Careless and Reckless — Chapter 43

*Aurora's POV*

I stare in shock at Wyatt's sudden appearance. I haven't spoken to the boy in months and now he's miraculously decided to show up out of nowhere and punch my kind-of-boyfriend.

"What the hell, Wyatt!?" I seethe at him.

His breathing is heavy like he's trying to calm himself down. I wait impatiently for a response as his chest rises and falls — he seems shocked by his own actions.

He shakes his head, regaining his composure. "I've been wanting to do that for ages," he says with a light laugh.

I give him an incredulous look.

That's all he has to say!? No, sorry for not talking to you for three months Ari or how have you been or I'm sorry I was such a rude bastard?

To be fair it was my fault as well but that's the first thing he says. Typical.

"Sorry about just barging in out of nowhere, green eyes, but I couldn't listen to him spew bullshit any longer. His lies were giving me a migraine," he tells me with an adorable pout on his lips. They look so plump and—

Shit. I'm sidetracking. Moving on...

"Lies?" I ask in confusion. River never lied to me. He's always been so sincere.

Wyatt sighs softly before cupping my hands in his much larger ones and looking me directly in the eyes, his facial expression gentle and honest. "Yeah. I'm not sure if you realised but he's a pretty good liar. He's been doing it for years."

Huh? That's not true. He's been upfront with me from the start. He told me how he felt right away, no games and certainly no lies.

"Maybe with others but, Wyatt, he doesn't lie to me. He's been honest and upfront since I first met him," I defend. There's no way Wyatt is right. I just can't believe it. Not possible.

He tucks a strand of hair behind my ear tenderly before continuing. "That's what he wants you to think, green eyes. Trust me, I've known him for years. He's a bastard who loves to manipulate people," he grits his teeth as he finishes. That must have something to do with why Wyatt hates him so much.

"Did he do that to you? Is that why you hate him?" I pry in a soft but curious voice.

He shakes his head. "Not to me but someone I care about a lot."

"Who?" I ask with slight hesitation. Who would he care about so much? An ex girlfriend or a long lost love? Hopefully neither.

He goes to reply but stops himself last minute much to my annoyance. "Look, I know you deserve answers, green eyes, especially after I just punched the guy but it's not my place to talk about it, I'm sorry," he says in defeat.

I'm itching to finally find out the truth. If I'm honest, I've been wondering about it for months but it wasn't something I could ask River about and I don't think anyone else would know. I did try asking Eli but the boy wouldn't tell me a thing, staying loyal to his best friend. It really pissed me off at the time but I get it, I'd do the same for my friends.

"It's alright but I do want the truth sometime soon," I say, knowing it's useless to dig further at the current time. "Anyway, so you really mean it when you say he's been lying to me?"

He runs his hands through his already messy hair which still somehow looks incredible, his arm muscles flexing as he does so. What's wrong with me today? Focus Ari. "Yeah, I do. I know it's shitty, green eyes, but just from the one conversation I could tell he was trying to manipulate you." His voice is raw and it almost sounds like it's painful for him to say that.

Has he been manipulating me? I mean I have changed a lot in the past few months but that's all been my choice. Sure River lead me in that direction but ultimately I agreed to it all. It's not fair to completely blame him. "Wyatt you know it was my choice to act the way I have. You can't blame him."

His hold on my hand tightens as I'm talking to the point where it's almost painful. "Why are you defending him? He's a bastard and a liar," his voice is deadly calm and it sends tremors up my spine.

"Wyatt you might hate him but I don't. Until I know the full story I'll never even be able to understand why you hate him the way you do. I'm going to treat him how I would anyone else, with kindness and empathy."

He seems aggravated by my answer but drops the subject, knowing I've got a fair point. "Whatever. Let's just get out of here before the cunt wakes up," he says, glaring at River in his unconscious state on the carpeted floor. I look over at my kind-of-boyfriend with a frown.

I believe Wyatt, I know for a fact that he wouldn't lie to me so I think I'm going to break up with him once and for all but, obviously, now isn't the time.

There's a small gash on his forehead but for the most part he looks unharmed. Despite our endless arguing, I've grown rather fond of the boy over the last few months so I can't just leave him lying there no matter how much I know Wyatt wants me to.

"Wyatt we can't leave him sprawled out on the floor like that. Help me put him on the bed."

Wyatt gives me an are-you-crazy look as he shakes his head, making me groan in frustration. "Wyatt I'm not going to leave him like this. For the love of alcohol just help me out." The irritation is clear in my tone and, thankfully, Wyatt picks up on it and begrudgingly gets River onto the bed but not in a graceful or caring manner. He throws River onto the bed rather roughly before leaving the room grumpily, stomping his feet like a child — guess I should have expected that.

I tuck River in and then follow Wyatt out, closing the door softly behind me. He's waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs and, from what I can see in the dim lighting, he's sending someone a text.

By the time I reach Wyatt he has already pocketed his phone and is tapping his fingers mindlessly on his leg. He clasps my hand in his as he leads me outside and I welcome the tingling feeling I get from his touch. I've missed spending time with him more than I care to admit but I think it's obvious because of how much his presence is affecting me.

As we leave the house I spot the boy I was hooking up with earlier; he sends me a quick wink and then returns to his conversation.

I feel the blush creeping up onto my cheeks but I shake it off before Wyatt can notice. I've been putting myself out there recently and in more ways than one. I'm not ashamed of it nor am I embarrassed. It was fun and it was nice to have a breather and escape reality for a few months by doing all these crazy things.

But for some reason when Wyatt is this close to me my stomach churns at my actions — reprimanding me? No, I don't think that's it. Maybe my conscience is uncomfortable at my actions? Maybe it's saying not to do that anymore? I've no clue, to be honest. Either way, it doesn't matter because I'm not in the right mindset to think about any of this right now.

I'm clearly out of it. Even though my alcohol tolerance has increased significantly I must still be at least somewhat tipsy otherwise I wouldn't have been focusing on Wyatt or his lips, muscles, eyes or even that small dimple on his left cheek — shit, I'm doing it again. How much did I drink?

Before we are even halfway down the patio I halt, realising something. "Hold it right there, Wyatt," I start, crossing my arms over my chest.

He looks back at me with amusement clear in his eyes at my sudden change in demeanour but urges me to continue nonetheless. "Don't think I didn't smell that alcohol in your breath. There's no way in hell I'm letting you drive." My voice is confident and firm and I stare him down when he tries to challenge me.

With River I probably would've given in; something about that boy made me act stupidly but Wyatt is different. I feel this protectiveness over him that I can't explain and it would hurt too much if something were to happen to him, something so easily avoidable. With River I didn't care as much, I didn't feel like myself around him — I was someone completely different, someone without a care in the world and nothing to lose.

But with Wyatt I have everything to lose. His presence seems to ground me and although I might still act crazy sometimes with him I know where the line is and right now drunk driving is definitely crossing that line.

After I win I stare down he sighs in defeat. "Fine, I'll call a taxi but just so you know I'm not even slightly tipsy. You know drinking doesn't have much of an effect on me."

It's true, I don't think it's possible for him to get drunk but I'm not chancing it so I shrug at him and smirk in victory as he pulls out his phone.

Around fifteen minutes later our taxi arrives and we both welcome the warm air of the car which was such a contrast from the nipping winter breeze. "We're going to have to come back to grab my car tomorrow," Wyatt grumbles as he closes the taxi door behind him.

Not too long later we arrive at the King household. I was going to just go home but Wyatt insisted on me staying the night and I was too tired to argue.

Although it's late the house is still lively when we step through the threshold. Distant chatter can be heard from all over the place as well as crashes and the occasional 'bang'.

Within minutes of us being inside, I see a blonde head of hair rush past us before coming to a quick halt and backtracking. Brooke looks at me closely as though she's inspecting me but a few moments later that calculated look turns to a grin.

"Ari! It's great to see you," she smiles, jumping at me for a hug. "It's been so long since you were last here. You shouldn't let Wyatt hog you like that, it's not fair."

I smile at her conclusion but don't have a chance to reply before she speaks up again. "Anyway, I've got to go. Anna is looking for me but I don't want to go to sleep yet. Bye!"

Just like that she's disappeared as though she was never here in the first place. I laugh to myself as I go upstairs with Wyatt. Brooke is something else but I love that about her — so full of energy and life.

We reach Wyatt's room a few minutes later and I immediately crash onto the bed, exhaustion hitting me like a ton of bricks.

"Are you not going to even bother to change? I can grab some of Aria's pyjamas for you," he offers but I groan 'no' in response, kicking off my shoes and sinking further into his soft mattress.

I hear him let out a throaty chuckle as he gets changed. Soon after he switches off the light but instead of the bed sinking beside me I feel his strong and muscular arms scoop me up and tuck me into bed, this time with the duvet covering me to keep warm.

"Night, green eyes," he murmurs as he gives me a soft kiss on the forehead which fills me with a comforting warmth, helping lull me to sleep in an instant.

The bed sinks beside me and he wraps his arm around my waist. I don't push him off like I normally would've done because I didn't want to. I felt protected in his arms, loved even.

Just when I'm on the brink of unconsciousness I think I hear him mumble something so soft and quietly that I might have imagined it.

"I missed you."