but Wyatt’s face was priceless. “How does one eat a clown waffle?” he asked.
“Quickly,” I suggested, looking at the time. “You’ve gotta catch the bus in fifteen minutes, Robby.”
Fifteen minutes later we were standing out front, waving to Robby as he boarded his elementary school bus.
Wyatt, stretched his arms above his head, revealing his sexy abs. I quickly looked down as we walked back toward my house.
“I’m beyond full,” Wyatt groaned. “How does he do it?”
I laughed. “Robby is a bottomless pit.”
Wyatt’s hands moved to his waist. “That was the most decadent breakfast I’ve ever eaten. I want that kid’s metabolism.”
“Don’t we all?” I joked, starting to feel my nerves prickling again now that I was alone with Wyatt. As he followed me back up the steps to my house, I turned to face him. “You can wait in your car. I’ll only be a minute.”
Wyatt paused mid step, his eyes searching mine, the morning sunlight making them glitter like gems. “You didn’t eat any breakfast,” he said.
“I’m not a big breakfast person.”
Wyatt narrowed his eyes. “I’ll figure you out yet, Penny Layne.”
I sighed with relief when he finally turned off his simmering gaze and retreated to Scarlet. I slipped inside my house, closing my front door, sagging against it while I took a moment to catch my breath.
Having Wyatt show up here this morning had completely caught me off guard. It was the equivalent of being tossed off a high dive. All morning I’d felt like I’d been in an endless freefall as Wyatt casually took up space in my kitchen, completely upending my world.
With my dating experience, I was basically still learning to swim. I had no business near the high dive. And Wyatt Nash was most definitely a high dive.
But still, something about him made me curious. The way my heart raced when he was near, how he looked at me like he could see past all my defenses, his smirks promising to rock my world if I’d only let him.
Wyatt made me want to face my fears and dip my toe in the deep end. Yet I had a feeling that wasn’t an option. With Wyatt, it would be sink or swim. One look into the fathomless pools of his deep emerald eyes and I already knew he could swallow me whole.
I did my best to shake off the unsettling breathlessness having Wyatt in my home had left me with. Lola was right. I needed to be careful. That meant staying in the kiddie pool where I belonged—focusing on music, not boys with alluring accents.
Yet somehow, I found myself in my bathroom trading my glasses for the contacts I rarely wore. I ran a brush through my hair and stared at my reflection. I didn’t know why I was even trying. I looked the same as always—unremarkable. Thankfully, my music wasn’t.
Speaking of music, the words to a song started to take shape in my mind as I grabbed my bag and locked up my house.
Drowning never sounded appealing,
until I looked in your eyes.
Chapter Eighteen
Wyatt
We pulled into the school parking lot and Layne’s hand shot to the door handle, but after her silent treatment during our drive, I’d been expecting her to bolt. That wasn’t happening. I grabbed her belt loop and pulled her back. “Hold up.”
She looked at me wide-eyed. It was almost comical how much she resembled a deer in headlights. A very cute deer. Bambi came to mind as she blinked those gorgeous chocolate eyes at me, like I was the big bad wolf about to devour her. “I see you didn’t wear your glasses today.”
“How observant of you.”
“I’m sensing you’re upset about something,” I said.
Layne sighed dramatically and shut the car door, crossing her arms as she glared at me. “You can’t just show up unannounced at my house, Wyatt.”
“Give me your number and I won’t have to,” I challenged, handing her my phone.
She looked at it, hesitating for a moment before giving in. She swiped it from my hand and put in her contact info. When she handed my phone back, I grinned and snapped a photo of her.
“Hey!” she protested.
“What? I need a photo to put with your name.”
She scowled at me. “Do you have that many girls’ numbers in your phone?”
I laughed. “What makes you think I have a lot of girls’ numbers?”
“You do have a bit of a reputation.”
I arched an eyebrow. “Do I?”
She rolled her eyes. “Why do you think there’s an I Hate Wyatt Nash Club?”
That shocked