The girls had returned from the dance floor, with Jonah and Coby beside them.
My gaze locked with Wren’s, and she smiled.
It was this big, beautiful smile that did something to me every single time.
This fucking girl still owned me. No matter how hard I tried to fight it.
“Hey, are you guys leaving? I was just going to head home,” she said, concern moving across her gaze when she saw how intoxicated Lily was.
“Of course you are. You’re the worst cockblock, Wreeeeeeennnnn,” Lily said, slurring her words dramatically.
Lulu leaned against Wren, and they both fell back in a fit of laughter.
“Well, I’ve been told I have a big set a balls when I’m competing, but a cockblock is a new one for me,” Wren said.
And then Wren waved Tracy Peters over. She and Lily were best friends, and they’d arrived together tonight.
“Hey, Wren,” Tracy said as everyone in the group started walking toward the door to leave. “How are you?”
“I’m good. It’s nice to see you.” Wren pulled her purse over her shoulder. “I think maybe you should walk her home with us and stay the night with her. She seems pretty drunk, and it might not be safe for her to be alone.”
This was another side of Wren that I loved. She was probably the most caring person I’d ever known.
A tough competitor on the outside, but all warmth and kindness on the inside.
Tracy let a few hiccups escape, but she nodded in agreement.
So we all followed my family out the door and started walking down the sidewalk, while Lily leaned her entire body weight against me just to maintain her forward motion. Everyone turned off to their respective streets to head home, waving goodbye one at a time.
The next stop would be dropping a very intoxicated Lily off at her house. I even had to pick her up and carry her inside when she tried to lie down in the front yard. I was grateful that Tracy would be spending the night with her because she probably shouldn’t have been alone.
“Thanks, guys,” Tracy said as she waved goodbye and then closed the door.
And then it was just me and Wren.
Walking in the dark with the stars shining down on us.
“That was nice of you to carry her inside,” she said, peeking up at me with a smile on her face.
“It was nice of you to ask Tracy to stay with her.”
“She’s clearly really intoxicated. She needed someone to stay with her.” We turned right onto my street as we walked along the river toward my driveway.
“Yeah. That was a lot.” I paused when we stopped beside the stairs leading to her apartment. “Looked like you were having fun tonight.”
“I had a lot of fun.”
“Good. You deserve to let loose.”
“How about you? Did you have fun?” she asked. “I didn’t see you out on the dance floor.”
“Sure. It was fine. I just didn’t make it out to the dance floor tonight.” I chuckled, keeping my tone light.
I was too busy watching you on the dance floor.
“It seems like you might be avoiding me.” She stepped closer.
“I’m not avoiding you.” I glanced out at the water. It was hot as hell, and a nice dip in the river sounded real nice at the moment. “But I think it’s a perfect night for a dip. Remember when we used to sneak out of our houses and meet at the river?”
