I snicker, and Heath rolls his eyes. “I know, how cliche. As I was climbing over a fence—”
“Why were you climbing a fence?” Levi interrupts.
Heath tosses his arms to the side. “Would you let me finish?”
Levi flicks his wrist, gesturing for him to continue.
“As I was climbing over a fence, the pocket of my station pants hooked on the metal and ripped them clean down the ass.”
Baker shakes his head. “Tell them the best part.”
Heath’s face scrunches. “A group of women were walking down the sidewalk.”
“Please tell me you were wearing boxers.” Levi’s jaw tics, and Heath shrugs a shoulder. “Jesus. This better not turn into a nightmare.”
Baker fights his smile, a chuckle slipping free. “It’s already on The Bay Buzz with the caption, ‘Hot Seat.’”
A burst of laughter pops free as Levi grumbles something unintelligible before lecturing Heath on proper uniform. Baker walks toward me, humor slipping from his face.
“You good?”
I shrug. “Same shit, different day.”
“Wren?”
I snort a humorless laugh. “Isn’t it always?”
Baker doesn’t add any more, joining in on Levi and Heath’s conversation. I’m listening, but I can’t bring myself to contribute, not when my mind keeps drifting back to last night and what could have been.
Chapter 20
Wren
SeeingthehurtIcaused ripple across Jett’s face broke me. I didn’t know I had any pieces left to break, but somehow, he found the few remaining shards.
I don’t know how long I sat on his kitchen floor crying into a dog I once knew, over a boy I once loved, and a future that was ripped from my grip. When I finally realized Jett wasn’t coming back, I had to move on. And unfortunately, it meant calling my brother to pick me up, looking like I was doing the walk of shame.
Shame is what I felt, but for an entirely different reason.
“I’m going to kill him,” Nate said as soon as I opened the passenger side seat.
“He didn’t do anything.”
“Your eyes are nearing swollen shut, and I can see the dried tear streaks from here.”
I wiped beneath my eyes and could feel the puffiness. “Believe me, Nate, it’s my fault.”
As we drove down Main, I kept myself low in the seat, too afraid to risk anyone seeing me. I can only imagine what the stupid gossip page was saying about my performance last night. Being spotted this early in the day with my brother driving me home would only spark more accusations.
“Wanna talk about it?” he asked at the stoplight on the edge of town. TheOpensign in the Shoreline Sips window captured my attention. My mind drifted to how thoughtful Jett was toget us coffees this morning. How he asked Julia what my order was and still bought it with the latte I would treat myself to in high school. Deep down, I knew he still cared for me. Behind all the scars, his heart still beats for me. I knew it did because it was like his was calling out to mine. Slowly, my heart was starting to defrost from the decade-long pain.
“No, I really don’t.” I said, finally answering him.
Pressing on the gas, he turned right to take us home. We drove in silence for a few minutes before he reached across the console and gripped my forearm—strong, but gentle.
“I’m always here for you, Sis. I know a lot of time has passed and our relationship doesn’t feel like it used to, but I’ll never stop being in your corner.”
Quiet tears fell the rest of the way home. After reassuring him again that I would be fine alone, I went inside my cottage and climbed into my shower where I cried until the water ran cold.
