reverent gaze he was giving her, before she saw him taking what she said to heart.

She bit her lip, tried to smile, then drove away feeling a little foolish, wondering if she had pushed him into this. If he would only do this because she asked him.