by C. M. Owens
He smiles and nods, and she runs off to her room without a backwards glance in my direction. That’s when he pulls off his sunglasses, and those heart-stopping blue eyes find mine. “I brought an army. Hope you’re ready,” he says, grinning, and… yeah… This time I’m forced to wobble noticeably.
He moves quickly, bridging the small gap between us, and his hands move to my waist, steadying me. Oh damn. He shouldn’t be touching me, because it sickens me to know how much I want him to touch me more.
“I’m… fine,” I say hoarsely, making his eyes fill with concern.
“You sure? You should have asked me to come over sooner if you’re already this weak, Allie. I could have gotten this all packed up for you.”
I do feel weak. Just not the way he thinks.
Damn him and his words right now. Really don’t need this confusion, and I hate the way my body is reacting to him. Anatomy and psychology seem to be at war within me.
“I’m fine,” I say again, sounding stronger as I clear my throat.
“Holy hell. There’s like… a bunch of people down there,” Bella says while coming back into the apartment. She left? “And they’re all—” She stops speaking when her eyes land on Wren’s hands that are firmly placed on my hips. Then her grin slowly spreads across her face when her eyes meet mine. “—here, looking for our place. I told them the apartment number, and then I raced up the stairs while they waited on the elevator,” she finishes.
Wren lets go of my hips, and he moves past Bella to the elevator across the hall just as it dings. Bella continues grinning, and I cut my eyes toward her in warning. That wasn’t what it looked like. I don’t think.
Wren laughs in the hallway as loud chatter arises, and I tilt my head curiously, moving closer to see… Holy shit! How did he get this many people to come help him on a Saturday at the last minute?
“Everyone,” he says, motioning toward me, “this is Allie, and that’s her roommate… Bella.”
He points to Bella and then he jogs toward Angel’s room, knocking first to gain her permission before entering. It’s a small act of respect that only pisses me off more, because he keeps rewriting everything I thought I knew.
He sticks his head in the door, and Angel walks out, smiling when she sees all the faces around us.
“And most of you have met Angel a time or two. It’s the only time she’s not bored with me,” he jokes, and Angel laughs loudly, only warming me more.
He’s introduced her to his friends. Why does that make him seem even better?
“There she is,” a strikingly gorgeous woman says on her way to hug my daughter. Um… who the hell is she?
Wren grins at the woman too affectionately, and my jaw works tensely when she picks Angel up and hugs her. Angel hugs her back, but it’s stilted. Obviously this woman is more comfortable than she should be. Angel doesn’t let people in easily.
“Oh,” Wren says, laughing when he sees me. There’s the asshole I know. “Sorry. This is my mother—Melanie Prize.”
My jaw drops. Painfully so. In fact… there are no words. She’s not old enough to be his mom.
“Don’t look so shocked, dear,” the woman says with a soft smile, but she seems uncertain about how to approach me. I’m sure Wren has told her I’m a bitch. In fact, now I’m a little self-conscious because he’s probably told everyone I am, but I doubt he’s told anyone about how he treated me. “A woman can look young for decades these days.”
I force a smile, feeling uncomfortable in my own home with all his friends. Until I see a face I know.
“Hey,” the familiar woman says, and I sigh in relief. I was really nice to her.
“Brin,” I say, proud of myself for remembering the name Wren once gave me on the way to stitch up her boyfriend’s hand.
Her smile brightens the mood, and she turns just as the tall, tattooed man walks closer, stretching out his hand that has the faintest scar.
“You did good work. We came to repay the favor.”
I smile while shaking his hand, and then I glance back and forth between the two of them. “I guess you two are more than neighbors now?” I muse, needing someone to bond with out of this crowd.
Brin snickers while nodding. “You caught us on a bad night. Things are a lot different. Hope you’re ready to get moved in within a few hours. Wren assembled an army.”
I turn back to see the numerous other faces, and Wren starts introductions. Most wave and smile before asking us for instructions. Bella handles most of the delegating, since I’m still not fully in the moment. I can’t believe he was able to get so much help so quickly.
While Bella is putting everyone to work, Wren and Melanie sneak off to join Angel in her room. Being nosy, I follow, making sure to look as though I’m packing up the rest of a box near the doorway of my daughter’s room.
“I think we can fill in the gaps just fine. You know, we do have six Christmases to make up for, so we’ll have a lot to do. Not to mention, let’s just say… your father’s house is rather… boring, I hear. Maybe we could speed Christmas up and put some things there for you to play with,” Melanie says, and my heart sputters.
I never really thought of parenting as being competitive, but what if Angel realizes Wren can give her so much more than me? It’s so frigging insecure, but I can’t help it.
No. I won’t do that. I can’t. My daughter deserves all the things she’s ever wanted, and if Wren can give them to her, I’m sure as hell not going to be petty and stand in her way.
“I’ll write some things down,” Angel says matter-of-factly, prompting me to hold back my laughter.
“You can write?” Melanie asks in surprise.
“Yep. And I can read, too. Not the big books like Mommy, but I can read the smaller books she buys me.”
They continue to ask her questions, and I peek in to see Wren smiling at her while putting the last of her stuff in boxes, treating everything with care like it can’t be replaced. I decide to give them privacy instead of hovering, so I move to the kitchen. Or try to.
Bella intercepts me half way and pulls me to the side by my elbow, intriguing me.
“What the hell?” she grumbles, releasing me to cross her arms over her chest.
“What the hell what?” I ask, rubbing my poor wounded elbow that did nothing to deserve her violent use for upheaval.
“Every guy in there is taken. The Dane guy owns half of Sterling Shore, and he’s here despite some big party he’s having, because he’s a good friend to Wren. So obviously I’m intrigued, but no. He’s married. To the hot blonde girl in our kitchen who happens to be a frigging bestselling author. And the hot guy with the tattoos all over his arms is with the short girl who is tripping him every time he walks back and mocking him with insincere apologies. And the other guy, Kode, is with the dark haired girl who happens to be sisters with the striking blonde. Kade, the youngest one of them, yeah… he’s engaged to the chick who keeps griping about them leaving her out of their poker night. It’s like mega-hot-but-don’t-touch-city in there. Did he do that on purpose?”
I bite back a grin as she blows a hair out of her face, scowling at the door she closed on our way out.
“I don’t know. But since when are you looking for a guy?”
She turns that vicious scowl on me, and my laughter leaks out just a little.
“I’m not. But it wouldn’t hurt to enjoy the view. I feel like I’m going to get in trouble if I enjoy the eye candy in there. And for the record, those guys might as well be blind to all other women in the world. They haven’t even noticed that I exist. They’d be sleaze if they did notice, considering they’re taken, but still. I’ve never felt so teased.”
My laughter starts pouring out, and she takes a step back as though I’ve lost my mind. Then again, I can’t remember laughing this hard at something so small.
“Since when the hell do you laugh at something so mundane?” she asks, doing the thing where she makes me worry that she’s in my head.
“I don’t. I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” I utter through the fits of laughter.
Wren managed to assemble a small army of help, yet he also made sure not to bring anyone single that might hit on Bella. Obviously he doesn’t want to risk anything going wrong with our rocky start. He certainly didn’t do it because of me, considering he knows I’m dating someone. Or… at least I think he does.
That makes me appreciate him even more. Just knowing he’s giving this all he’s got is a good sign. It takes me at least five minutes to finally stop laughing, but Bella can’t seem to stop smiling.
“Fine. I’ll deal with all the hotties being taken if you keep laughing like that. It’s nice to hear.”
I just roll my eyes while she opens the door, and I trek back into the house as two of the said hotties use the open door to walk out our sofa. Bella checks out Rye’s ass, but quickly looks away when the smiling Brin sweetly clears her throat.
“Torture,” Bella whispers, prompting me to snicker softly while moving back toward the kitchen where the girls are all quick to swarm me with questions about Angel. This I can talk about easily. Maybe this won’t be so bad after all.
***
ALLIE
This is hell. Pure and utter hell.
Wren Prize is freaking amazing. He’s nothing like the Wren Jacobs I met in Cancun. In fact, this Wren would kick that Wren’s ass for his behavior. How can one person change so much in such a short span of time?
Albeit, seven years is a long time, but not enough for someone to be this incredibly different. The girls all talk about him being the voice of reason amongst the group—the most mature. They keep acting as though it’s impossible he was a jerk. Not that I mentioned it. He apparently told them he was an asshole to me, yet they still can’t believe it.
I wouldn’t believe it either if I hadn’t seen it for myself, because after spending a whole day with him, I can’t even picture him as the same guy. In fact, I’ve questioned my memories of that night, which pisses me off.
“You know,” Bella says as she sidles up next to me, climbing onto a stool so that she can properly hang a picture, “Wren Prize is definitely becoming my favorite person on a moving day. All of our stuff is almost unpacked, and it’s just barely getting dark. And all of his friends have stayed. That’s pretty amazing. Loyalty like that, well, it’s rare. I thought only we had it, yet they all have it to him.”
Yeah. As if I needed a flashing neon sign.
“I’m pretty sure the Wren I met in Cancun wouldn’t have this many friends.”
She shrugs while leaning back, staying on her stool, and admiring Kade Colton who is working tirelessly without his shirt, his hidden tattoos exposed. The fact he has a tongue ring has only driven Bella crazy with envy, and I’ve laughed about it all day.
She isn’t actually looking for anyone to date—at all. I think she’s only continued the torture spill because I keep laughing. I can’t even remember the last time I’ve laughed so hard, but these people are all so laid back with a good sense of humor. It’s easy to forget they’re strangers.
“So, the Dane guy is apparently the world’s sweetest fucking husband on top of everything else. Kode, his brother, is a bit of a jerk to everyone but his woman and his close circle of friends. That’s cool, I guess. His friends seem to get him, but I wouldn’t mind never knowing him. Raya is cool as hell, though. She and I are going out one night.”
Crap. Now my best friend is going to be a part of his circle. What if she’s around Wren more and starts liking him a little too much? No. No. No. I can’t get jealous. That’s stupid. Why am I acting so stupid?
“That’s… nice,” I say, trying not to frown and act like an immature brat. Besides, Bella would never get with Wren for the simple fact he’s Angel’s father.
“Get that look off your face. It’s just to get to know her better,” she says, misreading my thoughts. “She’s not rich like the rest of them. She’s like you and me. All the girls are cool, really, but Raya seems like my kind of girl.”
“What about Brin?” I ask idly. Brin is the only one I’ve ever really met before.
Bella and I are still hanging the last of the pictures while some of the guys finish putting together some of the furniture pieces in the bedrooms. She shifts on her stool, trying to put the leveler on top of the frame she just hung, as she answers.
“I like her, but I’d never stop staring at her boyfriend if we hung out. Kade is younger, sort of. Not by a lot, but still younger, so I can overlook him easier. And he doesn’t drive a motorcycle like Rye does. We both know he’s exactly my type, which makes him all the harder to look away from, even though I’m done with my type. And Brin keeps looking at me like she might kick my ass if I keep staring at her man.”
“Actually,” a voice interjects, startling us both into a squeal. Brin is standing behind us, smiling, forcing us both to blush as she continues. “I’m used to girls checking him out. I’ve just been giving you a hard time when you do because Wren worked really hard to assemble unavailable men only. I came because Allie was incredible and came to Rye’s rescue one night, even though she didn’t know us. And the other girls came because, well, they’re as nosy as Wren’s mom. They haven’t gotten to really be around Angel a lot, and they also hope they can help Allie realize Wren is a good guy, even though he might not seem like it from memory.”
She grins at Bella who looks like she has swallowed her foot, and I cackle at the pure horrified embarrassment on her face.
“What’s so funny?” Rye asks, which in turn forces Bella to stumble off her stool and crash ever so indignantly to the floor, punctuating her humiliation, and forcing me to laugh that much harder.
“Girl talk,” Brin says teasingly as the gentle giant wraps his arms around her waist, nuzzling her cheek with his face when he bends over.
“Ah. I see. Then I don’t want to know. We’re about to finish up here.”
“Pizza and beer?” I ask spontaneously, not ready for this to end, especially when Bella shoots me a nasty glare.
Brin smiles at me before nodding. “Sounds good. We’re free tonight. And I know I could use a beer after today.”
Rye shrugs in agreement, apparently not one to argue. Simple. Must be nice to have a simple relationship that’s just so easy. Even though it didn’t look so easy the night I first met them.
“Everyone good with pizza, beer, and hanging out long enough to enjoy all our hard work?” Rye asks without moving away from the woman he is now leaning over and nuzzling.
A series of excited agreements ring out, and I sneak away to find Wren. I might should have asked him before inviting all his friends to stay.
“I’ll order pizza,” Bella says in an effort to escape Brin’s teasing grin.
“We’re making a beer run,” Kode Sterling says, tugging insistently on Tria like they might do more than grab beer.
Kade rolls his eyes while moving to be beside Raya, and he wraps his arm around her waist.
“We’ll grab beer. It’ll be hot by the time they get back with any,” he says, snickering when Raya nods in agreement and sighs in exasperation.
I just smile while walking out the back sliding glass doors to the patio. Wren is outside with Angel, helping her sort through the small storage shed that is in the corner of the backyard.
“What’s going on?” I ask, nervously pocketing my hands as I step just inside the doorway.
He’s spent most of the day with her, and the two of them have developed a little bubble. I think she has felt more comfortable with him in her space instead of her being in his space, and I’ve worked really hard to let them have their moment.
Wren turns that ensnaring smile on me, and my legs curse me for attempting to stand.
“We’re mapping out bike room. It’s a good neighborhood for a bike. You’ve got a nice, paved driveway, and the sidewalks are wide. She said you were going to buy two bikes to ride around together.”
Trying not to melt lik
e an idiot, I smile at him. “We are. We’re going to look at some when I get paid next week.”
Angel takes a step toward me, looking up at me with determined eyes. “Wren says he owes me a lot of birthday presents, too. So I asked him for a bike for both of us.”
I don’t know why I laugh, but I do. Wren shrugs, trying his best not to grin. “She’s right. It’s only fair I get her anything she wants. Two bikes okay for now? I can give you the money if you don’t want me taking you shopping for them.”
It’d be smarter to deny him both of those options. Buying things for her is one thing. But buying me things is not okay.
“You can buy her one. We can go look when you’re free.”
“I’m free tonight. And tomorrow. Whenever. And it’s her request for two bikes. Don’t make me let her down so soon.”
Ah, hell. Why does he have to be so nice?
“Fine. Two bikes.”
Angel squeals excitedly and rushes to hug me, surprising me with her enthusiasm. I hug her back before picking her up and kissing her nose. Wren stands from his crouched position and just watches us with genuine interest.
“I need to go tell Aunt Bella.” Angel wiggles free from my grip and rushes toward the house, abandoning me with Wren and leaving us alone for the first time all day.
“Um… I asked your friends to stay for beer and pizza. To say thanks for all the help.”
He smiles while walking toward me, and I step out of the small shed to give us more breathing room. Once he’s outside with me, he says, “You didn’t have to do that. We help each other out all the time. They call, I come. I call, they come. I promise they all owed me a favor or two.”
He acts like those favors are extended to me, considering this was my move.
“I’d like to thank them. And you. Will you stay for beer and pizza, too?”
I sound like a nervous girl, but he doesn’t seem to notice. “Love to. I’m starving, and it’ll give me more time with Angel. She’s different when you’re close by. She’s not so standoffish. I think she’s more comfortable with her being on her own turf.”