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At least Cash isn’t here right now.
I stand up as tall as I can and look around. “Does anyone have something they want to say?”
People awkwardly return to their conversations and try to pretend that they’re ignoring us. That’s good. I can deal with having people judge me. I don’t want Wren to have to, especially not right now.
I turn back to her and set my hands on her shoulders. “Do you want to go somewhere private? Talk for a little?”
As I say that, I can see some of the anxiety rise back in her. Too fast.
“I think I want to just go to bed,” she says. “This was… um… I just have to think about some things.”
Every fiber of my body wants to grab onto her and tell her that no, she can’t go. But I push that down. If she needs time to herself, she deserves it.
“Would you like me to walk you back?”
“No, thank you,” she says. Her hand rises up and she strokes my cheek with her finger. “I’m glad you kissed me. I just need to think about it.”
I smile. “Good.”
She returns my smile, then walks away before I can say anything else.
No more going back now. No more waiting for the perfect moment. Whatever happens from this moment on is final.
The next morning, Cash barges into my room. Right on schedule.
“What the hell is this I’m hearing about you and Wren at the party last night?”
I turn around in my chair to face him. “Is it that I kissed her? Because otherwise, it’s probably not true.”
“You’re serious?” he says. “You actually kissed my stepsister?”
“Oh, don’t act like you’re so protective,” I snap. “You didn’t even meet her until earlier this year, and you don’t even like her, anyway.”
Cash sputters. “That’s not the point! You’re my best friend! You’re not supposed to be making out with my stepmonster! You’re supposed to be on my side, for fuck’s sake!”
“You’re allowed to have whatever feelings you have towards her,” I say. “But by the same token, so am I. I’m still your friend, but I want to have a relationship with Wren, and if that upsets you, the only thing I can say is that’s your problem.”
Cash snarls. “Don’t tell me whose friend you are. If you want to be my friend, act like it.”
He starts for the door. I stop him. “Just one thing before you go. Get angry at me all you want. I can take it. But you do anything to hurt Wren, and you’ll have to deal with me. Do you understand that?”
He looks back at me with a poisonous glare. “Oh, I understand alright.”
And with that, he walks out the door.
Well, that’s that. It went a lot worse than I had hoped, but not so different from what I expected. Maybe Cash will cool down. Probably he won’t. Either way, I stand by my choice.
* * *
Later that day,I’m sitting under a tree, reading when Wren sits next to me. A part of me had hoped that this would happen when I decided to go outside.
“Had time to do the thinking you wanted to?” I ask, setting my bookmark.
She nods. “I’m sorry about having to leave like that. I just didn’t expect that at all from you. And when it happened, it just took me some time to figure out my emotions.”
“What did you think I felt about you?” I say, giving a slightly flirty grin.
“Honestly? I thought you hated me. I mean, I know Cash hates me, and your friends with him, so I guess I just assumed that…that you were being nice to me but…”
