Chapter 19 You’re Incredible
TANNER
Ifucking hate Mondays. I ignored my gym alarm, and I’ve been laying in bed for the last thirty minutes, trying to will myself to get up and ready for work, but it’s no use.
All I’ve accomplished in a half hour is creating a list of thirty things I’d rather do than go to work and most of them include Wren, which is probably unhealthy.
There’s a clatter from the kitchen, and I guess that means she’s awake.
The gym or work might not get me moving, but she sure can.
I climb out of bed and jump into the shower.
The hot water washes over my body, and I take my time massaging my scalp, trying to get rid of the headache that seems to have taken up residency behind my eyes these days, but it’s no use.
Grabbing my towel, I shut off the shower, climb out, and dry off.
“Morning, roomie,” I say, walking out of my bedroom, drying my hair.
“Morning,” she says, looking over her shoulder. Her eyes dart down my abs to the towel hung around my waist then move quickly back up my body. “Geez, do you ever wear clothes?”
“To be fair, my clothes are in the laundry room, and I was just coming to get them. I also didn’t know you’d be out here.” I put my hands up in defense.
She flips around, leans against the counter top, and sips her iced coffee, studying me. She’s wearing the same green silk pajamas from the first night she moved in, and her hair is pulled up on top of her head in a messy bun. She looks fucking stunning, and my dick begins to harden.
Now is not the time. Pretend you’re in an ice bath. A really cold ice bath.
Dolly weaves in and out between my legs, almost tripping me.
“Woah there, girl. We don’t need to be giving your mama a show.”
She purrs against me.
“I think she likes you,” Wren says, giggling.
“Well, I’m very likable.” I smirk.
“Verdict is still out on that one,” she teases, taking another sip of her coffee.
“What flavor did you go with this morning?”
“The mix you suggested yesterday. It’s delicious.” She smiles and my dick strains again. “Are you working today?”
Ice baths. Being naked in the snow. Jumping into a frozen lake.
“Yeah, I’m gonna try to finish early though. You?”
“Yeah, but I’m getting off around three.” Her eyes dart down my body again, and she bites her lip. With one fucking look, I’m hard as a rock under my towel. Shit.
“I should get dressed,” I spit out a little panicked. Moving past her, I quickly try to cover my crotch with the other towel and walk into the laundry room to grab my clothes. Luckily, they’re easy to find, and I briskly make it back to my room, clothes in hand, before she realizes I’m hard.
I get dressed, all the while trying to will my cock to calm the fuck down, but thinking of cold things isn’t working, so I switch my train of thought.
Wren is my friend. She is my friend. She is my fucking friend.
“You okay?” she asks from right outside my door. “You kinda just acted like you were on fire.”
“Oh, yeah, just getting dressed. We haven’t really gotten to hang out. You want to do something tonight?”
“I’m going to see my brother,” she says. “It’s my parents’ anniversary, so I promised I’d go hang out with him. Plus, aren’t roomie nights on Wednesdays?”
I open the door and lean against the frame.
“Roomie nights can be any night we want them to be.” I walk past her and into the kitchen. “I was planning on leaving the office early. Mind if I tag along? I’d love to meet him.”
“You want to meet my brother?”
“Yeah, I’ll even bring my Tanlee comic.”
She rocks back and forth on her heels, sipping her coffee.
“We're just going to be watching movies. I don’t want to bore you.”
“Do you even know me at all?” I ask. “A movie night sounds like just what the doctor ordered after the last couple days I’ve had.”
She smiles, and it’s official, I’m addicted. “Okay, I guess I’ll see you after work then?”
“I can’t wait.”
____
I rushed through everything I needed to do at the office today to make sure I was home in time to go with Wren. I was a little surprised this morning that she agreed to let me tag along, but I’m excited I get to meet her family, especially her brother.
“How was work today?” I ask, climbing into her car after work to head to her parents’ house. She insisted on driving, and when I argued, she shut me down so fast that I didn’t try again.
“Same old, same old,” she says, buckling her seatbelt. “You?”
“Busy, but not terrible.”
“That’s good.” She stops at the stop sign and clicks through her phone. “Hooked On A Feeling” by Blue Swede begins to play in the car. When the street is clear, she turns out and sings along with the song, and I spend my time taking her in.
Her hair has a slight wave to it. Today she’s wearing jeans with strawberries embroidered all over them, a vintage MTV T-shirt, a light pink blazer, white sneakers, and aviators.
She really is the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen, and despite my trying, I can’t help but fall a little harder for her when she tries to hit a high note and completely misses.
“How’d you come up with this playlist?” I ask, after the song fades into “Paper Rings” by Taylor Swift.
“I just picked all the songs that make me happy,” she says, turning the music down a little.
We pass The Local, and my heart skips. I still haven’t accepted or turned down Jerry’s offer.
I know I shouldn’t string him along, but I keep thinking there might be a way for me to be happy and make my family proud. Maybe there is a way I could have both.
“Do you ever wish you could do something else?” I ask.
“Like my job? Yeah, all the time. Why?”
“I was just wondering. What would you do if you could do anything?”
She lets out a long breath. “Well, before Cody’s accident, I thought I’d be an artist.”
“That’s right, you mentioned that you paint and wanted to own your own studio at Donovan and Enzo’s wedding.”
“You remember that?”
I shrug. “I pay attention. Is that what you’d want to do if you could do anything?”
“Maybe in a past life,” she says wistfully. “But then he had his accident, and my dreams changed.”
“In what way?” I ask, and she hesitates, quickly looking between me and the road.
“You can trust me,” I assure her.
“I’d want to start a non-profit and run camps for people with traumatic brain injuries.”
“That sounds cool.”
“It would be so cool,” she says, her mouth forming into a wide smile.
“There is something similar on the west coast, but it’s just your typical sleep away camp, which I’d love to do, but I was thinking I could also host art camps or sports camps or anything really.
” She is practically glowing as she talks.
“With my degree in rec therapy, I know how to modify and adapt all the activities, so everyone could participate, and I think I could get physical therapists, speech therapists, occupational therapists, and maybe even therapy students to volunteer to help me run them. My brother was so active before his injury, and now he just sits at home. I know being able to attend camp would be life-changing for him, and I think that would be really cool.”
“You’re incredible.”
Heat creeps up her neck and covers her face.
“It’s not that big of a deal,” she says.
“Yes, it is. I’ve never even thought about that. I think it’s incredible that you want to help improve the lives of so many people. I think you should do it.”
“I wish it was that simple.” She relaxes in her seat, leaning back on the head rest. “The amount of money required to start up that kind of thing is enormous, and while I’ve tried really hard to save, I’m nowhere near where I need to be.”
My gears start turning. I have money. All she’d have to do is ask, and I’d do anything to help her make her dream come true, but I know she never will, and I can respect that. She’s so fucking strong, and I never want to make her feel like I don’t believe she can’t do it on her own.
“You’ll make it happen. I know it.”
“Maybe.” She smiles softly. “So, what would you do if you could do something else?” she asks.
I hesitate before answering her question. Logan and Jacks are still the only friends who know I was offered the bar, and after her confession, mine seems silly and unimportant.
“I don’t really have a choice. I’m a Mitchell, and Mitchells work at Austere.”
“You always have a choice,” she says. “Come on. I told you my dream, and I know something spurred this conversation, so what is it? What would you do?”
I breathe in deep and then say it fast. “I’d buy The Local.”
“Like, the bar?”
“Yeah. A month and a half ago, the owner offered to sell it to me, but then my brother quit, and you know the rest. I think it would be cool to own The Local and make it my own.”
“I mean, that seems like a no brainer,” she says without hesitation. “I think you should do it.”
“Ha!”
“I’m serious. I think your family would want you to be happy, and it’s not that hard to see that you hate your job.”
“I don’t know about the first part, but is it that obvious that I hate being at Austere?”
She pulls into the driveway of a small, brick ranch and puts her car in park.
“It’s very obvious.” She unbuckles and turns to face me, pushing her sunglasses onto the top of her head. Her ocean eyes find mine, and the golden hour sun pouring into the car makes her look like some sort of goddess. “As your friend, I think you should do what makes you happy.”
Friend.