Page 27 of Rumor Has It

“Yes.”

“Well?” Molly asked. That time, it was much less of a whisper.

“This is probably going to wreck a lot of shit for her, too.”

Molly hesitated, clearly weighing her next question. “This last photo of the two of you, Wren, are you sure nothing’s going on between you two?”

Wren thought back over the past few weeks and then even longer, letting her thoughts drift back to camp all those years ago. No one had ever made her feel the way Rebecca had. Not even close. She had always chalked it up to first love or something cheesy like romanticizing her first time. “Nothing is actively going on between us. We’ve been trying our best to become friends. Coaches’ orders,” she added.

“Wren,” Molly paused, knowing Wren all too well after all of these years. “I remember how hurt you were after that camp and she had blocked you. I also remember how hurt you were after you saw her again for the first time after it.” She didn’t say it. She didn’t need to. But Molly had been there for Wren both times.

Wren’s eyes watered for the millionth time that night. “I know.”

“Do you still have feelings for her?” Molly asked, her voice so soft Wren could barely hear her.

It was a question Wren didn’t know the answer to. It was something she’d hoped no one would ever ask. She didn’t even want to explore the possibility of it herself. Rebecca Rothschild had hurt her repeatedly for the past six years. This should be the world’s easiest no. And yet, when Wren was faced with it, she genuinely didn’t have a definitive answer.

After the silence had stretched on for far too long, Wren finally said, “I don’t know, Molly. Andy literally just dumped me. I haven’t really had time to process any of it.”

“I know. I know, Wren. I’m here if you need anything. Okay? I know with the twins and work and our schedules it might not always seem like it, but I am here. Please call me if you need something. Anything.”

“I will, thanks.”

“I love you,” Molly said with practiced ease. “I’ll talk to you soon.”

“I love you, too,” Wren answered, disconnecting their call.

She stared at herself in the bathroom mirror. How could so much have happened in the last forty-eight hours and yet she still looked the same? Her green eyes were definitely bloodshot now, probably from the intermittent crying she’d been doing, but other than that, she looked fine.

She surveyed the bathroom. Andy had tornadoed through the small space. As a result, most of Andy’s things were missing. Not everything, but most of her daily routine had been swept off the counter, apparently along with Wren’s toothpaste. Thankfully, she had a travel sized one in her toiletry bag, but damn if that wasn’t the cherry on top of an emotional rollercoaster of a night.

Wren didn’t want to think about the rest. She didn’t want to deal with it tonight. Tonight, she’d let herself brush her teeth with her travel toothpaste and go to bed. Tomorrow, she could face the bigger stuff.

CHAPTER

TEN

BECKY

“So, are we going to talk about it?” Katie asked, blocking the television screen from Becky not thirty minutes after she had gotten off the phone with Wren. She was tiny, her driver’s license only said she was five feet tall because she wore heels to her last DMV appointment. So, it was impressive she managed to block the screen.

“About what, exactly?” Becky asked, pausing her show and feigning innocence. She knew it was no use. Katie was too perceptive and entirely too stubborn.

Her roommate held up her own copy of the magazine that Wren had called her about. “About why I’m seeing you all cozied up to your camp fling like two seconds after we discussed her shitty girlfriend on the front cover of some trash magazine while I’m trying to buy us cereal for the week?” Katie didn’t sound mad, but she most definitely sounded confused and more than a little concerned.

Seeing the magazine in real life was different than googling it. Somehow seeing her face in the bottom corner of a massive news syndicate was more than a little jarring, especially knowing the damage it had already done and the damage it would inevitably do. “Oh shit,” Becky said instead of offering an explanation. It looked so much worse in print.

“Becky, did something happen between y’all in Houston?” Katie squished into the couch seat next to Becky and stole a corner of her blanket.

“No,” Becky said, shaking her head. “I promise. Nothing like what this is insinuating.”

“You know what? Before I ask what did happen, I got us ice cream after I saw you on the cover of the magazine. I’m going to go get it. I feel like we need it.” Katie wiggled off the couch a little ungracefully and shuffled into their kitchen. She returned with a pint of Becky’s favorite ice cream, mint chocolate chip, her own favorite, rocky road, and two spoons.

Becky was touched, truly, almost to the point of being emotional. But she didn’t want to start crying at the start of the story. Not when nothing even happened and even that genuine nothing had managed to blow up around her.

“So, I hear you when you say that nothing happened between you in Houston…” Katie poked at the magazine that Becky was still holding. “Can you explain what’s going on in these photos?” Katie asked her question softly, like Becky might run away from the entire apartment if the question was asked too loudly. She took a big bite out of her rocky road while she waited for Becky’s answer.

“Honestly?” Becky asked. She let out a heavy sigh. “I was plastered that night.” She pointed at the magazine. “I mixed too many alcohols way too fast with the team, and you know I’m a lightweight. I was puking about an hour into the after party. Wren…” Becky stared at the television, paused on the most recent season of Queer Eye. Wren had cared. Wren had followed her into the club’s bathroom, listened to the delightful sound of her puking, and had then taken her back to their shared hotel room. She had sat outside their tiny hotel bathroom while Becky had showered, in case she fell down or started puking again. She had even turned Becky’s shirt around for her when she realized Becky had put it on backwards. She had left Advil and water on Becky’s bedside table and had gotten her breakfast the next morning. She had made Becky’s coffee right. Becky’s eyes watered just thinking about it.