Exit, Pursued by a Bear

Wyatt drove for fourteen-and-a-half hours. And he didn’t stop. For anything. And, I really needed to stretch my legs, or I would go mad.

“We’re going to deal with this. Right now,” Roman said, tearing away the silence. “What’s going on with you three?”

My lips pressed together. I wasn’t about to tell my brother about two guys fighting over me; he’d have a conniption. Hell, I was about to have a conniption.

“What’re you talking about?” Travis asked, staring at the back of Roman’s head. “Nothing’s going on.”

“Apparently, there is. I feel like something's happening between you, Maggie, and Wyatt. I hate being out of the loop.”

“What? That’s preposterous,” Wyatt scoffed. His tan hands whitened as they gripped the steering wheel harder.

“What’s that mean?” Corn asked. “Purpleousness?”

I felt the sudden urge to reach over Jonnie and slap Corn so hard his mom would feel it.

“Hush up, now, boy,” Jonnie whispered. “Don’t make a fool of yourself.”

“Wyatt, stop playing dumb,” Travis said. “We might as well tell him. I mean, it is about his sister. He has a right to know.”

Roman whipped around to stare at Travis with wide eyes. “Maggie?”

“No, your other insanely beautiful sister. Of course, Maggie!”

“I wouldn’t say ‘insanely’,” Jonnie said, “but she is kinda cute.”

I turned a bright shade of red and leaned over to put my head between my knees. This could not be happening… Since when was I cute, let alone beautiful?

“Hey!” Roman snapped. “Stop talking about my sister like that.”

“Just telling the truth.”

“It would be best if you just lied.”

I groaned, mortified. “Can you stop talking like I'm not even here?”

They continued talking about me like I wasn’t even there. Figures.

“So, this is about Maggie?” Roman asked. By the sound of his voice, he was very close to having his conniption.

“Yes,” Wyatt said.

I groaned again, and Roman said exactly what I was thinking.

“Oh, God.”

“Roman, please,” Travis said. “We can work this out by ourselves. You don’t need to worry yourself about it.”

“Don’t worry myself—She’s my sister!”

“Calm down, Roman,” Wyatt said. “We can handle this in a civilized fashion.” He paused. “I think I should be the one to date Maggie.”

My head snapped up, and Roman, Travis, and I screamed, “What?!”

“I met her first!” Travis shouted.

“That doesn’t mean anything, Travis,” Wyatt growled.

“I think it does,” Travis said, folding his arms across his stomach.

“Well, I think neither of you should date her,” Roman said, his hand pressed against his chest like he was having trouble breathing. His conniption had started, and mine wasn’t far behind.

“What does Maggie have to say about this?” Jonnie asked, looking at me.

“Stay out of it, Jonnie,” Travis warned.

“No, man. I’m not staying out of this. You’re treating her like she’s not even here. C'est ridicule!”

“No one understands your foreign-speak, man,” Corn muttered, earning him a punch in the arm.

“No one is going to date Maggie, okay?” Roman clutched the armrest with his other hand.

“I think that maybe Maggie should decide who she wants to date,” Wyatt said. “What do you say, Maggie?”

“I don’t know,” I said, wrapping my arms around myself and squeezing my eyes shut. I really didn’t want to participate in this conversation. This was horrifying and, most likely, would scar me for life.

“Just choose one of us,” Travis sighed.

I knew they weren’t going to drop it until I chose one of them, so I quickly ran over all the reasons why I should pick Travis.

A) I’d known him longer, b) he had the nicest body ever, c) and he could be nice at times. But, mostly reason B.

Then, I ran over all the reasons why I should pick Wyatt.

A) He was amazingly sweet, b) he had a southern drawl, c) he had pretty eyes, d) he cared about me, e) he wasn’t a douche, f) he had an amazing smile, g) he smelled great, and h) he was rich. But, mostly reason B.

So, I did what my heart told me to do.

“I pick Wyatt.”

I heard Travis sigh, and Wyatt let out a long breath, probably in relief.

“Corn, switch seats with me,” Travis said.

I half-frowned, but I didn’t let him see it.

Travis climbed over Jonnie and me, and Corn did the same.

Corn patted my knee and whispered, “It’ll be okay. He’ll get over it.”

“I can hear you.”

Corn made an “oh, shit” face and turned to look out the window.

I noticed that Wyatt’s knuckles had returned to their normal color, and I bit my lip to hide my smile.

I had one of those mythical creatures called a boyfriend.

* * * * *

The last hour of the trip consisted of Corn and Jonnie making dumb jokes only they understood, me staring at the back of Wyatt’s head, Roman sleeping, and Travis staring out the window, refusing to look my way.

Then, we pulled into the driveway of Wayland and Porter’s parents’ house.

“Freedom!” Corn screeched, running in circles on the manicured lawn.

It was very close to being pitch-black outside, but the streetlights were on, so I could see my hand in front of my face if I needed to. Dogs started barking at Corn’s voice, including Sparkplug.

The front door of the enormous house opened. Wayland stood in the doorway, smiling.

“You made it,” he said, his eyes on me.

“Yeah. Your mind is blown, isn’t it?”

He just kept smiling and beckoned for us to come inside. Then, he noticed Wyatt. “Hey. Who’re you?”

“I’m Wyatt Davis, sir,” Wyatt said.

“What?” A blank look crossed over Wayland’s face.

“We met him a few days ago,” I said, surreptitiously taking Wyatt’s hand. “He drove us most of the way.”

Wyatt glanced down at me and looked back at Wayland.

“Alright, well, let’s go inside,” Wayland said, now eyeing my and Wyatt’s hands.

I immediately dropped Wyatt’s hand and rubbed my eyes as we went inside. “Where are your parents?”

“They went to some party, and they won’t be back until later.” Wayland looked at the boys. “Head into the living room. We’ll be there in a minute.” He pointed at the threshold, and I could see a white leather couch and beige carpet.

Roman nodded and led the way through the mudroom.

Wyatt leaned down to kiss my forehead before following my brother.

I blushed, smiling.

Wayland grabbed hold of my wrist and dragged me back out onto the front steps of the house.

“What do you want?” I asked, my smile gone.

“Who is that?” he asked, his voice low but quite intimidating.

“He told you. His name’s Wyatt Davis.”

He rolled his eyes. “You’re freakin’ psycho. You don’t know him. He could’ve… he could’ve hurt you.”

I pulled my hand out of his grasp. “He didn’t, and he never will.”

“You don’t know that.”

I looked away; he was right. But, I wouldn’t admit it. I wanted him to think I’d done well. Unfortunately, he wasn’t making it easy for me.

“Listen to me, Maggie,” Wayland said. He lifted a cool hand to my cheek and pushed gently to make me look at him. “We need to be careful with strangers. Not all of them are going to be completely straight with you.”

I took a step back, and his hand dropped. “Wyatt’s not a stranger anymore. Not to me or the guys.”

“I see that,” he said.

I let out a frustrated breath and stomped back into the house, going straight for the living room.

“Maggie!” Ruther ran at me, threw his arms around my waist, and lifted me up. “You’re alive!”

“Well, yeah.”

He set me back down, smiling broadly, and sat down.

Dana looked up at me and mouthed, “Wyatt’s a cutie. Good job.”

I just nodded once, like it was no big deal.

Porter stood and walked over to me. “I’m glad you're okay.”

“Thanks.” I tried to make it look like I wasn’t shocked to hear him speak, but I failed.

He didn’t say anything else, just sat back down.

“Anyway,” Wayland said, “it’s late. I’ll show you guys to your rooms.” He gave me a sad look and left the living room.

Travis stalked after him, flashing me a glare as he passed me.

Gosh, this was so awkward. Why was he doing this? Why couldn’t he just accept my choice. Actually, you know what? I didn’t care what he thought. I was happy with who I picked. I didn’t want him, and he’d just have to deal with it.

I let Jonnie, Corn, and Roman go before Wyatt and me.

“This house is big,” Corn said in awe as we made our way up to the third floor.

“Yeah, but not big enough for everyone to get their own room, so we’ll be sharing,” Wayland said. “It’ll be Jonnie and Corn in one room. Maggie, you’ll share with Dana. I’m sharing with Porter. Ruther and Roman will share one, so I guess that leaves Travis and, uh, Wyatt.”

“Oh, hell, no,” Travis said, grabbing Wayland’s shoulder. “I’m not rooming with that redneck.”

Wyatt said nothing, and I was so glad he didn’t.

Wayland raised an eyebrow at Travis and said, “Fine. You’ll room with Ruther. Roman and Wyatt, then? Is that okay with everyone?”

“Yep,” Roman said. “I just wanna sleep.”

“Hear, hear,” Jonnie mumbled.

Wayland pointed us toward our rooms, and I was so freaking happy that I wasn’t in charge anymore. I was done being a leader for now.

I went into the room I’d be sharing with Dana and dropped onto the second twin bed, exhausted. I let myself drift in and out of consciousness.

Dana came in a few minutes later and closed the door behind her. “So…”

“What?”

“Wyatt.”

“What about him?”

“He’s cute.”

I shoved my face into the pillow. I wanted so badly for her to shut up. She had already told me I’d done a good job, and that was more than enough for me.

“Is he your boyfriend?”

“Yes.”

“Maggie! You have a boyfriend!” She rushed over and hugged me as best she could with me lying facedown on top of the quilt.

When she let go of me, I rolled over onto my back. “I know, Dana.”

“When did this happen?”

“About an hour ago.”

“Aw.” She smiled. “I'm so proud of you. I never thought this day would come.”

“Er, thanks, I guess.”

There was a soft knock on the door, and I knew it was Wyatt; nobody else ever bothered to knock.

“May I come in?” Wyatt asked.

“Of course,” Dana squealed, practically falling over herself as the door opened.

Wyatt stood in the doorway. “Maggie?”

I sat up. “Yeah?”

“Can I talk to you for a moment?”

“Sure.” I got up and went out into the hallway with him. I pulled the door closed, though I knew Dana would have her face pressed up against it to listen. “What’s up?”

His cheeks turned pink. “I’m not sure how to say this, so I’ll just say it.”

My eyes widened slightly.

“I’m really glad you chose me,” he murmured, looking down into my eyes.

“Me, too.”

He held his hand out to me, and I took it. “You really don’t need someone like Travis, and he doesn’t deserve someone as wonderful as you.”

I just stared into his eyes. This was surreal… I was wonderful to him.

“Are you alright?” he asked with a chuckle.

“Oh. Yeah.”

He smiled, cupping my chin in his hand.

My heart pounded in my throat, and I vaguely realized that that wasn’t normal.

Wyatt leaned down and brushed his lips against mine. My heart faltered for a second, but went back to beating fast again.

When he straightened, I felt like I was going to faint.

“Goodnight, darlin’.”

“Y-yeah, you, too…”

He smiled once more and opened the door for me.

I went in without looking back and collapsed on the bed again after I heard the door click shut.

“What just happened?” Dana questioned.

“Nothing,” I lied. Clearly, something had just happened. I just didn’t want her to ruin my moment.

“Okay, don’t tell me. See if I care.”

The lights flicked off, and I smiled into the pillow.

This was a different feeling, and I wondered what it was called. Happiness? Yeah, that had to be it.

So, this is what that felt like…

I could get used to it.