Chapter 24 #2
“You’ve been having fun in there,” Courtney said. “Don’t let this ruin your night. That was a conversation that had been needing to happen.”
“Don’t you think I embarrassed her, though?” Wren said, flinching.
Courtney shook her head. “No. I think she took care of that herself.”
“She shouldn’t have called Re-Becky a bitch.” Wren shook her head. “I get it. I’ve called her worse before. But she’s on our team, and she should have won match MVP for us tonight.”
“I agree. I voted on her for it, actually,” Courtney said. “Her laying that Swedish chick out was pretty epic.”
Wren laughed. “No, but for real, though.”
Courtney hummed. “I’ll talk to Ali later about not name-calling her teammates. Well, and about not trying to sleep with her teammates either. We’re starting to mesh. We need to keep the drama to a minimum and that positive energy rolling as we push towards the World Cup.”
“I’ll apologize later for calling her out in such a public place.”
“No, no you won’t. She needs to apologize to you for putting you in that position,” Courtney smiled at Wren in a reassuring way. “You’re too nice, rookie.”
Wren chewed on those words. She probably was too nice, apologizing for things that weren’t her fault. She’d been doing it her whole life, but it had been a habit that had gotten exacerbated while dating Andy.
“Come on,” Courtney said, nodding back towards the club.
“It’s colder than a witch’s tit out here.
I’m going to buy you a drink, and then you’re going to get back out there for a few more songs.
” Courtney let out a drunk little hiccupy laugh that absolutely did not match her stature.
“I’ll give you a hundred more dollars if you can get Becky to actually dance and not just sway back and forth, questionably to the beat. ”
“Hell, no. I’m not taking that bet. I think if she found out I took a bet even remotely related to her, she’d actually stab me in our next club match.” Wren shook her head back and forth as fast as she could possibly shake it.
Courtney threw her head back with a laugh. “I hate that you’re smarter than you look.”
Rebecca shut the door to their hotel room with a sigh and leaned back against it. “Is it just me, or should the whole team have called it about an hour ago?”
Wren snorted out a laugh. Other than the drink that Courtney bought her, Wren hadn’t had any alcohol in about two-and-a-half hours and was fully feeling the soreness from the day—particularly her ankle—setting in.
She had wanted to call it a night well before she’d yelled at Ali on the dance floor, but they’d all stayed out at least an hour-and-a-half after that.
“I would have appreciated it.” She shook her head. “Are we just grandmas?”
“I know I am on game days.” Rebecca nodded her head towards Wren. “How’s your ankle?”
It hurt like a bitch, but Wren wasn’t a fan of admitting things like that. She shrugged. “It hurts a lot less because I got to watch you absolutely truck the shit out of the chick that did it.”
Rebecca bit her bottom lip. “I was a little worried you weren’t going to appreciate that little maneuver.”
“Appreciate it?” Wren’s voice lifted. “I loved it. Are you kidding me?”
A blush crept up Rebecca’s neck as she ducked her head, nodding, clearly just accepting Wren’s words. They stood there, letting the tension build in the room.
Finally, Rebecca broke the silence. “Are you okay after the club?” Her voice was quieter with this question. Her hazel eyes lifted to Wren’s for just long enough for Wren to register the hesitancy in them.
Why was Rebecca afraid to ask that question? “You mean after I went off on Ali?” Wren asked, trying to clarify. She wasn’t sure why Rebecca would tiptoe around the awkwardness that had been Wren’s call-out on the dance floor.
“Yeah,” Rebecca said, not offering anymore.
Wren sighed. “I mean, I wish it hadn’t gotten to that point.
I wish she’d picked up any of the hints I’d left her for the past few months.
But according to Courtney, I was in the right.
So, I guess I’m okay? I feel like that was definitely a conversation that should have happened in private, but I didn’t exactly start it. ”
“I’m sorry I didn’t follow after you to check up on you,” Rebecca said, her voice somehow even softer. “With all the rumors and gossip, and, well, with what Ali had said.” She shook her head. “I didn’t know how to without holding a neon sign over my head that screamed, “The rumors are true.””
Wren breathed out a laugh. “It’s okay. You were already my knight in shining armor once today.”
That got Rebecca to look up again. A small smile tugged at her lips. She nodded once, seemingly pleased with Wren’s answer. “Can I be a little happy that you shut her down because it was getting increasingly annoying to watch her try to flirt with you?”
“Oh?” Wren asked, lifting her eyebrow. “Why’s that?” If the tension in the room before had been kindling, Wren officially just struck a match.
“I don’t know if you’ve noticed,” Rebecca started, “but I’m not exactly good at playing nice.”
Wren swallowed, thirsty all of a sudden. “You don’t say,” she whispered, her voice suddenly much, much deeper.
Rebecca’s eyes drifted to Wren’s lips. “So, what happens now?” She asked, gesturing between them.
“Are we going to spend the rest of the year pretending we don’t have feelings for each other?
Or pretending that cuddling and flirting via text message isn’t violating our contracts just because they’re less flagrant violations?
Are we just going to pretend? Or worse, date other people and act like we don’t notice how much it hurts each other? ”
“I don’t know,” Wren said, the truth of those words heavy between them. “All I know is that I want you and the rest is really starting to not matter nearly as much as I thought it did.”
Rebecca finally pressed off the back of the door, stepping into the room and closing the gap between them with a few easy steps. “Are you sure?”
Wren shook her head no. “Not even a little bit.”
“So where does that leave us?” Rebecca asked, her body inches away from Wren’s, her gaze still firmly locked on Wren’s lips.
“Lighting that damn contract on fire, I think,” Wren said, before grabbing Rebecca by the front of her shirt and tugging her in for a passionate kiss.