Page 3 of Finally Home

Which also means he’ll be alone with Wren for an entire year…and I’ll be two hours away.

Shit.

Wren is on her feet trying to console him, but he shoves her off and storms out of the house, muttering under his breath. We’re not quite twenty-one but based on his attitude I have no doubt he’ll be hungover in a frat basement come morning.

Watching my girl deflate as Derrick leaves has me seeing red, but as I hop up to chase him, my mom wraps a hand around my wrist and tugs sharply. When I look up at her, she shakes her head and tilts it toward Wren.

Wren’s slumped on the couch with the most pitiful look on her face, her watery eyes trained on the front door. One of the reasons I love her so much is because she has a huge fucking heart and wants everybody around her to be happy, but it’s also one of the things that annoys me most. Her mom left when she was just a baby, so now she feels a compulsion to make sure the people she loves don’t leave, too.

I’ve encouraged her to see a therapist several times but none of those times ended well for me, so I stopped trying. I can’t make decisions for her as much as I want to.

Even though it’s frustrating that she doesn’t want to see a professional, I can’t help the twitch to my lips as I think about the last time I tried. Wren was so mad at me she didn’t speak to me for a week, but because it was finals week and we were both stressed out, she still came over every night to hang out and study. In complete silence.

Dropping down next to her, I pull her into my arms and breathe out a sigh of relief when she melts against my chest just like she always does. I bury my face in her hair and suck in a deep inhale of her apple shampoo. Hearing her quiet sniffles breaks my heart, so I drop a kiss to the top of her head and run my hand along her back soothingly.

“He’ll be okay, Starling. He’s upset he wasn’t drafted right now, but he has another shot next year,” I whisper around the lump in my throat. Comforting her over another guy has always made me feel sick, but I’d do anything to take away her pain.

With one last sigh, my tender-hearted best friend sits up and wipes her eyes with the back of her hand. “I know. And I know it’s not my fault he’s upset. It just sucks when he’s angry, you know? I’m gonna end up on frat row later when he inevitably calls me to drag him out of some basement…” She trails off as our dads come back in the room.

Archie’s brows furrow as he takes in Wren’s tear-stained cheeks, and I see the banked anger in his eyes that match hers perfectly. He’s never liked Derrick, especially after all the stories he’s heard from my year of horror living with the guy. We shared a cramped twelve-by-twenty-foot room that he made sure was a disaster and always smelled like the inside of a gym bag.

Archie shoots a curious glance my way, silently asking if it was Derrick who made her cry again. I’m not surprised he figured it out since this is a regular occurrence. Giving him the slightest incline of my head, he rolls his eyes before putting on a big smile as he approaches the couch. He holds his hand out to me, and I take it, expecting a shake, but he shocks me when he pulls me in for a hug instead. “My family felt complete the first time I saw my baby girl, but I hope you know you’ve become as much a part of my family as she is, Rhodes. I’m so incredibly proud of you, and I’m here if you ever need anything. And I do mean anything. You hear me?” he squeezes me tightly once before letting go and levels me with a serious look.

A little confused, but a lot happy, I nod at him. “Thanks, Archie. I’ll keep that in mind.” Then I smirk. “And yes, you’ll have season tickets with my parents.”

He lets out a loud guffaw with his hand against his chest. “You got me, son. I’ve been angling for season tickets for three years. Letting you around my baby twenty-four-seven, feeding you, picking you up from cornfields when y’all were three sheets to the wind, cleaning barf out of the bed of my truck… multiple times.” He gives me a side-eye, and I turn a sheepish grin to my mom, who’s got her arms crossed and eyebrows raised. “None of that was because I love you like my own, or just out of the goodness of my heart. I just knew your sarcastic ass would be drafted and get me a decent seat with my friends.”

With a wide grin, I clap my hand on his shoulder. “Well then, you’re welcome, old man. Glad I could be of service.”

His comment about my sarcasm is completely true, and I have zero shame about it until Mom smacks me upside the head. “Ouch,” I whine, rubbing my head. “Starling, Mom hit me!”

Wren gets up and moves to stand by my mom, offering her a high five. “Good goin’, Mama K.” She snickers, turns to me, and cocks her hip. The stance steals my focus as I try not to drool over her like a lovesick weirdo. “Roly-Coly-Oly,” she sing-songs, her eyes lighting up when she says the ridiculous nickname she gave me three years ago.

I mash my lips together to hide my amusement and give her an annoyed look. “Yes, Dodo?” I switch to the bird’s name that annoys her most, earning a cute glare.

“Be nice to your mama,” she chides. I gasp in mock outrage. Rolling her eyes, she continues on what I’m sure is about to be a very southern soapbox. “You were bein’ smart, and Mama K was just remindin’ you to mind your manners and respect your elders.”

Archie turns a playful glare at Wren for her ‘elder’ comment, but he can’t hold it for more than a few seconds. The way he tells it, Wren has been his entire world since the day the stick showed two lines, but when her mom ran out on them when she was only a few months old, she became his sole reason for living. That girl has him wrapped around her little finger, and he doesn’t even realize it.

Me too, Archie.

My dad comes up behind me and ruffles my hair, bringing a scowl to my face. “We should head out. Big man on campus over here has an important exam in the morning and a contract to review with our lawyer,” he says, grinning widely at me.

I sigh and nod. I have to ace that exam in order to graduate early. Pulling Wren into my arms for one last hug, I kiss her on the cheek. “See you tomorrow for coffee, Starling?”

She nods and holds me tight. “I’m so incredibly proud of you, Rho. Don’t forget about little old me now that you’ve made it big, okay?”

My chest aches. “Not in a million years, Wren. You’ll always remind me where home is when my head gets too big.”

Keeping my feelings from her is borderline painful, but now is definitely not the right time to let them out. Between Derrick’s tantrum, the excitement of the draft, and me moving to Charleston soon, she’s not ready to hear what I really feel.

But one day she’ll finally know that she doesn’t just remind me where home is.

She is my home.

Wren

Six months after the draft - wedding day

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