And here I am heading to my brother’s.
When the guys show up at my place, hunting me down—which they will—I don’t want to be there.
There’s only one woman I want to be with tonight. If I can’t be with her, I’ll hide out at Ethan’s. Lord knows he’s got enough bedrooms.
CHAPTER 31
WREN
Unwanted sunlight sneaks in through my blinds, and nothing could be more irritating. Burrowing under my pillow I stifle the emotions morning brought with her. Took me forever to fall asleep. The ceiling has never been so thoroughly inspected.
His text didn’t help.
Sounded so kind.
What’s the point of his keeping up the game? He already scored the proverbial touchdown. I gave him what he wanted.
Maybe he’s like Peter who also has been texting me every day since Eric beat him up and the truth was freed.
Sleep won’t come.
Too awake.
Too angry.
Too sad.
Fuck.
Tumbling the pillow off me I scramble to my feet and rub my eyes. First the bathroom. Brushing teeth can wait. Then the kitchen for a bowl of cereal. Turns out Fruity Pebbles has vitamins thrown in with all that sugar so that’s a good enough reason for me to have two bowls. Need more B12, don’t I? Why yes, yes I do.
Am I out of coffee?
I can’t be out of coffee.
Shit.
I am.
Shit shit shit.
Brushing teeth can still wait, and so can changing clothes. If anyone has a problem with the pajama shorts and baggy hoodie I wore to sleep, they can kiss my butt. This is the best effort I can make today. Slip on a pair of flip-flops, grab my keys, snatch up my phone in case my stupid car dies on the side of a deserted road on the way to Octane Coffee, and I’m heading for the door. Sunlight be damned.
Dare I look at my phone to see who called?
Don’t peek at it, Wren.
Just walk.
But who has that much will power?
I sneak a glance, discover a voicemail from Peter and a missed call from Eleanor. Nothing new from Eric after the hope you feel better text late last night.
I hate that I’m disappointed.
But the heart is not the head.
It will take time to shut down for good.
“Did someone leave their garbage out here?” I mutter, pulling a reusable Trader Joes bag from under the shade of my shrubbery. Poking around I find a care package of Vitamin C, bananas, five protein bars, a sack of very hard avocados, two boxes of tissues, a gallon jug of bottled water, and—blessings of all blessings—gourmet coffee beans.
There’s no card, but I know who these are from. My mom hates that I drink so much coffee. I’m about to call Eleanor and thank her when I spot tiny handwriting on one of the tissue boxes.
Figured you might need extra, since you have a snot problem and I was out of poison ivy. – E.
Tears instantly spring to the corners of my eyes as I gasp and read it again. Guess I’ll be needing two boxes after all.
CHAPTER 32
ERIC
“T ext her again,” my brother tells me from across the patio table in his enormous backyard. Kaya is sitting on Ethan’s knees, grinning up at her father. I can’t believe he’s a dad. It doesn’t escape my notice how happy he is, either.
“Three unanswered texts is probably the limit for one day,” I mutter while patting medicated numbing lotion onto my hand. The football did it no favors, but that’s not my complaint today. “My teammates won’t stop blowing up my phone for skipping out on them last night.”
“Every time it beeps you think it’s Wren.”
Sighing, “Yeah,” I lock eyes with Ethan. “We were in her bed for two days, and there was only one reason I wanted to get up and play in that game.”
“You wanted to impress her.”
Sucking patience through my teeth I stand up and drag my left hand through my hair, staring at the waning sun. “I can’t hide out here all day.”
“But you don’t want to go to an empty apartment now.”
“Wasn’t empty before, and I’ve been living alone for years.”
Ethan gives me a knowing smirk, not mocking me, just feeling my pain. “That’s forever changed. Once you know what it feels like to be with a woman you can’t get enough of, life isn’t the same anymore. Even if it doesn’t work out with Wren, you’ll search for that feeling. But it might never come again.”
I flick an irritated look his way, “You’re a big help.”
“Am I wrong?” Chuckling he adds, “I’m never wrong so why am I askin’?”
That gets a smile out of me, but not a big one. “She’s probably just sick.”
“I’m sure that’s what’s going on.”
“But too ill to text? How long does it take?” I lock eyes with my brother but he’s got no comfort to give. We don’t bullshit each other when it comes to the real stuff. Razzing, pranks, mockery and mimicry, sure…but that’s all in fun. We love each other and we both like the truth too much. It’s where control is. If you know what’s going on you can do something about it.
“I’m going to call her. Fuck texting.”
“There ya go!” He gives his pinky to Kaya to hold while she makes cute noises. Looking up, Ethan waits with me and frowns when I’m sent to voicemail. As my shoulders slump he says, “Try again, Eric.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah!”
A sharp inhale and a thumb jab later and the phone is ringing again. “Hello?” comes her voice, quiet and hesitant.
“Wren? Hey!” Ethan and I share a look, and I calm my voice down so I don’t seem so damn excited, even needy. “Sorry I hung up on your voicemail, I was worried about you.”
“Thank
