Chapter 11 Wren
WREN
Iwake up in the morning to the smell of fresh coffee, which is weird because I’m in my apartment.
When I sit up, I find myself alone in bed, which is also weird because I definitely didn’t fall asleep alone. I rub my eyes as I lean over to check the time.
Fuck. My alarm didn’t go off. I’m gonna have to book it if I want to make the train. I scurry out of bed, digging through my closet for my jersey. I pull on a fresh pair of jeans and comb my hair out with my fingers, when I hear someone whistle from behind me.
Brooks is leaned up against my bedroom doorframe, fucking me with his eyes as he sips on a paper coffee cup. He has another one in his other hand.
“God, your ass is perfect,” he says with that sexy smirk that makes me want to take off all the clothes I just put on and jump his bones. I giggle and walk toward him, kissing him deeply. He hands me the other coffee when we come apart.
“Where did this come from?” I ask him, taking a sip.
“Riverside Cafe,” he says. “Eddie brought them, along with a change of clothes for me and some croissants. I figured we could eat on the way, so I wanted to let you sleep a little bit.”
“On the way?” I ask.
“Yeah. If it’s cool, I thought I could tag along to the game. Eddie will drive. We have a spot at the stadium. Thought Cole might like to hang out with Jerome after for a little bit.”
My eyes grow wide.
“Wha—what?”
He smiles.
“He said he’d love to meet him. We’ll go in the player entrance so we won’t be spotted.”
“But…won’t people see you in the stands?” I ask.
“We won’t be in the stands,” he says almost sheepishly, like he doesn’t want to brag. “I have a suite.”
My jaw drops open.
I should refuse, protest, tell him he doesn’t have to do this. But I can’t stop thinking about the look on Cole’s face when he meets his hero. So I nod.
“Oh, my god,” I say. “He is going to flip. This is fucking amazing.” He bends down, kissing me again and grabbing a handful of my ass.
“So are you,” he says, giving me a little pat. “Now come on. We gotta get going.”
A little while later, we are pulling up in front of my parents’ house. Cole bursts through the front door, stopping when he realizes that Brooks is with me again.
“Are you guys boyfriend and girlfriend?” he asks, wasting absolutely no time. I feel my cheeks fire up as I take him under my arm and squeeze him, kissing the top of his head. But Brooks sticks out his fist for a bump then leans down to him.
“I’m trying, man,” he says. “I’m trying.” Then he looks up at me and gives me a wink. I bite my lip. Did he really just say that? Cole looks at him, a confused smile on his face.
“I like your car,” he says, looking past us now to the blacked-out Escalade.
“Oh, thanks,” Brooks says matter-of-factly. “You want to ride in it?”
Cole looks at him again, now even more confused.
“Huh?”
“Well, I thought maybe we could all ride together?” Brooks says. Cole’s face erupts into the biggest, glowing smile I’ve ever seen, and I can feel my heart swelling.
“For real?” Cole asks. Brooks nods, holding his hand out to the car. Cole sprints past us as Eddie opens the door for him.
“Bro, this rocks!” he cries out as he jumps in. I giggle, but just as we’re turning to follow him, I hear the screen door creak open and slam shut. I turn back around to see my parents on the porch. I walk up the sidewalk to them quickly, wrapping them both in a hug.
“You’re here!” I say as they both wrap me up. “I thought you’d both be working today.”
“I work tonight,” my dad says, rubbing my shoulder.
“And your mom got off a few hours ago.” My dad works as an electrician at the local community college but has been taking on a bunch of extra shifts ever since my mom’s diagnosis—ovarian cancer, three years ago.
Treatment was long and brutal and uncertain, but she made it.
But instead of sailing off into the sunset, she had to find something where she could work part-time but also be able to take on extra hours when her body lets her.
She works answering phones at the hospital.
It’s a thankless job, but luckily, a hospital never sleeps.
So when she has the energy, she takes more hours.
That usually means they both work a lot over the weekends, so I try to get down here to be with my brother as often as possible.
Or sometimes, they bring him to me, and he spends the weekends with me in the city.
When my mom got sick, I wanted to cancel my lease. I had just graduated and was making steady money from freelancing and bartending on the weekends. But I wanted to toss it all in and move back to Jersey. Be with them. Be with her.
But they refused to let me. They told me to stay in Brooklyn. They told me to start my life and never look back.
“But look to your side when you need to. That’s where we will be,” my mom had told me.
So I did. And I felt guilty about it every single day.
But I worked my ass off. I covered stories all over the city.
I bartended for two years and fully paid off my student loans.
Then I landed a reporting job at a small Brooklyn paper about a year ago.
But when it went under, I got laid off, and I’ve been looking for the next step since.
Who knew the next step would lead me here?
“So…you gonna tell us what the heck’s going on?” Mom says, stepping farther out onto the walk, eyeing the car and the handsome devil standing outside of it. When he sees my parents, he makes his way up to us slowly.
“Uhhh, I…”
“Mr. and Mrs. Wright?” he says, as collected as ever, holding out a hand. He shakes Mom’s hand first then Dad’s. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m Brooks.”
“Brooks,” Mom repeats, like she’s trying to place him. He gives me a look, like he’s unsure if he should give them any more information. But I smile, letting him know they’re safe—well, at least for some of it.
“Brooks Everett,” I say, and I watch as both of their eyes grow wide.
“Everett,” Dad repeats now, trying hard to hide his shock.
“We, uh…we met at a bar a few weeks ago,” I lie, “and, uh…”
“I’ve been trying to take her out since. She’s a tough nut to crack, though, this one,” he jumps in to rescue me. “But I’m a big Empire fan myself, so I invited myself to tag along today.”
My parents’ faces are still reading shock, and I clear my throat.
“Well, we better get going,” I say, trying to cut down the awkward silence.
“Thanks for taking them, Brooks,” my dad says. “It’s very nice to meet you.”
“It’s my pleasure, sir,” he says. “I hope we can spend a little more time together soon.”
“That would be great,” Mom says with a smile. She’s giving me a look that says What the fuck? but in the sweetest way possible. I kiss them both and promise to let them know when we get to the stadium.
As I settle into the car, I pull my phone out.
Please don’t mention to anyone that we are together. Or that you met him. It’s an anonymity thing, I send off. And I know that, with my parents, that’s all I have to say. They are my best friends, my biggest secret keepers, and the reason I believe in unconditional love.
When we pull out of the driveway, Brooks reaches under his seat and pulls out some sort of gaming console. Then he pulls out headphones and a controller and hands them to Cole in the backseat.
“You like video games?” he asks.
Cole’s eyes are like big saucers.
“Whoa! For real?” he says. Brooks nods. “Yeah, I do!”
“Have at it,” he says. “Just hit that button to turn it on, and it’ll connect to our hotspot.”
“This is awesome!” Cole says as he pulls the headphones on over his ears. I look back at Brooks and smile.
“Thank you for doing all of this,” I tell him. “This is a lot.”
“This is nothing,” he says. “And it’s certainly nothing compared to what you are doing for me and my family.”
I swallow, my eyes dropping to my hands in my lap.
“Your parents seem great,” he says, changing the subject. I smile.
“They are,” I say. “They always have been. Even when I was a teenager, I thought they were cool,” I giggle. He smiles.
“I wasn’t joking about what I said,” he says. “I really would love to spend some time with them.”
I swallow.
“I’d like that,” I say.
After he looks back to make sure that Cole is settled and fully focused on the game, he reaches over and takes my hand, interlacing our fingers.
And we ride like that the whole way to the stadium.
When we finally pull into the lot, Eddie takes us around to the back of the stadium.
We pass through a few different gates then pull into a gated lot where Eddie parks.
When we get out, a security guard leads us through two large doors, down a long hallway, and onto a small elevator.
“There you go, Mr. Everett,” he says. Brooks nods, handing him a wad of cash. “Oh my. That’s not necessary, sir.”
“Please, Gary,” Brooks says, “you always honor my request to remain invisible, and it’s not forgotten.”
“Gary?” the man says. “You remember my name?”
Brooks winks as the elevator doors shut.
“Always,” he says.
A minute later, we are up on the high suite levels. Eddie walks us down the hallway, snaking around the stadium. We only pass a few stadium employees as we walk. I notice that next to every suite door is a small plaque with the company name—presumably the company that owns it.
But when we stop at suite 437, I see a plaque that reads Belluto Family. Eddie unlocks it using a key on his fob then lets us inside.
“Whoa!” Cole exclaims, running through the door and taking it all in, dashing around the suite.
“Belluto family?” I ask.
“My mom’s maiden name. I got it for her. She will actually be joining us later, if that’s okay.” I smile and nod. Oh shit. Meeting his mom?
Cole is checking out the buffet that looks like it’s for twenty people instead of just the three of us, the cooler full of beer, wine, and every flavor of soda ever made, the fondue fountain, and the flat screen that sits on the back wall.