by Toni Aleo
Pulling away only slightly, she whispered, “Thanks, Jenny.”
“For what? I think I’m the one who should be thanking you.”
She smiled against his lips, nibbling on them as she whispered, “But you made me forget that my family sucks.”
While he didn’t feel the same, he understood she did. “It is my job as your husband to make all the bullshit go away.”
Her lips pressed lightly against his. “Yeah, but I think you go above and beyond.”
“I do. For you.”
Her face flushed as she moved her hands along his jaw. “Can I take advantage of that?”
He scoffed. “’Cause you don’t already?” he teased, and she beamed up at him.
“I don’t!”
“I’m kidding,” he said, kissing her nose. “What do you want from me, ma chou?”
She giggled, her fingers moving along the hair of his jaw. “Your French is sexy.”
His lips dusted along hers, “Tell me what you want, ma chou.”
Her eyes glittered with happiness, and he felt good. He felt alive, and he fucking felt loved. By her. And that was enough to have him doing anything she wished. But he knew her, and she wouldn’t ask for much. As she moved her lips along his, his gut swirled with desire and love as she whispered, “Will you wash my hair?”
His grin broke as he kissed the side of her mouth. “Yes, I will.”
“And then go get my dessert? Bring it to bed? Eat it off me, maybe? Or let me eat it off you.”
“Slave driver, huh?”
“Please,” she begged, her arms squeezing around him. “For me?”
“You know my weakness,” he decided, falling out of her before turning her around into the water, taking in every single curve of her gorgeous body. “And you’re lucky I want to eat pie off that sweet ass of yours.”
She giggled happily as he reached for the shampoo. “You made my day.”
“That’s all I want,” he said as her eyes met his.
When she smiled, he felt it in his gut, and at that moment, nothing else mattered but her.
He found it was always like that when he had the chance to love her.
Wren wanted to slam her face into the counter until she was bleeding profusely and she died.
Dramatic? Yes.
Did she care? Not even kinda.
“Where the hell is Wells? Shouldn’t he be here? Dealing with this?” she finally yelled, and her mother glared back at her.
“Don’t yell, Wren. It doesn’t fix anything.”
When Jensen’s hand came to her thigh, she let out a sigh as she met his gaze. “Early grave.”
He tried to smile as he shook his head. “But, really, when is Wells coming over?”
“He and Alex went away with Alex’s family for the weekend. They’ll be back tonight. So I gotta make sure this is all well and done before he comes.”
“Fuck. My. Life,” Wren muttered as she held her face in her hands. “I feel the flower issues should fall on him. Let him deal with it.”
“No, he doesn’t need that stress!”
“Neither do you,” Wren yelled back as her mother glared at her.
“I don’t know why we’re spending all this money. He probably won’t be gay much longer,” Winston called from the counter, and Elaine exhaled hard, shaking her head.
“Anyway, you’ll both have fittings tomorrow.”
“For a wedding that is a complete waste of time,” Winston added, shaking his head.
“Dad, you aren’t helping,” Wren called out, sending a look to her father. “At all.”
He ignored her like always before looking to Jensen. “Tell her, Jenny. Wells isn’t really gay.”
Looking up, Jensen held Winston’s gaze. “He’s been gay since we were kids, Winston. I think it’s who he is.”
Winston rolled his eyes. “I swear, the boy doesn’t think. He could be getting millions. Instead, he’s letting his sister get it.”
With that, he left the kitchen as Wren glared at his back. That was the first he had mentioned of the inheritance. Yet it wasn’t directed at her, more at Wells, but she felt it coming. She didn’t trust that guy. Yeah, he was her dad, and she loved him, but damn it, something was up. It had to be. “I see he is still being difficult.”
“Difficult is the nice way of putting it,” Elaine said, shaking her head. “He’s stressing me out, Wells is doing the same, and they won’t stop fighting. It’s killing me slowly.”
Wren swallowed hard. “I told you to hire someone, Mom. You don’t have to do all this.”
“It doesn’t help that your father refuses to accept Wells is gay. Plus, your brother feels better if I do it.”
“Well then, tell him to stop fighting with Dad and help at least,” Wren announced, and Elaine tapped her hand.
“Easier said than done.” When her phone started ringing, she held up a finger. “It’s the florist. Be right back.”
Getting up, Wren rolled her eyes as she grabbed an apple, sitting back down beside Jensen. “Can we leave yet?”
Shaking his head, Jensen leaned on his elbows. “Yeah, I agree. This is dumb.”
“See and, like always, I’m just a sounding board. Or the ringleader for the stupidity around here. My brother can’t even be here. Let’s escape, go to a hotel.”
“Wren.”
“What?”
“Come on, you love being home.”
She shook her head. “No, I don’t. It’s always about Wells and Dad, or whatever party my mom is throwing. I don’t matter around these parts.”
“Well, you matter to me, and I’m in these parts at the moment, so you matter,” he said, leaning into her and nipping at her nose. “Now, smile so I can smile.”
He was so sweet. So amazing and she hated that, no matter what, he could make her smile. It scared her. Down in her soul.
Because she was falling fucking hard.
Like, face first in concrete hard for Jensen.
She knew there was no way it would last.
But yet, her lips quirked a bit, and so did his. “Come on. Bigger.”
“Leave me alone.”
“Never,” he said, capturing her mouth as her hands came up to hold his face. His kisses hit her in the gut, and she wanted nothing more than to escape to their bedroom and undress him slowly, before taking him with the need that was bubbling inside of her. It was insane how badly she wanted him. She had always been attracted to him, but being with him in that way… Yeah, nothing could touch that. He was magnificent, and she swore her soul felt him.
All of him.
Pulling away, she met his gaze as a smile pulled at her lips, and he said, “There’s my baby.”
Her grin grew as she leaned her head on his shoulder, exhaling hard because no matter how happy he made her, nothing about being in Colorado was good. Not only did she have to deal with her shitty parents and her dramatic brother, she knew she would see Bradley. That alone had her heart aching in her chest. She really needed to tell Jensen before it happened, but she couldn’t bring herself to. Closing her eyes, she pushed that thought aside before she whispered, “When Wells comes, it will be worse.”
“Then we’ll escape to the bedroom.”
Her hand slid down the inside of his thigh. “Or, we can go now?” He gasped as she moved her hand up the lump in his shorts. “I can take you against the door this time.” When he chuckled sexily, she sat up and grinned back at him. “All of you.”
“Evil woman,” he muttered as she giggled. Then her mother came back into the room.
Unfortunately.
When it was just them, Wren was happiest.
“Well, that was almost a disaster. They ordered yellow instead of blue. Wells wants blue flowers.”
“Oh, darn.”
“Wren.”
Wren exhaled loudly. “Jesus, Mom, hire someone. Please.”
“No, it’s fine,” she said, waving her off, but even Jensen could see this was stressing her out.
“She won’t, Wren. She likes the stress. Gives her something to do,” Winston said, coming into the room and shaking his head. “You know how she is, always needs something to plan and do. She’s never happy with what she has.”
“That’s not true,” Elaine called back to him. “I love you, and I haven’t killed you yet. I love my children, I just like planning stuff.”
Wren looked away, her shoulders falling against her wishes. She didn’t want to have her feelings hurt, but if her mom loved her and cared about her, why hadn’t she even thought to ask Wren how she was? Moms were supposed to be there for their daughters, especially when they were pregnant, but Wren didn’t have that. Elaine Lemiere was always too busy.
“Oh, crap, Wren. Shanna wanted to come by tomorrow. What time is good for you? She said she texted you.”
Wren’s heart dropped. “I changed my number, remember? I haven’t gotten anything.”
Her mother tsked. “Well, I’ll need you to talk with her. She’s doing the decorations for me, and I don’t want any bad blood between you two. I don’t know what happened, but I need you to fix that.”
Not because they’d been friends their whole lives, but because of Wells’s wedding.
Exhaling hard, Wren shook her head. “We’re busy.”
Elaine’s face scrunched up. “Busy? You stayed in bed till one today!”
“’Cause we’re tired. I don’t want to entertain anyone right now. Maybe later.”
“Wren, that’s pathetic.”
“I think it’s pathetic that you don’t care if I’m friends with her, only that I smooth things over so that Wells’s wedding goes off without a hitch!”
Jensen held up his hands. “Whoa, why don’t we change the subject?” he suggested, and Elaine looked up, her brows pulling together as Winston looked over at him too.
“To what? Honey, I have so much to do here, especially when your wife is being her difficult self,” Elaine said, moving her hands over all the books and calendars around her. “Planning a wedding isn’t easy, not that Wren cares about that.”
Wren’s blood was boiling, and her face was burning as she went to tell her mother where she could stuff Wells’s wedding, but before she could get a word out, Jensen was talking. “Neither is having a baby, but we are. We would love some advice, or hell, we can talk about my family since they made sure to ask about you two while we were there. Also, we can’t figure out a name for the kiddo we’re having, and you haven’t asked how Wren’s pregnancy is going. So, I feel there’s a lot we can talk about.”
With each word that left his mouth, Wren’s eyes widened more. He had never spoken to her parents like that, and when she looked back at them, they were both wide-eyed and shocked.
Holy. Fuck.
“I… Well… I guess we can talk about that,” her mother drew out, and gone was Wren’s shock, replaced by pure hurt.
She guessed.
Wow.
“I just didn’t realize—”
But Wren was already moving, sliding out of the breakfast nook as she fought back her tears. Walking past her mom, she called out, “It’s fine, Mom, plan your wedding.”
“Wren,” Jensen called, but she waved him off.
“Wren, honey,” Winston called, but she shook her head. “Wait a minute.”
“No, I guess I fucking need a goddamn moment,” she said, walking away and heading for her room. She fully expected Jensen to follow, but he didn’t.
Instead, she heard him back in the kitchen. Pausing at the door, she looked toward the kitchen as he said, “I don’t think it’s dramatic for her to want her parents to ask how her life is going.”
“We know she’s fine. She hasn’t told us any different,” her father bit out, and her heart sped up in her chest as she walked back toward the kitchen, leaning on the wall that held all of Wells’s and Jensen’s awards.
“Have you asked?”
“I don’t have to. She’d tell me.”
“Or she wouldn’t.”
“Jensen, honey, really, we know our daughter. If something is wrong, the whole world knows. Plus, Wren is just so independent. She doesn’t need anyone, and if anyone tries to be there, she pushes them away. I know you’ve been with her for the last month, but honestly, we know her.”
She heard Jensen moving before his voice came out cold and hard, “That’s the furthest from the truth because in that month, I think I now know her better than both of you, and that’s sad. I hate that for you because that woman is the most amazing girl I’ve ever met. Yeah, she’s independent and she pushes people away, but if you don’t let her, you get the real Wren. And that girl…” He paused, shaking his head as a grin pulled at his lips. “She’s vulnerable and needs love.”
Her father huffed out a sound as he yelled, “Now, son, don’t come into my house, saying we don’t love our daughter!”
“I never implied that at all. I know for a fact that you love her, but does she know that?”
“Yes,” her mother yelled, her chair moving out and her hands coming down on the table. “Yes, she knows that, and I don’t know why you are questioning us.”
“I’m not,” he said simply. “I’m just saying, I get Wells’s wedding is important and it needs to be planned. But maybe take ten minutes to find out how Wren is doing. She didn’t even want to come here because she knew you guys would be like this, and I didn’t believe her. But she was right and, guys, she is fucking amazing. Beautiful and we’re so excited for our future. Be excited for us, her too. Not just Wells. Lots of things are happening, and I want to be able to come here with my son for you two to see, and not to have my wife crying because she doesn’t want to be here.”
Wren’s eyes filled with tears as she covered her mouth, holding in her sob. “I love you two. I love you like I love my own folks, and you both know that. I don’t know how I never noticed that you guys did this, but looking back, it was always Wells and me. Always. But now that she is my wife, my heart and soul, I won’t let you guys hurt her. I don’t care about anything but her happiness and my son’s health. Please, God, please, don’t ruin an already fragile relationship with that woman. Please.”
Silence stretched through the kitchen, and all Wren could hear was her own heartbeat as she waited for someone to say something. Never in her whole life would she have expected this from Jensen. He didn’t talk to anyone like that. Maybe on the ice, but not to the people who helped raise him! He wasn’t ever that bold, but apparently, she was very wrong.
Then her father said, “I don’t have any clue what you’re talking about. We love that girl. Our relationship is fine.”
“And that’s part of the problem. You don’t even know you’re hurting her, you just call her dramatic. Given the fact that I’m basically a part of this family, more so than as just her husband, I hope you understand that I’m saying this because I love her and I love you two. So please do the right thing and fix this with her.”
When she heard Jensen start to move, she took off through the living room, then the den, and entered the bedroom after he did. When he turned from looking in the bathroom, he jumped in surprise as she shut the door and said, “Holy fuck.”
“Where the hell were you?”
But she shook her head. “You just went off on my parents!”
He shrugged. “I don’t think I went off on them, but something had to be said. You were listening?” he asked, his brows pulling together. “You are a stalker.”
But she didn’t care. Reaching out, she took him by the biceps, her eyes searching his. “Jensen, no one has ever done anything like that for me.”
His eyes were full of worry, but then she saw love too. Love for her, and just like that, he said, “I love you, Wren. I’d do anything for you. You know that.”
The wall around her heart, deep down in her cold, dead soul, crumbled to pieces. She wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing her face into the middle of his chest. “I can’t believe you did that.”
; Gathering her in his arms, he kissed the top of her head. “I’m surprised you can’t believe that. When have I not been there for you?”
The answer was never, but her heart was in her throat as she clung to him, scared to death of the overwhelming feelings that were shaking her core. As her lip wobbled, her eyes clouded with tears before she looked up at him. He ran his thumb along his bottom lip. “I-I just—”
Before she could say whatever the hell she was going to say, the door opened and Wells was looking at them with a big grin on his face as he laughed. Her brother was tall, like Jensen, with dark green eyes and darker hair. Unlike her, he was thick but nowhere near overweight. He was strong. Massive. His face was full of sharp angles, and hair dusted his jaw where his grin grew. “So I heard some dude with a huge sac just went off on our parents? Surely it wasn’t your husband?”
She looked up at Jensen, while he scoffed as he rolled his eyes, but her heart soared. “Yeah, it sure was.”
“I hardly told them off.”
Jensen’s heart was in his throat. He hadn’t meant to get carried away, but he’d felt he was still respectful. Maybe he hadn’t been. But sitting there, watching his wife’s shoulders fall and her face look so defeated, he couldn’t handle it. Something inside him caught on fire, and he had to fix the situation. Not only for Wren, but for her parents too since he knew they loved her. They did, they were just too consumed with everything else to realize their mistake.
“Not what I heard. But Jesus, what did you do to my sister?” Wells asked, coming toward them and pulling her into his arms, hugging her tightly. “She’s huge. Did you put a monster baby in her?”
Wells shared a look with Jensen, and Jensen’s face warmed as he shrugged. “When we were home, Mum told her I was eleven pounds.”
“Monster, I tell you. But look at you. All pretty and shit. I can’t with how beautiful you are, and I have to stand beside you when I’m getting married? You’re going to upstage me!” he teased, and Wren beamed up at him as she hugged him tightly.