“That it explained a lot,” I said. “I think he was a bit bewildered with all the attention of the girls.”
“Well, he’s a delish young teacher. What did he expect?” She smirked. She shook her head. “Holy shit, Wrenn. This is so . . . rebellious of you. I never would’ve imagined you getting with a teacher.”
“I haven’t gotten with anybody. Not since Toby, anyway. And it’s not like that. I really like the guy,” I said quietly. The question was, did he like me?
“Toby?” asked Kass. “Was he your boyfriend back home?”
I nodded. I’d been convinced that I was in love with Toby, and looking back, I think I was. That made it so much worse when he broke up with me. When things get difficult, you don’t expect someone you love to abandon you. But that’s what happened. Abandoned by my family, and then by Toby.
“You never talk about your family,” Kass said slowly. She eyed me as if she were not sure how I’d react.
And there it was. The questions began. It was inevitable that it would come up sometime, but the thought of telling her still made me feel sick. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust her, or I worried what she would think; it was more the way I felt when people knew that about me.
“My parents and brother were killed in an accident,” I said.
Her eyes widened and she moved closer to me, her arm wrapping around my shoulders.
“My brother and mom were killed instantly, my dad died a few hours later.”
“Oh God, Wrenn.” She hugged me. I felt relieved that she knew. “I can’t even imagine how hard that would’ve been.”
“It was. My life before was completely different from how it is now. Toby, my boyfriend, pretty much stopped seeing me because he didn’t know how to act around the girl who’d lost her family.” I laughed, thinking about how awkward everyone else had acted. “I mean, I’m the one whose family died, yet they can’t handle it?” I shook my head.
“And then you came here.”
“Yes. Layna thought I needed to be around her. At seventeen, I could’ve stayed at home, but there were way too many memories...” I swallowed as tears stung my eyes. I missed them all so much.
After our deep and meaningful conversation, Kass and I watched movies and chatted about anything and everything. She was in the middle of telling me about the plans she and Trina had for the holidays when my phone beeped. She stopped midsentence and stared at me.
“Is it him?” she pressed.
I fished my phone out of my purse, my hands shaking. It’s probably just Layna. Why the hell would he text me?
I stared at his name on my screen for a good ten seconds before opening the message.
Can I call you?
I texted back.
I’ll call you. Give me five minutes.
“He wants to speak to me,” I whispered, feeling sick.
Kass jumped off the bed and ran over to the balcony. “Go out here. I’ll go downstairs and get us something to eat. Come down when you’re finished.”
I waited until she had left the room before tiptoeing out onto the balcony. The concrete was freezing against my bare feet, but I barely noticed. All I could think about was what he wanted to say to me.
I pulled up his number and pressed Call. Holding the phone against my ear, I clutched at my stomach, waiting for him to answer.
“Wrenn.” God, he sounded amazing.
“Hey,” I said, sitting down on one of the wicker lounge chairs outside the door.
“You’re right. We do need to talk, so if you’re still up for the movie, we’ll go. I think the sooner we clear this up, the better.”
My stomach flopped. The sooner we clear this up? That didn’t sound promising. That sounded like a mess he wanted sorted out before anyone else saw it.
“Okay. I will see you there at seven? We can talk after the movie.”
“See you then,” he said, his voice soft.
***
I trudged downstairs.
Kass frowned when she saw me approaching the kitchen. “That was fast,” she observed, handing me a bowl of ice cream.
I sat down at the table and nodded. “He wants to talk to me tomorrow so we can clear this up.”
“Oh.”
“Exactly,” I agreed. I pushed the bowl away and dropped my head onto the table. “Kass, I’m an idiot.”
“It’s okay. Listen to what he has to say before you get yourself worked up.”
“No, it’s not okay. I’ve made a complete idiot out of myself.”
“Did he kiss you back?”
“Huh?” I asked, not seeing her point.
“When you kissed him, did he kiss you back? Even for the slightest moment?”
I thought back. I’d instigated the kiss, but he had definitely reciprocated it. That was not all one-sided. There had been something between us.
“Yes,” I muttered. “But that’s not the point.”
“What is the point? What do you want from him, Wrenn?” she asked, pointing her spoon at me.
I couldn’t answer that. Did I want him to risk his career, sneaking around with me? No. But I couldn’t ignore my feelings either.
Chapter Twelve
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Dalton