Page 69 of Rumor Has It

“It’s eleven-thirty-five,” Rebecca mumbled. She snuggled back in, this time a little more directly on top of Wren.

“No,” Wren grumbled, wrapping her arms even tighter around Rebecca. Wren absolutely did not want any of this to end. She didn’t want to have to deal with the real world or other people. She wanted their perfect night to go on forever.

“Come on, Wrently,” Rebecca said, gently kissing up Wren’s neck. “We need to get up and get dressed so we can make the team lunch. We’re going to be cutting it close as it is.”

Wren nodded, her green eyes fluttering open slowly. “Good morning,” she said, a small smile pulling up at the corners of her lips.

“Good morning,” Rebecca whispered in return. She leaned forward and kissed Wren for real.

Wren’s heart stopped, panic rolling in like heat on a summer morning. What if Rebecca ghosted her again? After the night they had just shared together, what if that’s all it would ever be?

“Your hair looks really sexy right now.” Rebecca reached up and combed her fingers through Wren’s hair. “And by that I mean, you might have to re-shower.” She let out a soft laugh.

But Wren couldn’t seem to get enough air. The fear of Rebecca even remotely disappearing on her cut through her like a serrated knife.

“Hey, I’m just teasing,” Rebecca said, her face suddenly concerned. “You really do look sexy. It’s just not how it normally looks.”

Wren shook her head. “No, it’s fine. I don’t give a shit about my hair.” It came out sharper than she intended it to.

“Wait, Wren?” Rebecca asked, sitting up. The blankets pooled around her waist. “What just happened?”

“I don’t think I can take you shutting me out after last night,” she whispered. “I probably should have thought about that before, but I”—her voice cracked. She shook her head. She was not going to cry right now. Not after the best night of her life.

“I won’t,” Rebecca whispered, cutting her off. She ducked into Wren’s line of sight. She shook her head. “I won’t, Wren.”

Wren frowned. “Really?” She couldn’t help the way disbelief coated her question.

“I don’t think I could take it either,” Rebecca said with a small shrug. “I don’t know what this is or how to do this. I know the contracts complicate everything tenfold, but I want to explore it.” She shrugged. “Whatever that means, or whatever you feel comfortable with. I want to try.”

“I want to, too,” Wren said, undeniably hopeful.

Rebecca’s concerned face melted into a smile. “Okay. So, how do we feel about exclusively trying to figure this out?”

“I like the exclusive bit,” Wren said, a small smile spreading across her lips. “And I really like the figuring this out bit.”

Rebecca leaned forward and kissed Wren’s cheek. “Me, too,” she whispered. “And the contract?”

“We just try to keep to ourselves?” Wren said, though it sounded much more like a question. She’d never wanted the spotlight on her romantic pursuits. She had no issue keeping her love life to herself.

“Can I tell Katie?” Rebecca asked. “If the answer is no, the answer is no.” She blushed, adding, “but I really should warn you that she’s probably going to guess.”

Wren thought about it for a second, if Katie was already going to guess, there was no point in denying Rebecca the joy in sharing. “Yeah, I think that’s okay. Can I tell Molly?”

Rebecca let out a small, amazed laugh. “Of course you can tell Molly.” She scrunched up her face as another realization settled in. “Is your best friend going to hate me?”

Wren moved her hands up and down like she was weighing something on a scale. “I’m not sure Katie is exactly going to love me given our one interaction was me bolting from your apartment after destroying your hallway.”

“Yeah, but I’ve already told her to be nice,” Rebecca teased.

“If it makes you feel any better, Molly is the one who called me out for still having feelings for you.” Wren grinned, thinking about it. “I think as long as we keep it to just our best friends, it's all going to be just fine. In the meantime, you and I can work on figuring this out together.”

Rebecca broke into the most beautiful smile Wren had ever seen. “I like the sound of that.”

Being in an undefined, yet exclusive—and horribly forbidden—situationship with her teammate, travel buddy, first love, and college rival was certainly a choice, but Wren had tried the alternative and it had sucked. For a whole week she had regretted how she had left things between her and Rebecca and really, when it came down to it, Wren thought it would be asinine to deny their chemistry.

They were a good fit. The timing was unfortunate. Their coaches might genuinely kick one or both of them off the team. But, for the first time, everything about this morning felt like Wren was doing exactly what she was supposed to be doing.

Distracting Rebecca with kisses while they were supposed to be getting ready for a team lunch, to the point that Rebecca had to lock her out of the bathroom, made Wren’s heart pound in her chest in a way it hadn’t since she’d been sixteen. Thankfully, their travel buddy status would allow for them to have some degree of inseparability this morning.