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“Oh. Sorry. Guess that’s what happens when I try to help.”
She came over and rubbed my back. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“You seem a little flustered. Are you concerned about Wren being back in his life?”
“Of course not.” My eyes narrowed. “Why would I be concerned?”
“I wondered if she wasn’t a good influence on him or something. I know they hadn’t had a lot of time together before she left.” She examined my face. “You just seem off since she showed up.”
“No.” I shook my head. “Wren is great. My mood has nothing to do with her.”
“Okay.” Morgan smiled and poured water into the tea kettle. On evenings when she didn’t spend the night, she typically made tea before heading home.
We were sitting at the table about ten minutes later when Rafe and Wren entered the kitchen.
Rafe was beaming. “I can’t believe she surprised me. You didn’t know about this, right?”
I shook my head. “No, I was just as surprised as you,” I said. “I’ve never heard you yell like that. You must be pretty damn happy to have your sister back.”
“I’m happy to be back.” Wren grinned, looking over at Rafe.
Again, she was looking anywhere but at me. I couldn’t fucking blame her. She’d walked right into the fire tonight. I also felt terrible that I couldn’t have the type of conversation with Wren that I wanted to. There was so much I wanted to ask her. My hands were tied at the moment, though.
“Are you single, Wren?” Morgan asked, interrupting my rumination.
Great. I began bouncing my knee under the table.
Wren hesitated. “I am. Not much chance to meet anyone straight off the plane from France.” She laughed nervously before glancing over at me.
I attempted to telepathically apologize with my eyes for Morgan’s intrusive question.
“That’s true, huh? You just got here. Wasn’t sure if there was someone back in France.” Morgan laughed. “Anyway, I’d love to have you over for dinner and invite a friend of mine. He’s around your age. Super good-looking, successful…a great catch.”
Eyes wide, Wren just nodded and smiled.
I balled my fist. The whole thing was awkward as fuck.
Wren turned to Rafe. “I’m still jetlagged, so I’m gonna head home. I’ll come by tomorrow night and pick you up for dinner. You can bring your girlfriend if you want.”
“Yeah. I want you to meet her,” Rafe said.
Wren looked over at Morgan. “It was really nice to meet you, Morgan.”
Clueless Morgan flashed a smile. “You, too!”
Wren finally looked at me for more than a few seconds. “Good to see you again, Dax.” I noticed the hint of sadness in her eyes. I’d known this wasn’t easy for her, but now I could actually see it.
Not being able to tell her I was sorry for putting her in this position was killing me. I would never have chosen for her to meet Morgan on her first damn night back. Actually, I might have tried to avoid that meeting for as long as humanly possible. But maybe, in a way, this was better. Like ripping the Band-Aid off.
I noticed Rafe looking intently at his sister. Did he notice something was off, too? Then he turned and looked straight at me. I inwardly panicked for a millisecond before reminding myself that he didn’t know anything. It was just my rattled nerves playing tricks on me.
Wren
“It was the most awkward moment,” I told my father during lunch the following day.
“Dax must have been shitting a brick. I feel a little bad for the poor bastard. He’s just trying to do the right thing, move on with his life. Then you blow in like a storm.”
When my father came to visit me in Europe, one night over drinks on my balcony I’d confessed to him what happened between Dax and me. I’d wanted my dad to know why I hesitated to come back to the US immediately when the two years were up. While he hadn’t been surprised by what I told him, he’d told me he felt sad that I was still harboring feelings for Dax.
Maybe a girl talking about her sex life with her dad wasn’t a popular thing, but I always felt lucky that I could tell Chuck anything. Under the current circumstances, I was grateful to have at least one person who understood why things were so messed up for me right now. I’d also told Dad of Rafe’s revelation about reading Dax’s journal.
“The worst part is his girlfriend mentioned setting me up with some guy she works with.” I dropped my head into my hands a moment.
Dad’s eyes widened with a hint of amusement. “What did Dax do when she said that?”
“I don’t know. I hardly looked at him. I couldn’t. It just…hurt too much.”
My phone chimed, and my heart did a flip when I saw his name pop up.
