Page 13 of Finally Home
Rho grabs my hand and tugs me down the hall. “Alright, I’m gonna take Wren to the main office so she can meet everyone and see how things are done here. Who knows,” he winks at me, “maybe we’ll even convince her to stay.”
CHAPTER 5
RHODES
“Who do we have to bribe to get her on our team?” Sarah, the team’s junior PR associate, asks me. We’ve been wandering around for over an hour and Wren is a hit just like I knew she would be. Nearly every single person adores her.
Wren is so enthralled with the incredible offices and all the media team’s filming equipment that I nearly had to drag her away from the cameras so she could meet the rest of the group outside of our tech guys. Then Sarah showed her the smart board in the conference room, which she said is great for making plans with the content creation team.
The only person who doesn’t seem to like my girl is making her way over to me with a too-wide smile plastered on her face.
“Hey there, Rhodes,” Whitney purrs as she wraps her hands around my forearm. “I was wondering when I would finally run into you again.”
Whitney is an intern in the Public Relations department, and even though she’s only been here a month, she’s thrown herself at nearly every guy on the team. Sure, she’s objectively pretty, but she knows it and doesn’t take kindly to being told ‘no.’ She’s been uncomfortably persistent even though I politely told her I was unavailable. Several times.
Wren looks over just as I try to extricate myself from her claws, and I turn pleading eyes to her, mouthing “help me.”
She stifles a laugh, excuses herself, and saunters my way. I really hope I’m not imagining the jealousy in her eyes when she sees Whitney clinging to me like a leech in a shallow pond. My girl isn’t the bitchy type, and I never saw her get territorial with her ex, so I’m interested to see how she plays this.
It takes a conscious effort to keep my jaw off the floor when she winds her arms around my waist and hops up on her toes to kiss my cheek with no hesitation.
“Hey Rho, you wanna go get lunch soon? I’m starving and I can practically hear the dumplings at Lotus callin’ my name.” She ends her words on a groan, and I hear the snort of derision that comes from Whitney. “Oh! I’m so sorry,” Wren turns to Whitney and holds her hand out with a megawatt smile. “I don’t know where my manners went; I’m Wren Reid, Rhodes’s…”
“Girlfriend,” I blurt, ignoring the wide-eyed stares being aimed my way. “Wren is my girlfriend.” I smirk, wrap an arm around her waist, and tuck her tightly into my side. Whitney’s mouth hangs open, but she finally lets go of my arm, so I pull Wren back several steps and look down at her with a genuine smile on my lips. “The relationship is new, but we’ve been friends for nearly a decade now, right Starling?”
If she’s surprised by my declaration, she sure doesn’t show it.
Batting her eyelashes at me, she turns to the shocked woman in front of us and leans in like she’s telling her a secret. “That’s right. Apparently, Rhodes here has been in love with me for years and never told me. Now that I’m single again he finally took his shot and clearly, it worked out.” She beams, holding her hand out once again for Whitney to shake. “Sorry, I totally didn’t catch your name! Do you work for the Raptors?”
Whitney’s eyes are like saucers as she robotically shakes Wren’s hand. “Umm… I’m uh…” Somebody nearby coughs, and it’s enough to startle her out of her stupor. Clearing her throat, she sneers. “My name is Whitney Morgan. I work in the PR department, so the team and I spent a lot of time together, and yet I’ve never heard your name.”
I have to give Wren credit; her smile doesn’t falter in the face of the catty woman.
“That’s funny,” I chime in. “Because I’ve only seen you around the facility three times since you started working here, and I know I was talking about Wren with the guys at least two of those times.” Her smug look drops, and she looks pissed.
Did she really expect me to back up her fake story?
I turn my attention back to the beautiful blonde at my side. “Either way, I’m sure you’ll see a lot more of my girl around here for the next month. And I’m sure she would love to answer any questions you might have since she’s head of PR for the Seattle Sirens.” I don’t even bother to fight my smug smile as I nuzzle my nose into Wren’s hair. I’ll obviously take any chance I can get to brag about this remarkable woman.
“Well, we should get out of here. Gotta keep her fed, you know?” I wink at Whitney and pull Wren away with a wave to the rest of the staff before leading us outside and down the stairs. We barely make it out to the parking lot before she absolutely loses it, laughing so hard tears start running down her face and little snorts escape her lips. The sound is so infectious I can’t help but laugh with her.
Several minutes later, we’re in my SUV when Wren throws a contemplative glance my way. I brace myself for questions I’m not ready to answer but instead she shakes it off and smiles. “Can we really go to Lotus? I haven’t had dumplings or bao in for-ev-er, and I would commit serious crimes for some right now.” Her hands are clasped together, and her bottom lip is stuck out in the same pout I haven’t been able to resist for eight years. She’s so goddamn pretty. Her blonde hair practically glows in the sunlight against the tan leather of my seats, making her look like some sort of angel. And seeing Wren in my hoodie that’s easily two sizes too big for her, does funny things to my heart and my libido.
I shake my head and start the SUV, smiling over at the girl next to me. “Anything for you, Starling.”
“Good lord, I forgot how good these are,” Wren moans from across the booth. I clear my throat and move my hand under the table to adjust myself. She may have been okay with playing my fake girlfriend in front of Whitney, but I doubt she’s ready to know that the little noises she’s making have me ready to bend her over the table in front of the entire restaurant.
“It’s been so long since I ate here, I kind of forgot how good everything is,” I say around a bite of steamed pork bun. Lotus is one of our favorite places in Charleston, and for more than just the food. It’s a tiny shop tucked away in a rundown strip mall just up the road from my house, but despite how the outside looks, the inside is warm and intimate, which makes it a perfect date spot.
She raises her eyebrow at me. “Rho, you live five minutes away and you love this place. Why’s it been so long since you last ate here?”
I shrug and tilt my head back to stare at the ceiling. I can’t face her when I know how pathetic I’m about to sound. “It felt too weird coming here without you, Starling. This was our place. We ate here every time you came home. Bringing anyone else here felt wrong, and coming by myself just made me miss you more than I already did. I haven’t been since the last time you were home.”
Prepared for the worst, I drop my head to gauge her reaction. I don’t recognize the look in her eyes, but the best way I can describe it is soft. She doesn’t look like she pities me or thinks I’m too intense, which gives me the courage to say what I do.
“I missed you so much, Wren. Nothing in my life has felt right since the day you moved to Seattle, and the only thing that kept me sane was knowing I’d see you every few months when you came to visit your dad. But two years ago, the visits just… stopped. You were quiet and distant. I missed my best friend.” I’m not surprised I’m getting choked up.
She’s quiet before she slides out of her side of the booth, and I drop my face into my hands, sure I just fucked everything up. I startle when her small arms wrap around my waist, and she buries her face in my shoulder.