Page 6 of Wild Pucking Love (The Cleveland Vortex #1)

FIVE

WRENLY

I suck in a breath. I have no idea how to respond to that, so I don’t. Instead, the elevator stops, the doors open, and she slips out. We don’t speak about what just happened, what she said. I can’t deny that it gave me butterflies, though. Thinking of us as a family. Which is stupid because I don’t know him at all.

The elevator rises, and the doors open on our floor. Reaching into my back pocket for my key card, I walk down the hallway to my room. I reach out and touch it against the pad next to the door. It makes a little noise, and I push the handle down and then move inside.

Eli follows behind me. I look back and watch as he closes the door, tugging on it after it’s closed to ensure that it’s latched. I don’t know why that makes me feel some kind of way… safe, protected.

Walking over to the king-size bed that Ryan and I share, I lay him down in the middle. Placing the pillows as barriers, I know, is not ideal, but I don’t want him to roll around while I’m talking with Eli. I move to his little bag and take out a fresh diaper and his pajamas.

It doesn’t take me long to change him into his pajamas. Usually, I would bathe him before bed, and I do every night, but he’s exhausted, and Eli wants to talk. So Ryan can have a bath in the morning to start his day.

Once I have him comfy in his footie pajamas, I give him his lovey blanket and back away from him, dimming the light before I walk over to the table and chairs that are across from the bed. I can still see Ryan from where I am and also talk to Eli, who is sitting on the sofa facing me.

Inhaling a deep breath, I look down at my lap, hold it for a moment, then let it out slowly. “You have questions,” I state.

He snorts. “I have a lot of questions,” he says.

I run my shaky fingers through my hair, tugging on the ends slightly as I look straight at him. Pressing my lips together, I don’t say a word. Not a single word. Instead, I wait because this is his time to ask me questions.

I’m the one who wronged him. I’m the one who has things to answer for. I am the one who is the problem. The one who caused all this drama. I roll my lips a few times, my heart racing as I wait for his questions.

“Why did you vanish and block me?”

My gaze flicks to his. “Me?” I ask.

He tilts his head to the side, his brow arching as he watches me and waits for my response. I could lie to him. I could hide my true feelings, my thoughts, and all of the above, but I decide against it.

I promised my father that I would come here and tell the truth. I would be honest with Eli and let him make whatever choices he wished to make once he had all the necessary information to make them.

So, instead of lying or skirting the truth when it comes to his question, I tell him why I vanished and eventually blocked him.

“When you left in the middle of the night, that night,” I murmur, “the next morning, I was so embarrassed. I couldn’t even imagine facing you again. You didn’t call me for a while, and by the time you did, I assumed it was to tell me just how bad I was,” I ramble, wishing I could stop talking.

But the words come out like vomit, bubbling inside of me, spilling over without me being able to stop them.

“Then I found out about Ryan, and I was so petrified. I packed my things and ran straight home. I only blocked you on social media for my own sanity. I was obsessing. I was looking at your page, at your stories, crying while I did it. Wondering why I couldn’t be better.”

“Be better?” he asks.

“In bed,” I whisper.

I wish I didn’t have to say the words. He obviously wants to embarrass me further. I want to cry about the whole thing. And if I could make him leave right now, I would, but I can’t. He deserves to know everything and have the chance to get to know his child.

ELI

I can’t stop myself from staring at her. I honestly don’t believe that I’ve just heard what I have.

“Better in bed? Are you trying to tell me that you’re bad?” I ask.

She shrugs her shoulder, her eyes leaving mine as they travel to her lap. She watches as her fingers twist. She wrings them together, and I can’t stop staring at her in disbelief. The fact that she somehow thought she was bad in bed is completely fucking insane.

“You were the best I ever had, sunshine.”

Her head snaps up, her eyes flick to meet mine, and then her lips part. She closes her lips, pressing them together, and rolls them a few times before she parts them again. I watch her, still in disbelief that she’s just said what she has.

But also, thank fuck for an open and honest discussion. Not a bunch of miscommunications. Because I need to know how we got here and how we get to wherever the fuck we’re supposed to be.

“Then why did you leave?” she asks. “Without saying anything?”

I almost laugh, but I decide against it. Instead, I dip my chin, my gaze never leaving hers, and I tell her the truth.

I tell her that her roommate came in, saw me, and when she looked at me her eyes got huge. I didn’t want her to get into trouble by having a man in her dorm. I bounced and called a few days later; we had a game, and I had to travel.

“I should have called you sooner. I should have told you. I can blame it on hockey, but the honest truth is I was an asshole. I wasn’t ready to feel what I felt for you. When I realized just what I felt, it was too late.”

Her lips twitch into a smirk then quickly turn down into a frown. “It was too late?” she asks.

“Yeah,” I say with a snort. “You’d blocked me or just ignored me, I’m not sure.”

“Ignored first, blocked after about nine months.”

Nodding a couple of times, I slide my palms down my thighs, my eyes dragging from hers to the bed. Ryan is fast asleep, his arms resting above his head, his little hands balled into fists. I almost laugh because I sleep the same way when I’m really fucking tired.

His dark hair, his chubby cheeks, and pink pouty lips. He’s perfect in every fucking way. Shifting in my seat, I tear my gaze away from him and focus on Wrenly again. She’s watching me, but I can’t guess what she’s thinking.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I ask. “Once you found out the truth.”

She shakes her head once, then lets out a heavy exhale. Her eyes lift to meet mine and we stare at one another for a long moment. My heart thumps against my chest, harder and harder with each passing second. Then she begins to speak.

I’m not sure what I expect her to say, maybe that she didn’t want anything to do with me. Clearly, she thought I was a fucking asshole. So there’s no telling why she didn’t offer this information, this massive information.

“I was scared,” she whispers. “Then, after he was born, I was exhausted and so busy with school and work that every night, I fell into bed and passed out. Months passed, and I knew I needed to tell you, but at the same time, it felt like I’d waited too long.”

“School and work?” I ask.

“I went to community college, and now I’m a dental assistant.”

My brows lift in surprise. And I am surprised. She had a baby, went to school, and has a good career now, all without my help. Instead of telling her how absolutely fucking astonishing it is that she went through school and now is a working mother, I blurt out something that makes me sound like an absolute asshole.

“Who watches him during the day?” I ask.

I don’t know why that feels important, but it does. Maybe it’s because my mom was a stay-at-home mother, or at least she was after she married my stepfather. I don’t remember what life was like before he came into our lives. He’s been a significant part of my world since I was three years old.

I expect her to be offended by my blurted question, but she doesn’t seem so. Wrenly gives me a small smile, then clears her throat before she speaks and continues her story, answering my questions without hesitation.

“When he was a baby, I was able to take him to the day care at the school for a reduced rate. It was nice because I could go there between classes and see him. Then, after I started working, I was able to hire a nanny for the days that I worked to come to my dad’s house.”

My brows lift in surprise. “A nanny?” I ask.

She laughs softly, and I wonder how in the fuck I left this woman in her dorm room sleeping. How did I not just pick her up and take her with me? I should have. Then, I would have had that soft laugh the past two years instead of trying to forget her and failing at every turn.

“My father lets us live rent-free in his house. He paid for my schooling and also bought food and whatever supplies we needed. I was responsible for childcare, medical bills, and personal items. Along with saving up so we can eventually get our own place.”

I’m going to need to meet this man and pay him back. Just the thought of her father doing all of this for her, for Ryan, it makes my heart swell. I don’t have a biological father, but I know my stepdad would do the same for me or my sister. It just makes me realize that she ran away for a reason.

Safety and love.

I get that, and as much as I want to be angry, I don’t think I can be. I mean, I could, but Wrenly went where she knew she would be taken care of, where my son would be taken care of, and where she knew they would be safe. Any anger that I might feel about the situation completely dissipates at that thought.