"I believe you," Wyatt replied quickly and quietly. "I've just got to be sure before I introduce you to my family members."
Of course. That would be why I could hear them moving around in other parts of the house, but other than Riley, no one had dared to come in. "I understand."
Wyatt studied my face for a long, quiet moment. "I don't think you do."
"If it's been two days, what happened with those people? And was that guy really your dad?" Their conversation had sounded… close. Clearly there was history there that I had no idea about. And the things Wyatt had been saying about the other guy's wife had seemed private, so of course, I'd eavesdropped from the bottom step.
Wyatt's face tightened like he couldn't even think of his father without shutting down. "He is."
I didn't need to ask any more questions. Not because I wasn't interested, but because I understood how it was to have things you wished you didn't have to say.
It wasn't that I didn't want Wyatt to know. For some strange reason, I wanted him to know more about me than I'd contemplated ever telling anyone. But I didn't want to have to tell him.
"They woke up fine and ended up leaving without breaking too much stuff. Most of the glassware you'd already taken care of shattering."
My mouth popped open. "Hey! I only broke one glass." That was a tiny fib. I'd broken two, but the first had happened so early in the morning, I was certain Wyatt hadn't been there yet. "Are they still angry?"
That reminded me I'd eavesdropped on him, but only after he'd already eavesdropped on me.
"Nana has been negotiating with them. She'll swing by to check on you and tell us what they're deciding."
"What are the options?"
Wyatt cleared the bed of empty bowls and glasses and slid to sit next to me on the mattress. We both sat with our backs to the headboard. I had a pillow balanced on my lap, and Wyatt's arm brushed against mine. I wasn't moving. Where his skin brushed over mine, I felt warm. Wyatt was hot all over. "If they are really upset with me," Wyatt said, cleaning under a fingernail. "They can come with backup. Pack bylaws dictate anyone within helping distance must answer the call if they choose to request external help. There's a whole cultural thing where packs don't usually like asking for help. They only invite representatives when they can show off, which Aver thinks should work in our favor this time."
"Are you going to have to pay the tax?"
"Absolutely not," Wyatt said. "That would be like letting them win. And where's the fun in that?"
He smiled, and I found myself smiling along with him, but at the same time, I sensed these smiles weren't quite authentic. He was worried. And if Wyatt was worried, then I would also be worried.
"I'm sorry I brought you into this, Kansas. I made you come back to Walkerton. You were at the bar when they showed up both times because of me."
I knew that didn't mean he'd forgiven me for what I'd done or that I was completely absolved of my sins against him, but Wyatt was a good guy, and he would feel bad if he felt like he'd dragged me into something. I understood because I felt the same way.
"When can we come in?" someone from the hallway yelled in.
Wyatt snorted. "I can hardly concentrate. I've been so distracted with all your breathing out there."
I looked from Wyatt back to the door. I hadn't heard any breathing.
The door opened, though, and Riley piled back in, followed by several other men and a few babies. There were so many of them ready to come in at once, it really did seem like they'd all been huddled behind the door, waiting for Wyatt to give them okay to come in.
I smiled at Riley while the others studied me.
"This is Kansas," Wyatt said stiffly.
He'd acted like he didn't mind introducing me, like he was only worried for their safety, but now I wasn't so sure. I couldn't stand the idea of overstaying my welcome in Wyatt's room, much less his life.
"I won't be down for much longer. None of you have to worry about me lingering," I assured them.
Wyatt glowered in response. "I told you, you aren't going. Not at least until Nana can check you out. Especially…"
"Especially what?"
When Wyatt didn't answer, I looked to Riley and then over to the others. All I saw were more shifty eyes.
Wyatt met my gaze. "You know how I asked the first day if you had a curse or a power?"
"I said yes," I reminded him.
"Yeah, but I thought you were being coy."
I lifted the pillow from my lap, feeling suddenly like everyone knew the punchline to a joke I hadn't even heard being told. "What is it? Do one of you have powers?"
Wyatt pointed to Riley. "He can make you tell the truth when he touches you."
All right then. "When he touches me anywhere? With anything?" Could he fold an airplane and throw it across the room and make someone tell the truth that way?
"Just with my hands, and it wears off the longer you're around me. The guys don't even notice that I touch them all the time now and nothing happens," Riley said.
"The guys?" the attractive, lumberjack-looking man next to Riley said with a possessive arm wrapped around Riley's waist. I noticed that man held Riley tightly, and then there was another couple, a man with glasses and…
"You have a twin."
"You've spotted my worse half. That's Nash. Branson, Aver, Phineas, Bran Jr., Madison, and Patrick." He named people off too quickly for me to attempt to memorize them all. "This is Kansas."
I waved. At the exact same moment, each person standing crammed in the doorway turned their head in the same direction away from me and toward the hallway behind them.
"Who is it?" Nash asked the man whose hand he held. I thought that one was Phineas.
"Nana," Phineas said without hesitation.
I watched Wyatt, looking to him for signs on how I was supposed to be reacting to all of this. He settled his hand on top of mine, and I felt instantly calmer.
Moments later, the people parted like water around a rock, and a short, elderly woman walked through them. Her steps were steady, but slow. Her gray hair was pulled back in a low bun, and she had a smile that took up most of her face. Her eyes were kind and gentle, just like the rest of her.
I jumped off the bed, going as far as I could before my back to the wall meant I could flee no further.
"What is it?" Wyatt jumped up as his nana stopped on the other side of the bed.
She looked like a sweet old woman, the perfect grandma. Beautiful, pure, fragile. Maybe it was because of how Wyatt had asked about death, or maybe it was because, deep down, I really believed my uncle and the things he'd called me, but I couldn't let this obviously loved woman get anywhere near me. "I'm going to go. I'll just go. Not a-away!" I clarified, hugging one arm tightly to my body. Where my fingers curved on my arm, my nails dug into the skin. I found Wyatt's gaze, holding it with my desperation. "I'll do my shifts at the bar. And when you tell me to run, I'll run. And when I tell myself to ignore how friggin' hot this guy is, I'll do that too."
Through all of this, the crowd of people in front of me—seriously, I'd been to open mic nights with a smaller turnout—watched silently. Half of them without blinking.