My Brother's Girl

2| The Dress

"We are so glad you're finally back home, Wyatt," Lynette said as we got comfortable around the dinner table. "Your father and I were just talking about how much we missed you."

"Yeah," Logan teased, "it's pretty annoying, actually."

"Logan..." Lynette warned. Don't start this petty sibling rivalry. He's back. Our family is back together."

"Cheers to that," I said as I held up my wine glass. I glanced to Wyatt who was sitting on the left side of me. He smiled as he tapped his glass against mine. Our eyes connected for a moment before the entire table tapped there glasses together. Everyone went back to looking at the menus and I downed the last of my wine.

Wyatt chuckled and I looked at him with a raised brow. "What's funny?"

"Nothing," he shrugged and pretended to concentrate on the menu. "It's just good to see you."

"Yeah," I laughed and looked back to my own menu, "at least now we can get back to our old routines. It sucked with you being away." I leaned closer to whisper, "Don't listen to Logan. He's been whining the most about missing his brother."

Wyatt scoffed. "I bet. I was always the cool brother."

I shook my head and tried to decide what I wanted to eat. As I looked over the menu, it became harder and harder to think. Being this close to Wyatt again was not something I was prepared for. Maybe I should excuse myself and go home. I told Logan I wasn't feeling well earlier. Maybe I could--

"Hey," Wyatt whispered, "you okay?"

No. "Yes. Why wouldn't I be?" I asked without looking at him.

"You're shaking."

"What?" I asked again. What did he say? God, why couldn't I think? Or concentrate?

That's when I felt him place his hand on my thigh. Oh, that's what he meant. My leg was shaking under the table. Since he was on my left side, he would have felt it.

My breath caught when he lightly stroked my skin with his thumb. "Are you okay?" he asked again.

I needed to get out of here. At least to compose myself. "Logan, can you order for me? I'll be right back."

I didn't even wait for his reply. I got up and walked straight for the woman's restroom. My heart was thundering in my chest, I was shaking, had chills...oh, God. It was happening. Again. I pushed my way into the woman's bathroom and leaned against the wall. I needed to try to breathe. Breathe, Amelia. Come on...

"Lia?"

My eyes were squeezed shut. What was that noise?

"Lia, can you hear me?"

Somehow I managed to open my eyes. Wyatt was standing in front of me. He must have followed me. He kept saying something, but I had a hard time making it out. He seemed to realize that and placed his hands on either side of my face.

"Look at me, Lia. Look in my eyes. Good." His voice was soft and calm. "There you go. Deep breath in. Deep breath out."

I did as he said over and over again. Once I calmed down, I asked quietly, "Wyatt, what are you doing here? This is the women's room."

He dropped his hands and I wanted to cry at the absence of his touch. "I locked the door behind me." He met my stare. I could tell from the frustration in his gaze what he was going to ask next. "How bad have they gotten, Lia?"

I looked away and walked over to the sink. I turned the water on and rinsed my face with the cold water. I didn't want to answer his question. I didn't want to make this night even more uncomfortable then it already was.