Book 4 Chapter 1 #2
“Yeah, I know—obviously I have things covered. I just wanted you to know. I think the plan is to hang out at the house today—something about puppies and a magician before we go around to a few different spots for drinks.”
“Wren, for the love of God, do not adopt a puppy this weekend.”
“But what if it’s really cute?” she teased.
“Wren. You travel too much, and I don’t want a dog.”
“Relax, man. I’m not getting a dog. You know I’m a cat person anyway.”
They fell into silence as Wren crouched, inspecting the puddle of water in front of her, the tips of her shoes sinking.
“Try to have fun this weekend.”
Wren’s sigh turned into a laugh. Of course. It was very Nate of him to know exactly what was bugging her already.
“Trust me. I’m doing my best.” She grinned, standing up, the toe of her sneaker sinking even deeper into the pool of water.
She hopped away quickly, narrowly avoiding falling into the pool herself.
“It’s just stressful sometimes. Like, I’m so good when I’m locked in on my usual schedule, and then it’s like I malfunction outside of that, and it takes me a few tries to recalibrate, and by that time, the trip is done.
Plus, I think I’m also just kind of distracted because I’m pretty sure we’re somewhere near where Jamie’s house was, and of course, that makes me think of Lily, and you know how that goes.
” She took a long breath. Crap. That was definitely word vomit.
“And now I’m just word dumping on you. Sorry, dude. ”
“I happen to love word vomit.”
“Ew. Gross.”
“Yeah, sounded better in my head. But I hear you, and you know you can text or call if you need a download or an excuse to step away and get some quiet. But also, these are your friends. Trust that they know and love you by this point.”
“Easier said than done. That’s a work in progress, I’m afraid.”
“Self-awareness without action will be your downfall, little bird.”
“Bro, who are you calling little? I’m literally taller than you.”
“I don’t think so.”
“Okay, fine. We’re at least the same height,” Wren conceded.
Nate’s laughter filled the speaker, warm in her heart. “Sure. Whatever you need to tell yourself. Go hang. Have fun. Call me if you need anything. Love you.”
“Love you too.”
Silence filled her ears as Wren lowered her phone, sliding it into her jacket pocket, and looked out over the ocean, grayness pressing in around her in an almost calming way, as if the earth were reminding her to slow down and take a breath. So she did.
Wren closed her eyes, the salty smell filling her as she breathed in deep, her mind transporting her back to the times she had visited this area with her ex-girlfriend Lily.
Lily.
They hadn’t spoken in five years, had maybe only seen each other twice—definitely by accident, catching each of them off guard and subsequently reverting Wren into the bumbling, awkward version of herself Lily had always managed to bring out.
She wasn’t, like, pining after Lily or anything. That would be sad. But that didn’t mean she didn’t miss having her in her life. It had been one thing for them to break up as girlfriends, but it was the loss of Lily as a best friend that still ached whenever she thought about it.
You deserved it, Wren reminded herself before quickly trying to push the thought down and away. She did not have time for that on top of everything.
She made her way back to the house, her mind still lingering on Lily, wondering why, now of all times, she was popping up, but then it dawned on her. Today was Lily’s birthday.
Cool. Awesome. Why not. One more thing to add to the growing list of things currently stressing her out. Why couldn’t Wren forget these details instead of the practical things like dentist appointments and to drink water?
She slipped through the sliding glass door to the sound of chatter; more people had woken up, all strewn around the couches, sipping on coffee. JJ was in the kitchen, wearing an apron, flipping pancakes while Whit chopped fruit.
“I knew you’d be the first up.” JJ beamed, brandishing the smooth plastic spatula at her. “Sleep okay? Do you need anything? Food’s almost ready. And no, your banana does not count as breakfast.”
“If we’re supposed to be celebrating you, why are you cooking?” Wren asked, answering absolutely zero of JJ’s questions. “I’m good, just went for a walk.” She smiled, sliding onto a stool as Henley Adams tossed a hot pink T-shirt at her.
“Catch, Parker. Yours to wear tonight.” She giggled, her blond curls bouncing as she moved into the living room, passing around shirts.
Wren held the garment up in front of her, reading the big, bold, black letters.
I LOVE COX
“Cute, right?” Whit winked at her, a grin spreading across her lips.
“You know, I think I’m officially too gay for this,” Wren mumbled as Whit giggled, handing her a knife and a cutting board to help her with the fruit. “You’re not even taking Jason’s last name,” she said to JJ.
“Damn straight I’m not. I built my career on Jacobson. But Cox is funny and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to embarrass the hell out of all of you.”
To Wren’s surprise, she was actually able to put aside some of her overwhelm long enough to have some fun.
The magician had been her favorite part so far, and she felt an impulsive urge to research magic tricks, but she fought it and instead tried her best to stay actively engaged and enjoy the day.
She had made it through the planned activities, the built-in afternoon downtime, dinner, and was currently on bar number two of the evening.
Their whole crew was sporting the matching hot pink I LOVE COX shirts—admittedly looking ridiculous—but that was half the fun, right?
She didn’t know. She had never been to a bachelorette party before and had absolutely zero frame of reference.
“I have drinks,” Whit sing-songed, returning to the group, her voice barely audible over the noise in the bar.
“Gin and tonic for Hen, old-fashioned for me, and a Shirley Temple for you, Parker,” Whit said, handing over their drinks.
The bar was crowded—not Wren’s favorite when she was someone with lanky limbs who didn’t always seem to have the most control over herself.
“I talked to JJ, and I don’t think she wants to stay here very long.
Something about an ABBA cover band playing in a little bit and hating ABBA. ”
“That’s a hot take.” Wren laughed into her drink, catching herself as someone bumped into her as they tried to slip past.
That kept happening as they continued chatting, all while Wren tried to make herself as small as possible.
And then there was the noise. It was overwhelming, but not in a fun way.
It was overwhelming in a way that was starting to irritate her.
She took a deep breath, reminding herself that this was all temporary and they would be leaving soon. Hopefully.
Wren listened as Whit and Henley caught up. Henley played with JJ on the Puget Sound Pride—the same team Wren used to play on. It had been a few months since they’d seen each other or had the chance to catch up properly.
When they all played for Pride, Wren, JJ, and Henley had become instant friends, and at one point, their friend group had also included Sydney Stone, but that had taken a weird turn and was something Wren tried to revisit as minimally as possible.
She was glad when things went south with Sydney; she had at least gotten JJ and Henley in the friend breakup.
“Parker!” The voice of Shannon York, another former teammate of hers, carried across the bar where she stood waving at her.
She glanced at Shannon, then back to Whit and Henley. “I’m going to go see what she wants.” She tilted her head in Shannon’s direction before heading off.
Wren squeezed past people, trying her best not to knock into anyone as she made her way around the bar. She made to take a step around a stocky guy when he leaned back, directly in her path, causing Wren to stumble into the table to her left.
“Hey, watch it! Shit!” A girl’s voice rang out over the sound of tumbling glasses as Wren attempted to catch what she could.
Wren’s hands moved quickly, snagging two glasses that were wobbling, dangerously close to tipping over. The third one, however, toppled, spilling its contents onto the table.
“Sorry, I’m—sorry,” Wren said helplessly, eyes following the spilled liquid, her stomach dropping with the realization of what a mess had been made. She was about to offer to buy the table a round of drinks when her eyes met painfully familiar blue ones.
“Lily.” The name left her lips in one horrified whisper.
Someone had managed to turn down the volume in the room because the only thing Wren could hear was the sound of her heart whooshing in her ears, unable to pull her eyes off of Lily Gallagher.
Her ex-girlfriend. Who was here? In this bar?
Sitting in front of her? Covered in a drink that Wren had spilled all over her.
Fuck.
“Lily, hi—um. Sorry. What are you? Hi—uh, can I get you—hi.” She fumbled her way through her words clumsily, trying to pick out the correct ones and put them in the right order, but that specific skill seemed to be lost on her.
“Wren,” Lily said her name, sounding equally as shocked as Wren felt. Her blue eyes pierced through her as they widened. “What are you doing here?”
Wren shrugged, looking around for her friends who were suddenly nowhere to be found. “JJ’s getting married.” She shrugged as if that explained everything.
Lily looked at her, confused. “Tonight?”
“No, this summer,” Wren clarified. “Bachelorette party is this weekend.”