Page 16

FIFTEEN

WRENLY

I’m not sure what to expect for the rest of the week. Eli has informed me that he has to go to practice this afternoon. Picking up my fork, I poke around at my scrambled eggs while Ryan ignores the world around him because cheesy eggs are one of his favorite things, and right now, nothing else exists.

Chewing on the corner of my bottom lip, I clear my throat as I lift my gaze to meet his. “Would it be okay if we just came and watched?” I ask.

I don’t think I want to be away from him. It’s not just because last night and early this morning were amazing. It’s because I don’t want to be alone with my thoughts. If I’m alone, I might talk myself out of trying to figure out how to move here. Going back to Texas is the most logical decision that I could make, but that doesn’t mean it’s the right one.

I can’t talk to my dad about this yet, either. As much as he wants me to make the best choices for Ryan and me, he’s also going to want us to stay with him selfishly. And because I’m scared to death about changes and the future, instinctually, I want to stay with my dad, too.

Eli’s lips curve up into a grin. “What if I called Luke’s wife, Clara? Would you guys like to maybe hang out at a park or something with her and her little girl while we’re at practice?”

I’m not sure what to say to that. I want to jump on it because any chance to have another little one for Ryan to play with is a boon. But at the same time, this is his friend, and I just know that if she hates me, that’s going to make this relationship between us even more difficult than it already is.

“She’s really nice, baby. You’ll like her.”

Clearing my throat, I shake my head a couple of times. “I’m not worried about me liking her,” I say, wrinkling my nose.

Eli snorts. “She’ll like you, too, sunshine. And Sloane will love Ryan. I’m sending Luke a text right now. No ifs, ands, or buts.”

Well, since that is that, I press my lips together and roll them a few times while I watch his fingers fly over his phone at an almost alarming rate. I’m not a big texter, mainly because I don’t really have anyone to text, but Eli seems really freaking fast.

Stabbing my eggs, I bring a bite to my mouth, sliding my fork inside as I wrap my lips around it, then slowly tug the fork back out. Chewing on the cheesy deliciousness, I wait for him to say something, hopefully that she’s busy and won’t be able to meet me today.

But he says the exact opposite. In fact, what he says is akin to sending me into the den of either snakes or bunnies itself—considering I’m not sure what I’m going to be walking into and whom I am going to be walking toward.

The whole thing makes me feel stressed, not necessarily uneasy, because if I do decide to live here, then these are the people I’m going to need to meet. The people who I’m going to need to get to know.

These are Eli’s people.

But then I can’t help but wonder if they’re all judging me, too. They wouldn’t tell him that, but what if they think I’m a bad person? That guilt crawls up my throat and threatens to choke me again.

I don’t know what to do. What to say. So I sit across from Eli, watching as he texts his friend, and I wonder if there is a flight back to Texas in the next five minutes because I’m about to spring to the airport.

Then he lifts his eyes to meet mine. They glitter almost as he begins to talk. “Clara would like to have you both over for lunch. She said the kids could play outside on their playground equipment, then take a nap when they get tired.”

Lifting my hand to my throat, I wrap my fingers around the front and stare at him with wide eyes.

“Sunshine, you’re overthinking,” he states.

“How do you know?” I croak.

Eli’s lips curve up into a smirk. “I can see it in your eyes. If you move here, you’re going to want to get to know Clara. Luke is the only one of my close teammates who is married. She has two best friends she used to room with, but she works from home, and I know that she’d be more than happy to get to know you a bit.”

I open my mouth to tell him that she’s going to judge me. She knows I slept with him after only knowing him a few hours. She knows I ran away when I found out I was pregnant and didn’t tell him for fourteen months that he was a father.

All things that she definitely should judge me on, but I just don’t know if I can look her in the eyes. I’m not ready for that harsh judgment. I haven’t built up a thick skin. I’ve kept this whole situation so secretive for so long, telling Eli was about all that I had in me to do.

“Wrenly,” he calls out softly.

I lift my gaze, and my entire body relaxes the moment my eyes meet his. How on earth can this man calm me down with just a soft call of my name and an easy smile? I don’t know. But my running mind shuts off, and my whole body relaxes instantly.

“There is absolutely nothing to worry or stress out about, sunshine. Not in the fucking slightest.”

That is that, apparently. Because an hour later, we’re in the pickup, heading toward these people’s house. I don’t know what to do or say. I don’t know how to feel, but what I do know is that this is a lot in such a short amount of time. My heart, my head, everything is racing a million miles a minute.

ELI

I can tell that Wrenly is nervous as shit, but I really want her to meet Clara. Once she does, I know the nervousness will dissipate.

However, I don’t just drop her off at a stranger’s house with no way to get out. Even though I know that everything is going to be fine, I am leaving her my truck and catching a ride with Luke.

Parking in front of Clara and Luke’s place, I turn to look over at her. I’m dressed in athletic shorts and a tank top, which is doing nothing to hide the semi-hard cock I have going on. I was hoping that Ryan would have taken a nap before we had to leave.

I’ve been dreaming about last night all damn day, about being inside of Wrenly again, but he has been bright-eyed and bushy-tailed all day long, wanting to play and run. I know that once he’s finished here, playing with Sloane and running around, he’s going to want to go straight to sleep, just like yesterday.

The problem is that when I’m done with practice, that’s exactly what I’m going to want to do, too—go straight to bed.

I open the driver’s door, climb out, then walk around the front of the truck. I stop at the passenger side to open the door for Wrenly before I head to the back to unbuckle Ryan. He isn’t quite asleep, but he’s definitely been dozing off.

The moment my hands slip under his arms to lift him out, his eyes pop open, and he gives me a toothy grin. I couldn’t even be annoyed with him if I wanted to. Holding him close to me, his arms wrap around my neck. Any type of anything disappears and is replaced with pure happiness.

Wrenly hasn’t moved from beside the pickup. But instead of saying anything to her, I decide to just reach for her hand. I know she’s nervous, and there’s no reason to keep harping on that nervousness,

Lacing my fingers with hers, I grip them gently and tug her behind me as I lead us toward Luke and Clara’s front door. I only release my grasp on her when I touch the doorbell, then immediately find her hand again. She squeezes me, pressing her body close to mine.

When the door opens, we’re met with Clara, who is wearing a wide smile. Her gaze flicks from me to Ryan and then to Wrenly. Without saying a word, she walks straight toward Wrenly and wraps her arms around her in a hug. She whispers something that I don’t hear, but when she does, Wrenly’s body relaxes instantly. I knew this would be fine.

“Please come inside,” Clara says, taking a step backward.

Before I make a move, I shift my attention over to Wrenly, dipping my chin to look down at her. She lifts her gaze to meet mine, and I watch as her lips curve up into a smile.

“You good, sunshine?” I ask.

“I’m good,” she whispers.

And with that, we step over the threshold and into the house so I can introduce a couple of my best friends to Wrenly, my woman, and my son, Ryan. What a wild fucking way to think—my son. It’s wild and perfect in every way.