Chapter 30
Briggs
After I kiss Tia goodnight, I exit her room and walk downstairs into the kitchen. I grab a bottle of vodka from the fridge. Taking two shot glasses out of the cabinet, I carry everything back upstairs and into my room.
I find Wren in her usual spot on my bed, sitting with her legs crossed and homework on her lap. Her nose is buried in a book, but her pale blue eyes find mine when I come in.
“Oooh, what’s this?” She nods toward the items in my hands.
“I brought you some booze. I figure we can have a few shots.”
“Are you trying to get me drunk?” She accuses right away. Before I can answer, she adds, “Because you don’t have to, to get in my pants.”
“Oh, I’m well aware of how much you like me in your pants, little bird.” I take a seat on the edge of the mattress.
“Then why are we getting drunk?” She raises an eyebrow.
“Just to have fun,” I lie. I do have a reason to get her drunk. It’s just not to get in her pants.
“I don’t know,” she says, sounding unsure.
“You had fun with Maya at the party. Why can’t you have fun like that with me?”
“I can,” she defends, still looking unsure. “Fine, pour me a shot.”
“Atta girl,” I tease before unscrewing the bottle and pouring us two shots, filling it to the rim.
“Jesus, that’s a double!” Wren whines, but takes the glass anyway.
“Don’t be a pussy and take it.” I grab my own glass and bring it to my lips. Wren does the same, bringing her glass to her plump lips while holding my gaze. We tip our glasses back in unison. The cold liquid flows onto my tongue and down my throat, leaving a burning sensation behind.
Wren’s face scrunches up at the bad taste, but she quickly recovers. “That was a lot for one shot.” She giggles, handing me her glass back. I take it and set it onto the nightstand next to the bottle.
“You took that like a champ. I’m impressed.”
“Thanks.” She licks her lips, drawing my attention to her very kissable mouth.
“You are looking at me like you want in my pants, after all.” Wren grins at me suggestively.
I lean into her, so our faces almost touch. “Fucking you is always on my mind, bird, but right now, I just want to get drunk with you.”
“All right, big boy, pour us another shot then,” Wren quips boldly, surprising the hell out of me.
“As you wish.” I grin at her while pouring us another shot.
We take it as quickly as we did the first one, only this time Wren barely makes a face when swallowing the pure alcohol. “All right, I think that’s enough for me.”
“Only two shots, and you bow out?”
“Those were two doubles!” Wren exclaims, already slurring slightly. “We basically took four shots already.”
“You can do one more,” I challenge.
Wren laughs. “If I do one more right now, you’ll have to hold my hair back while I puke all over your bathroom.”
“We’ll wait a few minutes then.” I scoot up on the bed, so I sit next to her, both of our backs leaning against the headboard.
The vodka has left a warmth in my stomach and a fuzzy feeling in my chest. I close my eyes to enjoy my buzz for a minute while thinking about how to start the conversation we’re about to have.
Before I can muster up the strength to talk, Wren beats me to it with her own question. “Tell me something about you nobody knows.”
I open my eyes and turn to look at her. “You want to know my secrets?”
“I’ll be satisfied with just one.” She smiles at me.
I have to think about it for a moment. I’m torn between telling her some bullshit story or something real. Considering what I’m about to ask her, I know I need to be honest with her.
“When I was ten, I got obsessed with Rubix’s Cubes. I wanted one so bad. I bugged my parents until they bought me one. When I finally had it, it was so much harder than I thought. I got angry and smashed it into pieces.”
“Omg, that sounds so much like you!”
“Well, my mom wasn’t having it. She bought me a second Rubix’s Cube and told me to not give up on it. She said giving up is never the answer. If I want to do something, I should just do it. So I kept working on it until I could solve it behind my back.”
“Wait, you can solve a Rubix’s Cube behind your back?” Wren asks excitingly.
“I can,” I answer proudly. “Only takes me a few seconds to do it.”
Wren laughs so hard, she makes the whole bed shake. “That’s so random. I don’t even know why I’m laughing. I just can’t imagine you doing such a nerdy thing.”
“Nerdy, huh?” I turn toward her and start to tickle the side of her torso. She breaks out into a loud giggle, trying her best to scoot away from me.
“Sorry! I take it back!” she yells between laughing loudly. A sound I could get used to.
I stop tickling her and pull my hands back before I used them to strip her bare and fuck her raw. I have other things to do tonight.
“Let’s take another shot,” I say once Wren’s laughing dies down.
“OMG, why are you so adamant on getting me hammered? What do you want, Briggs? Don’t lie to me, please. I know you are up to something.”
I look at her pale blue eyes, noticing how they are already glassy, her face flush as she looks at me expectantly.
“Fine, maybe I had an alternative motive.” Her face falls at my words, but I won’t let that deter me. “I want you to tell me who touched you. What’s his name?”
Wren’s face goes pale. “No one touched me.”
“Now you are the one lying,” I accuse.
Wren closes her eyes and lets her head hang low. “I don’t want to talk about this.”
“I know you don’t want to, but you will tell me anyway,” I order in a stern voice.
“What does it matter? It won’t change the past,” she whispers.
“It will change the future. What if he is doing this to someone else?” That gets her attention.
She looks up at me, tears forming in her eyes. “What are you going to do to him?”
“That depends on what he did to you exactly.”
“I don’t want you to get in trouble for me.” Wren shakes her head, strands of her silky brown hair falling into her face. I lift my hand to wipe the strands away and tuck them behind her ear.
“I won’t. If you haven't noticed, I’m pretty untouchable in this town. The fucker deserves what’s coming to him.”
“Yes, but I’m still worried about you. He is not a good person, and I’m pretty sure he owns a gun.” Wren wrings her hands in front of her nervously.
“I won’t go alone if that makes you feel better. I’ll take Carter as a backup.”
“You are not going to let this go, are you?” Wren asks quietly.
“Never, so you might as well go ahead and tell me now so we can get it over with.”
“All right, pour me another shot, and I’ll tell you.”
Relief and anticipation washes over me at her words. I quickly pour her another shot and hand it to her. She shoots it back like a pro before slamming the empty glass onto the nightstand.
She takes a deep breath and slumps back against the headboard.
“He was one of my mom’s boyfriends. I was twelve, and he was always creepy to me.
He would want to hug me all the time and made me sit on his lap.
My mom thought it was all innocent and never said anything.
I tried to stay out of his way, but sometimes he would come into my room at night when Mom was sleeping. ”
Wren pauses, and I give her a few moments before she continues.
“He would touch my chest and sometimes between my legs while touching himself,” she explains, her voice so small and scared. All I want to do is find this fucker and end him. “He always touched me over my nightgown. It could have been much worse.”
“Don’t do that. Don’t downplay what happened to you.” I hate how she looks at me right now. Like he still has a hold on her.
“What’s his name?”
“Steven,” Wren finally says. “Steven Walters is his name.”
Steven Walters, you are a dead man.
As soon as the person behind the notes is found, and I know Wren is safe, I’m going after him. But for now, I’m simply glad Wren told me.
I wrap my arm around her, and she cuddles into my side. Her hand rests on my stomach as she silently cries into my chest.
I used to want her tears more than anything, now I want to do anything to stop her from crying.