Chapter 16 Wren
WREN
God, I wanted him. Not just the kiss. Not just the heat of his breath or the way his thumb had traced my jaw like I was something worth memorizing. I wanted to climb over the center console and straddle him. I wanted his hand roaming over my body. I wanted this.
This feeling. This moment. This sense of being seen. And just as the kiss deepened again, just as my fingers fisted tighter in the fabric of his shirt—
Bzzz Bzzz.
My phone vibrated between us like a tiny earthquake.
I flinched. So did Reed. The second vibration came before I even registered the first, followed by a third, a fourth.
Each one stacking urgency into my chest. My forehead rested against his while we tried to slow our breathing.
A smile crept on his face as if nothing could ruin this moment between us.
I hesitated at first, but then slowly reached into my back pocket to pull out my phone. The screen lit up in my hand.
Big Bro [2:05 AM]:
Incoming Call.
And above that—six missed texts.
Big Bro [12:48 AM]
You good?
Big Bro [1:10 AM]
Wren, where are you?
Big Bro [1:21 AM]
I swear if you’re still with him—
Big Bro [1:45 AM]
Pick up your damn phone.
Big Bro [1:59 AM]
Wren.
Big Bro [2:00 AM]
I’m coming to find you if I don’t hear from you in 5.
My stomach dropped.
“It’s Cam,” I whispered, pulling away from Reed, eyes wide. “It’s—it’s two in the morning.”
Reed blinked, his hand still hovering in the space where my face had just been. “Oh, fucking fuck.” He dragged his hand over his face.
I swiped to answer the call, pressing the phone to my ear. “Cam, I’m fine—”
“The hell you are!” His voice exploded through the speaker. “You disappear. You don’t text. Harper’s barely answering. And then she says Reed’s got you?! Where the hell are you?”
“I’m with Reed,” I said, trying to keep my voice calm. I am twenty-six but when it comes to Cameron, I still feel like the fifteen-year-old who moved in with him. Sometimes I felt more like his daughter than I felt like his sister. “We are home now. I’m safe.”
There was a long pause. A heavy one.
“Did you see him?” Cam’s voice dropped, clearly pissed. “Tyler?”
I closed my eyes.
“Yeah.”
More silence.
And then, clipped and cold: “We’ll talk when you get in.”
The line went dead. Cam rarely hung up without an ‘I love you’.
He was beyond pissed, which confirmed my suspicions.
I lowered the phone, heart hammering harder now for a different reason.
I should’ve texted him or called him. I should’ve let him know I was okay.
I hated feeling so little. I loved my brother, but fuck, he still treats me like a kid.
Reed was watching me, quiet, the warmth from the kiss already dimmed by the weight of reality crawling back in.
“I forgot to keep track of the time,” I murmured.
He gave a tight, understanding nod. “I did too.”
I swallowed hard, still feeling the ghost of his lips on mine, still feeling the sexual tension that was left between us again. Everything had changed in a moment. But that didn’t mean the world outside had paused with us.
I cracked a wide smile and looked at Reed. He looked at me with confusion on his face. I began laughing, “God, that was so fucking worth whatever shit I have to deal with from my brother.”
Reed smiled and pulled me towards him with one hand on the nape of my neck. “For you, Wren, everything is worth it.”