3. Wren
PRESENT
Two boxes and a weathered backpack.
That is all I have to my name as I stand outside my foster brother’s house with a slightly mended heart because, let’s be honest here, a broken heart from someone like Brad doesn’t do more than dent the walls I’ve built over the years.
I take one step forward but three steps back when an elderly man on a bike whooshes past me, mumbling something about college students ruining his day. I roll my eyes and readjust my cardboard boxes. Why bike this close to Shadow Valley University if you don’t like college students?
“Give me those boxes, right now.” Evan pops out of his front door and hops down the front steps with as much ease as I have breathing.
I spin and hide my smile. “I’ve got it. Just show me the way.”
Evan’s hand finds the worn strap of my backpack, and he spins me back around. “Excuse me?” His eyebrows reach the top of his forehead, and he gives me a look I’ve seen multiple times over the years.
I grin and put my boxes on the sidewalk before letting his warm arms envelop me in his classic, brotherly hug.
He may not be blood related to me, but I can say with full transparency that I have never felt safer. Being hugged by any biological family member gave a slightly different feeling than it did when Evan hugged me.
“You good?”
I pull away and glance at his warm eyes, catching moving gray clouds behind his head. I lie and nod, but by the way his lips purse, he knows I’m lying.
“Well, come on. The rest of the guys want to meet you.”
I try to steal the boxes back from Evan, but his parents taught him to be a gentleman, so he holds them up above my head until I surrender and follow him through the threshold of my new home.
A pang of guilt backs every step over the creaky floorboards of the hockey house.
I shouldn’t be here.
Yet, here I am.
It was the best choice, given the circumstances. What’s a girl to do when she stumbles upon her steady boyfriend of the last year banging a sorority girl on their kitchen counter?
Jasmin says I should burn his belongings, but I usually try to avoid breaking the law, because the last thing the Davis name needs is another crime attached to it.
The moment Evan and I turn to the left, I’m the center of the room. Heat swipes up my neck and wraps around my cheeks like a snake as I stand beside him, staring at several of his teammates.
I’ll admit it.
I’m not a fan of hockey.
I have never been to a game, so I don’t recognize a single one of them, and although this is my second year at Shadow Valley University, I hang with the academic crowd versus the jocks. Just like in high school.
The first guy stands and slowly walks over to me. I tip my chin. He’s a freaking mammoth. What on earth does he eat for breakfast?
“Hi, Wren. It’s nice to meet you. I’m Taylor.”
His hand is there for the taking, so I gingerly take it, although I’m the furthest thing from a docile college girl. Once I shake his hand, his toothy grin appears.
“I’d like to volunteer as tribute to be your roommate. You can sleep in my bed.”
Everyone in the room snickers.
I look at him, unsure if he is kidding or not. When he winks, I realize I’m in way over my head in my new living arrangements.
“With me, of course,” he adds. “But I won’t touch you.”
Evan places my boxes on the floor and slaps the six-foot-something hockey player over the head. “I told you guys to be fucking normal. She’s my sister.”
“Be normal?” Another hockey player replaces Taylor, slipping in front of me quickly. He smiles and shows off his missing tooth. “How can we be normal with someone this gorgeous standing in front of us?”
Most girls would have giggled and blushed.
But I’m not a normal girl.
“She was just cheated on. Cut the shit.” Another guy pushes Toothless away and rolls his eyes. “I’m Sullivan.”
His hands land on my shoulders, and I’m suddenly being pulled into his hard chest. His hug is nice, but I don’t wrap my arms around his waist because, to be honest, I’m a little thrown off balance.
My world has shifted dramatically over the last week. I’m damn good at dodging the punches, but right now, I’m tired.
So fucking tired.
Evan leans in. “We call him Sully because, well, he looks like a monster, but he’s actually the nicest of us all.”
“Including you?” I peer through my thick eyelashes. “Because not many people would let a Davis live in their house on a moment’s notice.”
Evan grimaces, but he doesn’t comment on my personal dig. Instead, he introduces the last roommate, and by the time I follow him upstairs to my new room, I’m certain I’ve memorized their names and matched them with their faces. Taylor, Grant, Sully, and Archer.
“It’s not huge, but it works.”
I laugh. “This is a huge room and an even bigger house, Evander. You all are just…big.”
Evan throws his head back and lets out a loud laugh before placing my boxes on the floor. “Don’t let them hear you say that. Their egos are already too much.”
“All hockey players’ egos are too much,” I counter.
Warmth fills the air around me while I stand in a small bedroom with Evan showing off his adorable, goofy grin that he only reserves for those he actually feels comfortable with.
I do a spin, checking out every nook and cranny, and I’m happy to report that there are no holes in the walls or spiders in the corners of the ceilings, and there’s an actual bed that’s mine.
Not shared with a cheating boyfriend or filthy from previous foster kids.
“Déjà vu,” Evan says, inching toward the door.
His eyes spark with what I can only describe as relief.
“Just like old times,” I half-joke. My lips curve into a sad smile.
Evan grips the top of the doorjamb before pushing himself off. “Yeah, but this time, no one’s gonna force you to leave.”
He shuts the door, and I stand there alone, feeling half relieved but half scared. If there’s anything I’ve learned from the moment I was born, it’s that when things seem too good to be true, that usually means they are.