Chapter 17 Wren
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
WREN
We may have gone a little overboard on shopping. That being said, we literally had nothing, and we’d all been through a lot with our escapes. Was it really so bad to treat ourselves a little on Robert’s dime?
Didn’t I deserve to wear an outfit of my choice after being forced into the dresses he chose for twenty-one years?
Pete, Dex, and I start opening all the packages and dumping the contents on the bed, as Jagger and Sly try to sort them into piles of who they belonged to.
“I can’t wait to put on a pair of shoes that actually fit,” Pete says, opening a box of sneakers.
“I can’t wait to wear a proper dress shirt,” Sly says, holding up a black one. “Even if it is a generic brand, it’s better than this T-shirt.”
“I think you look good in that shirt,” I tell him with a smile.
“That’s why you’re my favorite,” he answers, surprising me.
“Your favorite what?” Pete asks, taking the words out of my mouth.
“Human.”
Dex snorts in amusement as I try not to swoon from Sly’s sweet words. Instead, I reach out and squeeze his hand across the pile of treasure.
“Yes! A razor!” Dex says happily as he holds up a small black case.
“Wren?” Sly asks, getting my attention again. “Have you found enough for an outfit? Do you want to change first? It might take us a while.”
I shake my head. “No, I’m comfortable for now. You can go first, Dex.” I figure he’s desperate since he’s staring at the razor and running his fingers through the overgrown hair on the sides of his head.
“Thanks,” he says, squeezing my shoulder before he gathers up a bunch of stuff in his arms and quickly closes himself in the bathroom.
My eyes skate over everything piled on the bed, catching on the pile of weapons.
Pointing to it, I ask, “Is one of those for me?”
“No.”
“Yes.”
Sly and Pete answer at the same time before narrowing their eyes at one another.
“Yes, one will be, after I teach you how to use it,” Pete says as he starts looking through the mountain of weapons, pulling a few to his pile, while Jagger does the same. I notice they seem to have selected a lot more knives than the other two, and I wonder why. Do they lose them a lot?
“Did you say there was still more stuff coming tomorrow?” I ask Sly.
He takes the phone from Jagger. “Originally, some things were scheduled for tomorrow, but now I’m looking, it seems like everything got sent today.”
“That’s great, then we can leave today,” I say with a smile. It quickly fades as I realize I have no idea what our plans are. “Where are we going to go?” I ask, realizing we haven’t talked about it yet.
“First, we need to get some fake IDs,” Pete says, glancing at me.
I shiver as I remember trying to do that only a couple of days ago. Was it really that recent? It feels like so much has happened since then.
“No running off with the big bad bikers this time, though,” he says teasingly, clearly trying to make me feel better.
“Once we have them, we’ll have more choices,” Sly explains. “This money won’t last forever, though, so we need to find a place where we can get jobs but stay mostly hidden.”
“Wait—” I frown, looking around at the three of them. “You’re planning to hide for the rest of your lives?” I ask with a mix of confusion and sadness.
“Angel, we’re fugitives. That doesn’t just disappear,” Pete says sadly. “They’re not going to forget about us if we lie low for a while. This isn’t going away.”
“But you said you’re innocent,” I say, tears filling my eyes as I try my best to blink them back.
“I am,” Pete says, moving around to sit beside me. “At least for the crime they charged me with. But they don’t believe that. I’ve already been convicted for it. The same goes for the others.”
“We have to convince them of the truth,” I say, grabbing his hand and squeezing it tight.
“It’s too late for that now.”
I shake my head as a tear escapes down my cheek. “I don’t believe that. If we can find evidence that you were wrongfully convicted, they will have to drop the charges against you. Right?”
He gives me a pitying smile as he wipes the tear from my cheek.
“You don’t have to believe me, but I’m going to do it. I’m going to get all four of you your freedom back.”
“And what about you?” Sly asks. “What of your freedom?”
I think about Robert and Ivan, and my brows knit together, realizing that I may not be running from the police, but my enemy is just as scary, if not more so.
“Once your four are free, if you still want me around, then we can leave the country and go somewhere Robert won’t follow.” My mind drifts to green trees, mountains, and snowfall. “Like Canada.”
“Angel,” Pete says with a sigh. He sits down and lifts me into his lap, wrapping me in his arms. “What part of ‘I go where you go’ did you not understand?”
I let his hand running up and down my arm soothe me for a minute before I answer. “I thought that was just until…”
“There’s no until, angel cake. You’re stuck with me forever.”
“Forever is a very long time,” I whisper back, my heart somersaulting in my chest with hope.
“And yet not nearly long enough to spend with you,” he whispers into my ear.
My core clenches, and I feel myself grow a little damp between my legs, surprising me.
I grip his arm, unsure what to do. The feelings they’ve all been stirring in me keep leaving me confused, with a strange longing inside, telling me I need more.
And yet, the more affection I get, the more the need grows.
The bathroom door opens, and a smiling Dex steps out. “Ta da!” He steps into the room and lifts his arms to the sides, spinning in a full circle so that I can get a good look at him.
I push to my feet and move closer to take a better look.
“Dex… You look so different,” I say in awe.
“I look like me again!” he says happily, running his hands down the front of his shirt.
He’s wearing a navy fitted T-shirt that stretches across his ample chest, showing way more muscle than the previous shirt did.
Instead of joggers, he’s now sporting dark gray cargo pants and a black belt.
He’s shaved the sides of his head and trimmed his beard, giving him a cleaner, more intense look.
On his feet are black boots that suit him way better than the shoes he borrowed.
Pete runs into the bathroom with his arms full and closes the door as I smile up at Dex.
“Do you like it?” he asks, sounding nervous.
“I love it, you look better, more at ease. You shaved the sides of your head, too. I like it.” I reach up, and he ducks his head to let me run my fingers over the stubble.
I let my hand trail across his shoulder and down his bicep, getting a little feel of him, before it drops to my side.
“Dex, come get your weapons,” Sly says, pointing to the bed.
Dex rubs his hands together excitedly and moves to the pile. I look at Jagger and Sly, still in jogging pants, running shoes, and T-shirts, as something starts to niggle at my mind.
“Didn’t you have to wear prison uniforms?” They all turn to look at me in question, probably wondering where that train of thought came from.
“Yes,” Sly says as he reaches for a pair of black gloves and drops them in his pile of possessions.
“Then where did you get those?” I ask, pointing at his pants.
He glances at Jagger before looking back at me. “Did we never explain how we got the SUV and the clothes?”
I frown, trying to remember. But I shake my head. Why had I not even wondered where the SUV came from? I hadn’t even considered that it was stolen. “You stole it?”
“Sort of.”
“How do you sort of steal a car?” I ask, moving back to lie across the bed on my side as they continue to separate their new belongings.
“We found it on the side of the road, unlocked with the key inside. There was a bag in it with four sets of clothes and shoes, and the cell phone.”
His answer has me sitting upright. “Wait—four sets of perfectly fitting clothes were just waiting for you?”
“I wouldn’t say perfectly fitting,” Sly says, adjusting the waistband of his sweatpants.
“But close enough, you were all able to change?”
He nods slowly, frowning at me.
“Don’t you think that’s a little strange?” I ask him, wondering why they weren’t worried.
“It is. But we had no choice. We were in the middle of nowhere.”
“I’m not criticizing your decision, Sly. I would have done the same, I'm sure. I’m just wondering who left it there. It sounds like they knew you were coming.”
“But nobody knew we were going to escape, not even us.”
“What do you mean? You never explained how you got out. It wasn’t planned?”
“All done!” Pete says, exiting the bathroom as Jagger grabs his stuff to take his place.
He’s wearing a thin black hoodie pushed up to the elbows.
Dark cargo pants fit him perfectly, and the knife strapped to his thigh only adds to his appeal for some reason.
He has fingerless gloves on, and I look up and see the mischievous glint in his green eyes as his blond hair falls in his face.
He uses one hand to push it back, and my core clenches.
Why does that action make him more attractive?
“What are you thinking, angel cake? You like?” he asks, trailing his palms down his chest.
I nod as my eyes trail up and down his body. “I really like.” He smirks, and my gaze catches on his mouth. My tongue darts out to lick my lower lip, wondering what it would be like to kiss him. He takes a step toward me, his eyes heating as he stares down at me.
“I was just about to explain to Wren how we escaped,” Sly says, jolting me out of the trance I seemed to be in.
“Oh, that’s a good story,” Pete says, jumping onto the bed and lying on his side behind me. He pats the spot in front of him. “Come join me for story time.” I lie back down on my side, and he scoots closer, wrapping his arm around me, his palm lying on my stomach.
“Once upon a time, there was a handsome, charming prince named Peter, and he was trapped in a dungeon with the three trolls, Sly, Jag, and Dex.” I laugh as Dex and Sly narrow their eyes at him.