Page 26 of Finally Home
“Wren, listen to me,” I tilt her chin up, forcing her to meet my steady gaze. “Our friendship is solid. A little sexual experimentation isn’t going to rock our foundation to the point where it cracks. Make sense?”
She scrunches her nose with a dubious look, and it takes me a considerable amount of self-control not to boop it, but I don’t want her to think I’m not taking her concerns seriously. I am. I just don’t see a scenario where we don’t end up together anyway, so all this worry is pointless in the long run.
She huffs a laugh and wraps her arms around my waist in a tight hug. “Yeah, that makes sense. But I still think we should talk and maybe set some rules or boundaries, so the lines don’t get blurry.”
I’m thankful she can’t see the expression on my face. We’ve never been good at following rules. I don’t know why she thinks we will be now. “Sure, Starling. We can do that.”
Turning off the shower, I grab the towel from the warmer (silently thanking Copeland for the housewarming present) and wrap it around her. I take another from the small closet for myself and breathe a sigh of relief when she’s fully covered because if I had to stare at her wet, naked body for another second, I would say fuck her rules and drag her to the bed like some kind of deranged caveman. Instead, I rifle through my drawer for one of my softest shirts and slip it over her head and then put on my favorite pair of light gray joggers.
“So,” Wren says “rules.”
I nod and wait patiently for her to gather her thoughts.
She sighs deeply. “I think it should be obvious that if either of us starts to develop non-friendly feelings, we should call it off early.”
Too late, Starling.
My thoughts spiral for a moment. What do these rules mean about her feelings for me, or lack thereof? But I manage to keep a straight face and nod with a noncommittal, “mhmm.” If I have to, I can nurse a broken heart when she leaves town, but I don’t think I’d ever forgive myself if I missed out on a chance to be with Wren.
Exhaling in relief, she smiles at me. “That was the big one, but I also think maybe we shouldn’t tell anybody about our little…arrangement. It’ll just make things more complicated.”
I actually agree with that one. We should probably keep things quiet in case I end up alone and devastated when she calls things off. I wouldn’t want to get my parents’ hopes up.
“And then finally, no judgment, and nobody else. If we’re going to play sex scientists, there’s no room for condemnation. And I think we should keep it to just us. So no other people while we’re…together.”
I stare at her incredulously. “Did you even have to add that one? Wren, even if I was attracted to someone else, I wouldn’t disrespect you like that, especially given the whole reason you’re here.” I hate to bring up her ex, but I hate even more that she feels like she has to ask me to stay faithful to her while we’re sleeping together.
Her face falls, and I feel like a jackass. “Starling, I’m sorry. Even if this isn’t an official relationship, I would never run around on you. As long as we’re doing this, it’s you and me. I promise.” I hold out my pinky, so she knows I’m serious, and she smiles.
“We haven’t pinky promised since we were in college.” She giggles.
I smirk at her. “And the difference now is I get to seal it with an actual kiss.” I cup her face in my palms like the precious woman she is and kiss her softly once, then I part her lips with my tongue and deepen it. Kissing Wren is like having somebody flip on a light switch I didn’t know I had. Or like the first time you light up your Christmas tree for the season. She sets my damn soul on fire, and one day soon I’ll tell her exactly that.
A knock at the door interrupts our Marvel marathon several hours later, but I’m pleasantly surprised to see Archie on the other side when I open it.
“Well, if it isn’t my favorite major leaguer! How are you, son?” His voice is as jubilant as ever, and he looks worlds better than the last time I saw him. The dark circles under his eyes are almost gone, and the exhausted look he was sporting is gone too.
I smirk at him and lean in for a hug. “I’m good. Even better now that I know I haven’t been usurped as the favorite now that you’ve met the other men in Wren’s life.”
He guffaws loudly. “You can’t ask me to pick favorites among you boys, Gray. That’s just cruel.” He winks at me, and my heart warms that he still sees me like a son after all these years. “Speaking of favorites, is my baby girl here?”
“Hey Rho, who’s here?” The woman in question walks into the room with an adorably irritated expression. She takes her movie marathons very seriously, but any annoyance disappears when she sees her father. “Daddy! What are you doing here?” The way she beams whenever she sees him never fails to make me smile. Her laugh rings out through the foyer when Archie picks her up and spins her around.
“I thought I’d swing by and take my favorite daughter to lunch. What do you say, Starshine? Wanna hit the town with your old man?”
Wren and I share a knowing look. “You’re not old, Arch. If anything, we keep you young.” I eye the gray hairs on his head with a smirk. “Then again…maybe we don’t.”
He pulls me into a headlock as I laugh, and Wren clears her throat. “Not to interrupt your bromance or anything, but I’m going to go change so we can head out,” she says pointedly to her dad.
When he finally lets me out of the headlock, I eye him warily. “You’re looking much better today, Archie. You okay?”
He sighs wearily and shakes his head. “I’m completely fine, and I promise I’ll tell you and your parents everything, but I need to tell Wren first. I don’t really know how she’s going to react, so I’ll need you around here to make sure she doesn’t take off.”
I nod in agreement. “For what it’s worth, it really seems like therapy is helping her. She doesn’t seem to run from confrontation anymore. But if it’s something big, I can see why you would be worried.”
“Just keep an eye on her for me, would ya Rhodes? I worry about my girl.”
Promising to look out for Wren is the easiest promise I’ve ever made.