Page 59 of Wren's Winter

“Oh yeah, who’s going to have you now?” He laughed for a moment before the smile fell from his face. “Wait, did you sleep with that guy? What’s his name, Archie?”

“His name is Adrian, and I’m not answering that question.”

“Why, because you did? You’re unbelievable. I can’t believe you would do that to me.” His words got louder. “That’s who you want to be with, some poor, scruffy guy who lives in the woods of fucking nowhere? Over me?”

“Believe it or not, who I date has nothing to do with you. That man is five times the man you are. I’ve only spent three days with him, and it was better than all three of our years together.”

“You barely know the guy. He’s just using you. Guys like that, they see a girl like you and know you’re only good for one thing.”

Pushing off, I stood up, grabbing my purse. “I don’t have to listen to this. The moment we broke up, I stopped owing you a thing.”

“Wait, where are you going? You drove me here. My car is still at the cabin.”

“I told you I’m not doing a single thing for you anymore. Take a cab. You’ve got the money, since you’re so rich and all.”

Stalking toward the front of the diner, I handed Marta a ball of cash to pay. I wasn’t sure if I was short or not, but she waved my money away.

“Don’t you worry about paying. You go get that boy.”

“What about Buck?” I asked her.

She glanced over my shoulder at him, still sitting at the table, his face red. “He better pay, or I’ll have the police pick him up.”

The cold winter air was welcome on my heated cheeks, a sense of righteousness flowing over me. I’m sure the town would be talking about the exchange for weeks, but I didn’t care. Buck had made his own nine-hundred-thread count sheet bed, and now he could lay in it.

Driving back up the mountain road, a sense of calm set over me. For the first time in my life, every turn I took was the right one. After a lifetime of never being sure where I was headed, I knew this path was true.

Not bothering to go back into the rented cabin, I parked beside Adrian’s truck and made my way up his porch. The snow crunched under my boots as I walked the small pathway. I’d have to get my things from the cabin later, but now that I had officially said my piece with Buck, I didn’t want to waste any more time in that other cabin. Knocking a few times, I listened as Maizie’s little nails tapped on the wood floor alongside Adrian’s footsteps. The door swung open, and Adrian was there, the warmth of his house radiating through the doorway. Early afternoon light shone over him, highlighting the gold in his scruff, the line of his jaw.

“Hey,” I breathed out, a smile widening my face. He glanced down at me, his eyes catching on my hands clasped in front of me. A slow sense of dread crept up my body as his face remained stony.

“Where’s your boyfriend?” he asked, his knuckles white on the door frame.

“Um, not here. And he’s not my boyfriend,” I corrected.

“Could have fooled me.”

A shiver ran down my body, from the cold of the air and from the ice in his tone. “Can I come in? It’s chilly out here.”

“It’s not a good time. I was about to head out to see Tam and Penny.”

“Could I come—I mean, do you want me to come with you and see…”

His eyes kept darting away, his hands shoved in his pockets as he bounced on the balls of his feet. My words trailed off. I was getting the hint.

“No. I think it’s best if you stay here.” His eyes set on Buck’s car still parked in front of the other cabin.

“Did something happen? Did I say something? I know I should have introduced you and Buck better, but I was caught off guard, and to be honest, with him, less is more. I figured it wasn’t worth the long, drawn-out conversation.”

Granted, it was one I had later with Buck, but I wanted to spare Adrian. There was no need for him to be caught in the middle of it.

A muscle ticked in his jaw as he stared down at me. “It’s fine. It’s whatever, right? Just like us. We had fun, but you’re leaving tomorrow morning, anyway. You weren’t going to stay.”

I hugged myself tighter, a chill that had nothing to do with the cold seeping into my bones. “Could I come in and we could talk about it?”

“What’s there to talk about, Wrenny?”

I hated the nickname on his lips, hated the way it curled and spoiled in his mouth. He spit it like an expletive.

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