She sighed, dragging a hand through her hair. “No. It needed to be done. Arlo’s a great guy, but he’s not the guy for me. It would’ve been easier if he were…”
I laughed, hopping down from the counter and nestling between her thighs. “You’re right about that. Liam loves Arlo.”
“Then he can date him.” She draped her arms around my neck, pressing her lips to mine. “BecauseIloveyou.”
That was it. All the confirmation I needed. I picked her up and carried her down the hall to her bedroom.
“Naked. Now.” I growled, tearing at my clothes, tossing them aside. Watching Wren as she stripped out of her dress until she was wearing nothing.
“Mm.” I hummed, my body roaring to life at the sight of her naked skin. She was mine. All mine. I no longer had to share her with Arlo or anyone else.
“I have a confession,” she said when I laid her down on the bed, kissing her neck, her chest, everywhere. She was just as eager, touching me, kissing anywhere I could reach.
“What’s that?”
She smiled. “I loved you first.”
I peered up at her from her belly button. “Is that so?”
She nodded. “I’ve always had a crush on you. Ever since we were kids.”
I chuckled. “Mm. Interesting.”
“I’d always secretly hoped you’d be my first.”
I propped up my chin on my hand, my body resting over hers. “What happened with Kade? I mean, why him?”
“I don’t know,” she sighed. “I think he was the first guy who made me feel special. He was older and hot, and well, I was young and stupid.”
“I’m sorry I brought it up.” I kissed her stomach. “I know you don’t like talking about him.”
“It’s okay. I just… He really did a number on me. I trusted him, and he humiliated me. And it wasn’t just the fact that he left. Even while we were together, he was constantly breaking me down, tearing me apart.”
I gnashed my teeth. “That isnotokay.”
“I know. I know that now. But he’d tell me things like, you’ll never find another guy who will love you like I do. You’ll never get someone as hot as me.”
What a sick fuck.My blood boiled at the hurtful lies he’d told Wren.
“Have you talked to him since?”
She shook her head, and relief coursed through me. “No. I see his parents around town occasionally, but he moved to Colorado years ago. He couldn’t handle the responsibility. The pressure. Did you know he tried to convince me to have an abortion?”
“I—” I swallowed, then scratched my jaw. “Hewhat?”
She nodded. “He thought we could just pretend it had never happened.”
“You said you only slept together twice,” I said.
She rolled her lip between her teeth and nodded. “I wasn’t ready. I…Well, I thought we were just fooling around. And he clearly had other ideas.”
I swallowed hard and asked the one question I’d been afraid to all this time. “Did he force you?”
She threw her arm over her forehead and stared at the ceiling. “No. It was almost as if he just assumed we were going to have sex. He didn’t even ask me if I was on birth control. There was no talk of a condom. One minute, he was teasing my entrance. And the next, he was pushing inside.”
I inhaled slowly. Counted to four. And let it out.
Kade may not have forced her, but I wasn’t sure that was much better. To be so casual and careless about someone as amazing as Wren. To be so reckless with any woman was a sin in my mind.
