Knocked up by the Mechanic

“None of that even compares, I’d give it all up for you.”

“You can’t give up who you are, Harley, believe me, I’ve tried. They’ll never let you forget you’re an East Pointer or that your life was ruined by a lowly mechanic from South Banks. Besides, you love your family and I’d never take you away from them.”

“We can move out of Wexler,” I told him confidently.

“I think, if we’re being honest, we have only two options. The first is to pretend like this never happened and go on with our lives.”

“I hate option one,” I told him.

“The second is we can sneak around until someone finds out and we’ll be forced apart.”

“I hate both of those options,” I told him. I rolled onto my back and crossed my arms over my breasts. The pool house had dual skylights and I watched the fluffy clouds roll by in a perfect blue sky.

“What about Vegas? We get married first and then tell them.”

“We don’t have an income.”

“I have a trust fund!” I told him.

“Which you’ll be cut off from. Brooks already warned me what would happen if I touched you.”

“Is that why you did it? Because I’m just the forbidden fruit and now that you bruised me, you get to go back to your old life?”

“Harley, no, it’s not like that. The only life I want is with you,” he pleaded. “We’re fucked either way. There’s no easy way out of this.”

My phone went off simultaneously as we heard voices outside and doors closing.

“It’s my dad, they’re probably here,” I said. I stood and straightened out my clothes. When I looked at myself in the mirror, it was clear I’d been thoroughly fucked within an inch of my life. There was no way I was hiding the bruises or the glow or the wet lovey dovey eyes.

“You’d better go. I’m going to tell them it’s a hangover and I’m coming down with a cold. Don’t go through the house. Take the path on the other side of the garage.”

Sneaking around came too easily and we both felt the dismay of our situation. He kissed me one last time and my knees went weak with his kiss. His presence felt so vital to me, like I couldn’t survive without his kiss or his touch. I had to breathe the same air that he breathed or be close enough to hear him and see him, touch him if I needed to.

I couldn’t watch him leave and I had to hang my head and dry my tears as he snuck away like he’d done something wrong.

Wyatt Dunne owned my heart and no matter how battered or how bruised his was, I wanted it for myself. I’d keep it alive like a fragile fire, blowing on the embers and adding to it slowly until it gained its own momentum and roared to life, blazing into full flame with my own. I didn’t care what side of town he came from or which lousy people loved him or hated him, Wyatt was mine and I’d do everything in my ability to show him he was more important than anything else.

…

Just a few days later, we were already hosting a huge party.

“What do you mean he beat your child up?” Daddy bellowed into the phone. Stefano was drinking in the living room with his friends for some sort of alumni pub night crawl, starting at our house and ending at the club. Dad told me to shower and put on something, “Decent, take a look at your mother’s stuff,” so I was standing in a full-length strapless, black sparkling dress. It reminded me of a pretty funeral and that’s why I chose it.

“Can you tell Ms. Patterson to bring in more champagne?” Livia asked me. Livia was sweet, but she was just like the rest of them. Purebred, moneyed, stuffy and pretentious. The women were drinking champagne and the men were having brandy. Livia had given Mrs. Patterson these photos of ostentatious charcuterie boards and I’d tried to help her recreate them.

“You really don’t have to help, Ms. Brooks. I do believe I can manage.”

“What does she think this is? Southern California? The Mediterranean? No one eats dates,” I scoffed. “Of course I want to help you. I’ve got nothing better to do, and besides, you didn’t tell Dad about Wyatt, so I owe you. Big time.”

“The young lady’s escapades are none of my business,” she said politely.

My gaze drifted into a dreamscape remembering my escapades with the sexiest man to ever grace this planet.

“I’d give this all up to be with him, Mrs. Patterson, but Wyatt won’t let me.”

“I hate to agree with him, but that’s astute of the young man. You’d give up your life for him only to resent him for it later. It’s best to stay within our own social groups, for everyone’s sake.”