Kele Moon - Crossing the line

Wyatt stood there contemplating everything. He didn’t want to make Tabitha upset. He didn’t think there was anything worse in the world than seeing his girl crying, and he sure didn’t want to be the cause of it.

He already felt guilty about kissing her out in the open. He couldn’t believe one kiss could cause this many issues. He rubbed at the back of his neck as he took another cooling breath. He suddenly needed to be with Tabitha, to know for himself that she was fine.

“Yeah, okay, you’re right.” Wyatt turned and walked to the house, not really sure if he meant the words or not, but he was willing to say anything to get into that house.

He could deal with Vaughn and Brett later.

* * *

Terry’s bed was really soft, with an expensive mattress and nice sheets to boot. It was big too, overall much nicer than her beaten-up twin-size at home. She snuggled under the covers, which smelled like men’s cologne. It sort of reminded her of Wyatt. She noticed he’d been wearing that stuff lately, and she’d be lying to say she didn’t like it.

“Are you hungry, darlin’?” Terry asked in concern. “I can have Hal make you something when he comes in. That fella can cook like you wouldn’t believe.”

Tabitha smiled. The romantic in her enjoyed the unabashed adoration that sounded in Terry’s voice when he said Hal’s name. “No, I’m good. Thank you.”

“You sure?”

“Mmm,” she hummed in agreement. She was hungry, but she was more tired. “I’m just gonna take a quick nap.”

She pulled the sheets up higher around her and snuggled against his pillow. Terry stayed in the room with her, sitting in a chair in the corner as Tabitha closed her eyes, but she couldn’t fall asleep. She kept thinking about what happened in the bathroom the day before.

How was she ever going to be able to live in that house and feel safe? But she didn’t want to turn to Wyatt’s father either. Her mama would be so upset, and there was a bizarre side of Tabitha that needed to protect her mother. Lord knew she wasn’t capable of protecting herself.

And her mama was getting better. She had a job now.

If Tabitha could just find a way to endure her brother and his friends long enough, her mother would stop drinking, and everything would be okay. She wanted to believe it. Maybe if she had, she could have found some peace in her dreams, but she was awake instead.

She was still fighting the battle for rest when Wyatt came to the room.

“Get out, Conner.” Terry’s voice was low and defensive. “I already said you ain’t welcome.”

Tabitha blinked and rolled over, looking to the open bedroom door. Wyatt was leaning against the frame, holding onto the top of it with both hands as he stared down at her. His wide shoulders and impressive height filled up the whole doorway. Sometimes her mind had a hard time accepting this was the same boy who used to give her cookies every morning on the benches outside the school.

His blond hair was disheveled, his light eyes even more startling when they were rimmed with dark circles. He looked so stressed out and tired, it hurt Tabitha’s heart to see it.

“Do you wanna lay down with me?” she whispered.

Terry grunted. “Tab—”

“No, it’s good,” she interrupted him. “He’s sorry ’bout Hal. I know he is. Tell him, Wy.”

Sometimes Wyatt said dumb things, but his heart was always in the right place. She knew her hero. He wouldn’t do anything to hurt someone with no reason. He’d never tell the other guys on the football team about Terry and Hal, just like he never told his father about her family. She trusted Wyatt completely.

“I am sorry,” Wyatt said softly as his gaze darted from Tabitha to Terry in the chair behind her. “I won’t say anything, Dower. I promise.”

Tabitha held up the blanket to him, and Wyatt pushed away from the door. He toed off his sneakers at the edge of the bed and then crawled under the sheets with her. Tabitha took a shuddering breath when he wrapped those big strong arms around her, nearly smothering her with his weight, but it was okay.

For that moment, everything was right with Tabitha’s world.

Wyatt ran one socked foot up her calf and leaned over to press a kiss against the bandage that hid the cut on her forehead.

“Are you okay?” he asked in a low, concerned voice against her ear.

She smiled. “I am now.”

He squeezed her tighter and then buried his face in the curve of her neck. “I love you.”

She reached for his hand in response, feeling his rough palm against her smooth one when she intertwined their fingers.

“I was so scared.” His voice cracked in emotion.

She blinked to fight the tears. “I’m sorry.”

“No, don’t be sorry. It was my fault.” He pressed his lips against her neck. “I just wanna keep you here forever. In my arms. Safe.”

“I want that too.”

“I’m gonna fix it for you, okay?”

If she wasn’t quite so tired, she might have asked him what he meant by that, but instead all she did was whisper “Okay,” and started drifting off to sleep instead.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, she felt the tension leave Wyatt’s body with her soft agreement.

Neither of them heard Terry leave.

It took Wyatt three full days to find Vaughn and Brett alone.

In any other circumstance, the wait would’ve been good for them, but instead it just let the fury build to the point that Wyatt’s entire being was wound up and desperate for a fight. Now he was well rested and antsy as he leaned against the side of the old trailer Clay used to call home and watched Vaughn sell drugs to Jason Wiltkins, who’d dropped out of school last year.

“Wait till Wiltkins leaves,” Clay whispered in his ear. “We wanted them alone. That was the plan.”

Wyatt grunted. He wasn’t sure he could just keep standing there after waiting this long.

“Wyatt—”

Wyatt shoved Clay’s hand off his shoulder, realizing he’d taken a determined step forward. Having his best friend along wasn’t part of Wyatt’s plan, but Clay was so damn hardheaded Wyatt finally gave up the fight. Tabitha was Clay’s friend too. He could understand Clay wanting to take a piece out of Vaughn and Brett, but the situation wasn’t ideal.

“I wanna do it,” Wyatt whispered furiously. “You lemme do this, Clay. You can’t afford to get in trouble. No one will take you in if you wind up in jail.”

“Fine.”

Wyatt turned back, arching an eyebrow at Clay in surprise. “Really?”

Clay nodded, his dark gaze studying Wyatt intently. “I’m just here to play backup.”

Satisfied, he jumped out from behind the trailer, ignoring Clay growling out a furious “Fuck” when Wyatt slipped past his grasp.

When he burst out from behind the weeds, all three boys turned in his direction.

“What the hell are you trying to give me?” Jason Wiltkins dropped the bag of weed like it was on fire. He backed up, holding up his hands. “I swear, Conner—”

Brett and Vaughn didn’t say anything. They took off running into the field behind the trailer park. Wyatt let them go and took a second to swoop up the bag of weed at Jason’s feet, because there was nothing but wide-open space in that field, and he knew he could catch them. He didn’t spend every afternoon running drills with the football team for nothing.

Brett and Vaughn both smoked cigarettes like chimneys.

They had no chance.

Wyatt wore his best sneakers and had forgone jeans for shorts on purpose. He flew across that field, feeling the wind in his hair and the blood pumping in his ears. He caught Brett first, which worked out perfect.

He wrapped a hand around Brett’s arm and jerked him back. It was sheer adrenaline that allowed Wyatt to hold Brett on his feet when the momentum of them both stopping so suddenly would have sent him crashing into the dirt.

Knowing he still had Vaughn to catch, Wyatt made it simple. He slammed his fist into Brett’s face hard enough to feel his nose break under his knuckles that he’d taped up before he and Clay left home.

Brett went limp instantly, his dead weight nearly dragging Wyatt down.

He dropped him instead and left him there. Then he went after Vaughn, who was at the edge of the field, almost to the road, but there was absolutely no way Wyatt was going to let him slip through his fingers after he’d spent three days waiting to get him.

He jumped at him, throwing his shoulder into the tackle. Vaughn shouted in pain when he ended up buried in the weeds with all of Wyatt’s weight on him.

“I didn’t fuck her!” he screamed as Wyatt wrestled him, fighting to get him on his back. “I swear, Conner, I didn’t—”

Wyatt threw the bag of pot at Vaughn’s face as he held him down. “You know what that is, Davis.”

Vaughn fought him harder, struggling to get up.

“That’s my fucking insurance,” Wyatt whispered in a low, deadly voice as he leaned down and got in face. “I ain’t gonna say anything ’bout you dealing drugs to my dad, and you ain’t gonna say anything ’bout what I’m gonna to do to you for hurting my girl.”

Vaughn broke one arm out of Wyatt’s tight hold, swinging at him, but Wyatt swatted the blow like it was an annoying fly buzzing near his face. Vaughn’s face contorted into a look of sheer fear as he shouted with a shaking bravado, “Get off me, you faggot!”

Wyatt suddenly didn’t like that word. Not when Terry and Hal had done so much for Tabitha. That put them on the short list of people Wyatt would gladly break the law for. He punched Vaughn before he could say it again, watching with satisfaction when his nose popped like a grapefruit hitting the pavement from the top of a tall building.