39. Wren
WREN
I slam my notebook closed and settle into the passenger seat. “Done.”
Ally takes her eyes off the road for a second. “Wren. You’re a freaking brainiac.”
My face falls. “What? No, I’m not.”
She focuses on the school’s parking lot. It’s busy, and there are people tailgating next to their vehicles, downing beer out of funnels like they’re only there to party.
“Those were no ordinary equations. You just made whatever the hell math that was seem like second-grade addition problems.”
I don’t bother correcting her to tell her that I was actually working on chemistry and not math, because to the normal eye, it is all the same.
“Where did you get your brains from? What do your parents do?”
My body heats, and the quick memory of my mother fades.
It’s sad that the only one I have of her is one with a needle hanging from her arm.
“Well…” I shift in my seat and watch Ally park.
“My mom isn’t in the picture anymore.” I decide to leave that up to her imagination.
It’s less awkward that way. “And my dad…” I think about how to say it delicately.
“Let’s just say he used his brains for the wrong reasons. ”
Jessie Davis is actually a highly intelligent man. I got my love for chemistry from him. We are both impeccable when it comes to working out equations, and he taught me everything I know.
Except right from wrong.
That, he wasn’t so good at.
“What do you mean?” Ally turns to me.
I nibble on my lip. I have no idea how to dig myself out of the hole. “He’s a convicted felon,” I blurt. “Makes meth for a living.”
Silence fills the car, all except Taylor Swift singing about being a vigilante, which is honestly quite fitting.
Ally’s laughter fills the awkward space.
I turn to her and smile hesitantly. “Um…” Why is she laughing?
“I’m sorry!” she sputters. Her attempt to collect herself fails. “It’s just…” More laughter . “I thought I was the only one who had a fucked-up childhood.”
I snort. “Fucked up is putting it mildly.”
Considering Jessie Davis is a free man and is likely on his way to me so I can make him that good shit. No one made meth like I did—which is not something I’m proud of, nor do I plan to tell Ally.
“Let’s go,” Ally says, finally ending her laughter.
I don’t ask about her childhood, because if she wanted me to know, she’d tell me. I am well-versed in keeping secrets—especially if they’re painful.
Ally and I find our seats right before the game starts. We’re not far from center ice, and I eye the Knights’ side down below. I watch for Stone because he’s all I have eyes for.
I told him I loved him.
And I don’t regret it.
“There they are.”
I follow Ally’s line of sight and watch our team fly into the rink. The crowd goes wild, and I find myself cheering too.
I see Evan first.
Then Archer.
Taylor is next.
I quickly dart down the line and back before grabbing my phone.
My brows pinch. Stone always sends me one last text before the game. Sometimes it’s a dirty text, and sometimes it’s a I’ll score one for you, baby text.
I have none.
“Where is Stone?” I whisper.
Ally doesn’t hear me. She’s too busy clapping and yelling for the team.
The buzzer is about to sound, and I panic.
Relax. He’s fine.
Evan’s head is tilting in my direction, and I swear, time stops. He whips his helmet off and mouths, “Where is Stone?”
My stomach empties.
How would I know where Stone is?
Better question, why isn’t he on the ice with his teammates?
I don’t say anything to Ally when I turn and edge my way down the aisle. My feet hit the cement stairs, and I jog up them like I know where I’m going.
It’s deserted out in the lobby area, a few lines of fans getting last-minute beer and popcorn, but I can see the hall that leads to the locker rooms.
I ignore the sign that says Keep Out and put one foot in front of the other. My fingers fly over my phone, and I pray he answers.
Knowing Stone, he probably did this on purpose. A way to lure me to the locker room for a quickie before taking the ice.
Ugh, answer the phone.
My chest gets tighter, and my heartbeat is deafening.
I pause when the ringing stops halfway through. “Stone Foster,” I reprimand. “Where the hell—”
“Hi, Pumpkin. It’s so nice of you to finally call me back.”
The hallway narrows.
Words are nonexistent, but I move into action right away, flinging myself out a door that says Emergency Exit Only .
The last thing I need is Ally following me.
“Where is Stone?” My voice is calm, but I feel the complete opposite on the inside. There’s chaos. So much chaos.
“Waiting for you.”
I turn at the sound of my deranged father’s voice and lower the phone. He mimics me and does the same. The only difference between us is that he is wearing a sinister smile, and I’m hardly keeping my shit together.
I’m afraid.
I feel sick.
But most of all, I’m desperate.
“Where is he?”
My father’s head tilts as he draws closer. “That’s not the Wrenny-girl I know, showing all her worries firsthand.” He tsks and reaches out to tuck my hair behind my ear. “Seems you need a wake-up call.”
My chin is stern when I move away. “Nothing is more of a wake-up call than you kidnapping my boyfriend.”
He can tell by the sound of my voice that I’m willing to do anything he wants in order to get Stone back.
That’s why I don’t run.
I’m not running anywhere unless it’s into Stone’s arms.
“Where is he, Jessie?”
His lips flatten. “Jessie? You’re refusing to call me Dad now?”
Anger surges, and I want to kill him. My hands shake, and my legs are wobbly. I’m both angry and afraid, and it’s an unsettling feeling.
Fuck, where is Stone?
“Where is he?” I ask again.
A pleased smile creeps onto his sunken face, and I instantly feel like a child again, fearful for what version of him I’m about to see.
“Why don’t we take a ride, Pumpkin.”
There is no use in refusing.
Omar is off to the left, resting his shoulder along a tree with his gun tucked into the back of his pants, and Kerrigan is prowling the perimeter with his ravenous eye creeping in my direction.
Vomit hits the back of my throat when I look at his hands. I remember the way they felt like it was yesterday.
“Okay,” I say. My dad jerks me toward a van, and I stumble over my own feet.
I’m not as afraid as I should be.
But that’s only because I know I’m headed toward Stone, and one way or another, I’m getting us out of there.
This entire time, he thought he needed to protect me. But it turns out, I’m the one who has to protect him.