Page 17 of Rumor Has It

“Yeah, driving in it for the invitational was nuts. I can’t believe you live there.” Rebecca’s hazel eyes were so sincere at that statement that Wren had to laugh again.

“You get used to it,” Wren said. Their conversation simmered. Anything else would push them into the territory of something deep, something real. Emotions were more serious than simple life facts.

Wren turned to lay back down and go back to watching cartoons, but Rebecca spoke again. “Your sister…” there was an awkward pause, “can I see her?”

If Rebecca hadn’t blocked Wren from all social media years ago, she could have seen her this whole time. But Wren didn’t say that. They were friends now, and pointing stuff like that out wouldn’t help. “Yeah, of course.” Wren unlocked her phone and clicked on an album titled “lil’ shit” and held it out to Rebecca. “It’s all her or me with her. You won’t have to avert your eyes or anything.”

Rebecca laughed. “It’s all good, Wren. If I wanted to see what kind of sexy photos you send from our hotel bathroom, I could just go look at your girlfriend’s Instagram.”

That knocked the wind out of Wren’s chest. She flinched but forced a smile.

Rebecca’s eyes widened immediately. “Shit. Wren, I’m sorry. I was trying to be funny. That was too far.”

“It’s okay. I know you were just teasing.”

Rebecca pushed back her covers and got out of her bed. Her light blue cotton sleep shorts barely covered her ass, but she didn’t seem to care as she sat hesitantly on the very edge of Wren’s bed. “She really should take that photo down. It clearly isn’t a joke to you.” Rebecca’s voice was much softer. She reached out and tentatively rested her hand on Wren’s sweatpants just at her knee.

Wren couldn’t help but stare at Rebecca's hand on top of her dark grey sweats. Rebecca’s tan, freckled arm contrasted against the paleness of her thighs. Her light blue sleep shorts did absolutely nothing to cover the expanse of skin. The tension in the room quadrupled. Rebecca pulled her hand back and held up Wren’s phone. She cleared her throat nervously, clearly aware of the tension. “So, what am I looking at here?” She said, pointing to a photo on Wren’s screen.

Wren couldn’t help but marvel at Rebecca for a second, for the way she still seemed to know how to read her so well after all these years. She knew when it was okay to jab and when Wren needed comfort. Andy obviously hadn’t figured that out. Wren’s mouth went dry. She had no business comparing the two. Rebecca was a week-long fling six years ago. Andy had been her girlfriend for over a year. And yet, Andy had never even done this with her. Flipped through Wren’s photos, taking the time to learn little things and ask questions about the silliest old pictures.

“Barbara’s thirteenth birthday.” Wren laughed. “That was her first birthday after my dad and her mom started dating. That’s our first photo together. She kind of hero-worshipped me back then.

“Just back then?” Rebecca teased, nudging Wren with her shoulder.

Wren smirked. She kind of loved that Barbara looked up to her so much. Honestly, it always made her act better. Knowing that someone was looking up to her and copying her actions and her words had always made her all the more conscious of her decisions. “Alright. She still kind of thinks I’m the coolest person ever.”

“She’s lucky to have you,” Rebecca said softly, flipping through the next few photos.

“Me? What do you mean?” Wren asked. “Don’t you have like thirty-seven older brothers? You never hero-worshipped any of them?” Wren couldn’t remember much about Rebecca’s brothers other than that she had a lot of them.

Rebecca threw her head back with a laugh. “God no. They all smelled.”

“Okay, valid.” Wren laughed with her. “How many brothers do you have though, seriously? I can just remember that it’s a lot.”

“Three,” Rebecca answered, looking up at Wren from her scrolling. Her hazel eyes were particularly golden from only the light of the lamp on the bedside table that separated their queen sized beds.

“I knew it was a lot,” Wren said, not daring to let her eyes leave Rebecca’s.

Rebecca looked down at Wren’s phone and handed it back over. “Thank you for sharing. Barbara seems precious. It’s cool to see you with her. And I’m glad you have her, even if she’s so much younger than you. It’s neat that she’s been texting you all week and worried about you and Andy.” Rebecca stood and crawled back into her own bed, getting all tucked back in under the covers.

Wren pointedly stared down at her phone and didn’t watch as Rebecca got snuggled back up. “Yeah,” Wren said finally. “You’re right. I’m super lucky. And don’t tell her this, but I kind of hero-worship her, too. She’s brilliant.”

Rebecca smiled a full smile at that. “Well, then, I hope one day I get the chance to meet her.”

Wren and Andy still hadn’t gotten over their fight by the time that Wren made it back to Los Angeles. Wren wanted to forgive her. She really did. Off the field, Wren really wasn’t one to get in a fight. The past two weeks had been enough of an emotional roller coaster, the last thing she wanted to do was come home just to get into it with Andy. She stared up at the small balcony of their shared apartment.

At least she and Rebecca were on better terms. For the whole last week of their training camp, they had been slowly working their way towards an actual friendship. They even sat next to each other by choice at the team dinner on the last night. Wren chuckled at the thought. When they weren’t trying to kill each other, it turned out that they had a lot in common. Shared interests in science fiction and romance novels—although their preferred reading platforms varied—Wren was a paper-in-hand type of person; Rebecca preferred her Kindle. Wren had always sworn she had preferred paper because it felt better, but in reality she had never been able to afford a Kindle. She could now, and she knew she could read a lot of books for free, but it felt almost like she would be a traitor. She would stick with library books and dollar paperbacks from thrift shops and used book stores.

They also liked similar movies, sapphic films all the way. It took Wren off guard a bit how open Rebecca had been once they stopped giving each other the silent treatment. The past week had actually been a blast. She had reluctantly packed her suitcase and had awkwardly exchanged numbers with Rebecca on their final morning together. Neither of them had used it yet, but it was weird knowing her arch nemesis’s phone number was waiting in her phone.

Her eyes widened when her phone buzzed in her hand, Rebecca Rothschild’s name scrolling across her screen. Well, think of the devil. Wren opened the text message Rebecca had sent.

Rebecca Rothschild (8:57 PM): Landed safe and sound in NC, sorry to disappoint.

Wren let out a little laugh. They had kept up a running joke of how much they hated each other, but now that there was no malice in it, little things like this were actually kind of funny.

Wren Eames (8:58 PM): Dammit. Maybe next flight.