Wright Together, page 3
It had been hard to want any kind of relationship since then. Especially from someone like Whitton. He was Wright royalty, smart, driven, and intensely attractive. He was everything a girl could want. But girls like me, who had grown up in a trailer park and been crowned the town slut, didn’t end up with guys like him. And contemplating what it would be like to live through this fantasy didn’t help anything.
I wasn’t about to let another rich, pretty guy implode my life. Not when I was finally in a good place again.
“Right,” I whispered and pushed off of the door.
With a clear mind, I headed back into my room and stripped out of my professional attire. I still wasn’t used to wearing dress clothes. Not where I’d grown up. I’d always be more comfortable in my cowboy boots over my Louboutins. No matter how incredible my ass looked when I wore them.
I put my work heels in their place of honor. They gave me legitimacy for my clients, even here in West Texas. But I was over them, and I needed a different kind of armor to go deal with Whitt.
I pulled on a pair of short frayed-edge jean shorts and a baby-blue crop top. My hair went up into a sleek ponytail. Then, I slid my feet into my trusty boots. They weren’t the decorative kind that the girls wore on campus with their little minidresses. I’d gotten these in the Stockyards. I’d ridden horses in them. They were sturdy leather and made to last. The last vestiges of my home.
After reapplying a slick of lipstick, I grabbed two bottles of water from the fridge. It really was a thousand degrees out there, and Whitt didn’t have the convenience of changing out of his presumably wool suit and long-sleeved button-up. It was too hot for that mess. No matter how good he looked in it.
I was halfway to the door when my phone dinged in my back pocket. I fished it out and found a text from my other roommate, Blaire.
Whitt is at our house?
“Piper,” I growled.
I’d been living with the girls since our friend Jennifer had moved out…and I’d been evicted from my last property. Word of advice: never move into a property your boyfriend owns without signing a lease.
But even though I’d been living with the girls for a year, I still wasn’t used to the way they gossiped. I’d never had girlfriends to gossip with…only be gossiped about. And so having Piper tell Blaire I was with Whitt triggered something deep within the pit of my stomach.
Spill! I want to know what’s going on. Piper wouldn’t tell me anything!
I blew out a breath of relief. This wasn’t gossip. This was how girlfriends spoke to each other. They wanted to know all the juicy details. Blaire and Piper were excited for me rather than talking shit about me. I needed to get used to the distinction, but it was hard to break the fear from twenty-five years of backstabbing.
He just drove me home. My car wouldn’t start. He’s giving me a jump.
Is that a sexual innuendo?
I snorted.
No. He’s jumping the battery in my car.
Are either of you naked in this scenario?
Blaire!
Don’t act prudish now!
I’m not prudish. I’m just not a horny teenager!
Please, we’re all horny teenagers.
Blaire was one of those girl-power people. She’d started a successful influencing program for women to achieve their dreams and move past their insecurities. She was constantly using her therapist speak on me about embracing my inherent identity and releasing shame. But I didn’t know what shame she had. She was with the hottest rockstar on the planet and picking up PR gigs all over the country. Girl practically had a fairy godmother waving a wand over her head and giving her the perfect life. I wouldn’t mind one of those.
Whitt is a thirst trap.
He’s probably just thirsty right now. I left him outside in the heat.
I sent her a picture of me holding the bottles of water.
You mean, he’s thirsty for you. 🥵
I left her on Read and stuffed my phone back in my pocket. I couldn’t justify a response. Because the way Whitt had been looking at me, he did look thirsty. And, fuck, so was I.
With both bottles in one hand, I opened the front door and headed outside. Cables were connected to our two cars. Whitt sat on my driver’s side and was revving the engine. It sounded like it was going to turn over, a ticking noise came from one side, but then it stopped. That didn’t look like a good sign.
Whitt stepped out of my 4Runner. He’d already shed his jacket and rolled his sleeves up to his elbows, revealing powerful forearms. My eyes traveled over him as he strode to the engine. His eyes roved over the parts. I had a rudimentary understanding of how things worked. I could change a tire and jump a car. Though I knew how to change the oil, I opted for one of those fifteen-minute places instead. The only things I knew beyond that were the parts that I’d had to replace.
I’d had a radiator blow up on me at a Sonic drive-in. Smoke billowed out of the engine like a small bomb. An oil leak had come and gone for months with little patch repairs before more extensive work. I’d gone the summer before college without air-conditioning before I scrounged up enough to cover the repair. My brake pads had been burned into the ground before I had the money to make that replacement. And all that didn’t include the dead battery, a few flat tires, and a Check Engine light that still flared to life every time I started the car. I’d never gotten up the courage to figure out what that was all about. I liked to live on the wild side and hope for the best.
“How’s it going?” I asked as I strode toward him.
“Not great,” he admitted.
He hadn’t looked up yet. His fingers were currently working their way down the buttons of his shirt. My steps slowed as I watched inch after inch of toned skin appear on his chest. He slid the shirt off his shoulders and tossed it inside the car before leaning into the hood of the car and getting his hands dirty.
Literally.
My mouth went dry. Those shoulders flexed as he reached deeper into the car. His back muscles rippled as he spread his legs wider for balance. The sharp angles of his body formed a V as his torso tapered to his trim waist and into his suit pants. His impressive ass pushed backward. I tilted my head to get a better look. For a second, all I wanted to do was pour the entire bottle of water over my head.
Congratulations, sir. You have one-upped my Daisy Dukes.
“Well, it’s not the battery,” he said.
He brushed his hands back and forth as he straightened and faced me. Then, his jaw unhinged. His eyes slid down my long, tan legs to the boots on my feet and back up.
Then, he cleared his throat. “I think it’s a timing belt.”
“What?” I asked, shaken back to the moment. “No. That’s bad.”
“Yeah.”
I passed him the bottle of water, which he downed before continuing, “I wouldn’t recommend driving it even if we could get it to turn over. It’d be a more costly repair the more damage it takes. You’ll probably need a tow.”
I deflated. Fuck. A tow and a timing belt repair. How the hell was I going to afford that? I loved my 4Runner to pieces, but it was probably time to replace her. I just didn’t have the available funds, and she was so old that no one was going to give me more than pennies for her.
“I know a guy,” Whitt assured me. “I’ll give him a call and see if he’ll do the tow as a favor.”
“What? Really? Someone would do that?”
“Sure.” He already had his phone in his hand and was shooting off a text. “I collect friends like that.”
“Must be nice,” I said before I could think better of it.
He arched an eyebrow in my direction. “You’re doing all right in the friend department.”
“For sure. But no one who will tow my car for me,” I said with a self-deprecating laugh.
“You do now. I can take care of you.”
I smirked at him. “I’m a big girl. I can take care of myself.”
“Hmm,” he murmured. “Well, he said he’ll be here in twenty. I told him to take you to a shop where I know the owner. He’ll give you a fair price and not try to upsell you.”
“You didn’t have to do that.”
Whitt took a step toward me. “I wanted to.”
A breath lingered between us. I could lean into it. I could let him work his Wright magic and be my knight in shining armor. But this wasn’t a fairy tale. I wasn’t going to be swept off of my feet. Men didn’t act like that in real life.
At best, a man was an accessory. He looked good on my arm, but he wasn’t necessary for me to shine.
I wanted to fuck Whitton Wright, but he’d made it clear that he wanted more. So, I took my step back. Decided to keep it professional and to leave the thirsting for my daydreams.
“Well, thanks. You don’t have to wait for the tow truck. I’ve already monopolized enough of your time.”
He nodded and took another sip of water. Already, he’d responded to my distance with his own. “All right. I’ll see you tomorrow?”
“Yeah, I’ll be there.”
His eyes snapped back to mine. “Let me know if you need a ride.”
I wet my lips. Fuck, did I ever need a ride. “Sure.”
He disconnected the cables, pulled his clothes back on, and then tipped his head at me before going back to the office. My heart stuttered as he drove away.
Had I made the right decision? Should I have gone for it? I didn’t normally back down from a guy, especially someone that hot, but I could see all the signs that this would crash and burn. When it inevitably ended, where would that leave me?
Would all my shiny, new friends pick me over a Wright? Or would I lose everything again?
It wasn’t worth the risk.
5
Whitton
“Did you have to wear a suit?” Weston asked me.
Of course he’d shown up to Jensen’s mayoral event as casual as ever. I rarely saw my brother in anything but band attire. Even today, he was in torn black jeans and a distressed Cosmere T-shirt.
“You’re wearing your own merch,” I pointed out.
“Thank you!” his girlfriend, Nora, said. “I said the same damn thing before we left.”
He fisted his shirt and looked down at it. “I had this before I was in the band. Does it still count?”
“It counts,” Nora and I said at the same time.
West pressed a kiss to her lips. “Traitor. You’re not supposed to agree with my brother.”
She giggled and kissed him again. I rolled my eyes and turned my attention to the rest of the Wrights in attendance. There were a lot of us. Something that I wasn’t accustomed to. I was used to it being me, West, and Harley against the world. Now, Harley was in Seattle until the end of the summer, and we had two new brothers and five cousins we’d never known about.
I never would have believed we’d be welcomed with open arms until it happened. West had always been certain that they’d want to know the truth, but I certainly hadn’t. Who wanted to know their family’s dirty deed? But this family was a blessing I never could have seen coming.
Jensen was the highlight of the moment. To be fair, he usually took up most of the air in any room he entered. The oldest of the Wrights. He’d been there to help raise the others when their parents both passed away. He’d taken on the mantle of oldest brother and parent, all at once, at such a young age. It was no surprise that he’d agreed to run for mayor.
“You made it,” Jensen said with a jovial smile.
He shook my hand and then West’s. He pulled Nora in for a hug. She actually blushed. Perhaps no one was immune to his charm.
“We made it,” I confirmed. “I’m glad that I was back from Seattle in time.”
“But not your sister?”
“Nah, Harley wanted to get in as much mom time as possible before she comes back for her sophomore year at Tech.”
Jensen nodded in understanding. “I don’t blame her. If I could have a little bit of Mom time left, I’d get it.”
“Fair,” West said. “How’s Emery?”
Jensen’s eyes navigated the crowd easily to find his wife standing with their two children. Robin toddled around her feet while Logan was struggling to escape her arms. An older woman laughed and took Logan out of Emery’s arms, and then Emery grabbed Robin before she could run away.
“We’re lucky that her mom is helping with the kids. It’s a lot for both of us, working full-time with two littles,” Jensen said. “But I wouldn’t trade it. I wish I’d gotten more time with Colton at that age.”
Jensen had a much older son from a previous marriage. Colton lived with his mom in New York City. As far as I knew, he went to a private Upper East Side prep school, and Jensen flew his private jet up all the time to visit him. My dad had only ever been a few hours away in Vancouver. I couldn’t imagine what it would have been like to grow up with him on the other side of the country.
“Are you ready for your speech?” West asked.
Jensen shrugged. “I’ve been making speeches most of my life. Just a bigger crowd. Can imagine that you understand that.”
“No way. I hate speeches. I leave those to Campbell. Put me on keys in front of thousands, and I’ll be fine, but I’m not a front man.”
“I’ve never met a Wright who was comfortable in the background,” Jensen said with a smile. “And I don’t think Campbell Abbey would have brought you on if he didn’t think you could fit the profile.”
West beamed at the compliment. Oh, Jensen was going to be just fine as a politician.
“You already have our votes,” I joked. “You don’t have to butter us up.”
Jensen laughed. “That’s fair. Though I was being honest.” He clapped me on the back. “Come on. Go over my speech with me. Jordan told me that you used to do public speaking in college. You were on student government?”
I groaned. “I should have never told him that.”
But I tipped my head at West and headed across the backstage area with Jensen and toward his wife. The rest of my Wright cousins stopped us along the way to jab at Jensen about his announcement. They were a tight-knit family. I felt more like an intruder on their time than part of it even though I was included as if I was a part of it.
Jensen finally laughed off his brother Austin and pulled out the notecards he’d stuffed in his pocket. He passed them off to me and pointed to a line on the second card. “What do you think of this? Does it seem a little…conceited? I was asked to run by what felt like half the town, but I could cut it.”
I read through the intro. It was good. He was a talented guy.
I lifted my head from the notecards to tell him what I thought when Emery rushed over. “Jensen!”
“Em? What’s going on?” He immediately went into protective mode. “Is it the kids?”
“It’s Vanessa.” She handed over her cell phone.
Jensen reeled back, his face turning sour at the name of his ex-wife. “What does she want?”
“Something happened with Colton.”
Jensen took the phone out of her hand and put it to his ear. “Vanessa?”
I met Emery’s eyes. She was biting her lip and looked frightened. I sure hoped his kid was all right.
“Should I?” I gestured away from them. I was intruding on an important moment after all. I didn’t need to be involved.
“No, no. It’s okay.”
“He what?” Jensen roared.
I’d never heard him raise his voice before. Emery winced. The entire backstage looked over at him in alarm. I sort of wished that I’d already backed away. But I was still holding his speech in my hand, the tips I was going to give him dying on my lips.
Jensen appeared oblivious to the spectacle he was making. “The fuck, Vanessa? Are you even fucking watching him?” He waited a few seconds, apparently listening to whatever she was saying. I could hear her frantic screeching on the other side. “I don’t fucking care. I don’t fucking care. Stop talking. I will be on the first plane to New York, and I will deal with this.”
He listened for another minute because Vanessa had never stopped yelling on the other line. I couldn’t hear anything she was saying, but it didn’t sound pleasant.
“I said I would deal with it,” he growled. Then, he hung up the phone. He ran a hand back through his hair. His eyes closed as a tortured expression crossed his face.
I was paralyzed through all of it. I couldn’t back away. I couldn’t reach forward. I didn’t know him well enough to offer comfort. Even Emery looked torn between interfering in his past relationship and her stepson and staying out of it. If even she couldn’t decide, how could I do anything?
Finally, Jensen released a puff of air and glanced between us. “Colton was arrested.”
“Oh my God,” Emery whispered. “What happened?”
“I don’t have all the details. Vanessa was just screaming and crying. She’s going to bail him out. I have to get to New York to be there when he comes home. He clearly doesn’t respect her, and he’s not getting away with no consequences this time.”
“Of course. Do you want me to come with you?”
He shook his head. “Stay here with the kids. I’ll handle it and be back before you miss me.”
“Impossible.” She stepped forward into his arms and pressed a kiss to his cheek.
“Whitt,” Jensen said. “Sorry about this.”
“No need to apologize.”
“What about the announcement?” Emery asked. “There’re thousands of people out there, Jensen.”
He huffed. I could see that he wanted to ditch and head straight to the city. His responsibilities were split. But I watched the moment he decided to follow through.
“I’ll give the speech but skip the rest. I can’t shake hands and kiss babies when I need to be with my own kid,” Jensen said.
