Page 63 of Wren's Winter

“Can I say what happened and not have you two be assholes about it?” I asked them. Tam nodded right away, but Penny narrowed her eyes.

“Depends on what happened.”

“Of course we can.” Tam insisted.

A warning glance passed between them, and Penny sighed. “Fine. I’ll refrain.”

So, I told them as best I could about how I wanted to ask Wren to stay. How her ex showed up, how I watched them together, how I ran into Clark and wondered if he was right about me. Driving by them in the diner to see them holding hands. The words I wanted to take back the moment they were said. And worst of all, the pain in her eyes as she locked the door and stared me down, daring me to come closer.

The way I, instead, ran away, drank myself stupid, and punched her ex.

“Wow, you fucked that one up.” The words were no more than I expected, but they still stung.

Tossing the now lukewarm ice pack to the side, I glared at Penny. “What happened to you not being an asshole?”

She snorted. “If you think I’m an asshole now, wait until I get going. I’m about to be the biggest bitch you’ve ever seen. I can’t believe you would listen to Clark of all people. Not just listen to him but use that as some sort of justification for not being with Wren.”

Tam placed a hand on his wife’s knee, soothing her. “Come on, Pen. He’s obviously in a bad spot. We don’t need to make him feel worse.”

“He should.” She batted his hand away, sending him a death glare before her eyes settled on me. “This is the first time you let yourself be open to more than a casual fling, and you do exactly what you always do when you come up against a wall. You take the easy way out. Instead of fighting for her, asking her to stay, you say all the wrong things.”

“She wasn’t going to stay with me.” If she wanted to before, she certainly wasn’t going to now.

“How do you know? Did you ask her? Or did you tuck tail and run off at the slightest bit of friction? Did you stay and hear her out? No, you listened to a guy who calls all women “vag holes.” Which is not only terrible English but the most misogynistic thing ever. That guy is who you’re taking relationship advice from?”

“Maybe he had a point? Why else would Wren be holding some other man’s hand?”

Penny sat back, her eyes narrowing at me. “I don’t know. You should have asked her. I know the concept of long-term relationships is novel to you, but breakups are messy. She was with the guy for three years. Do you really think she should send him away minutes after he shows up?”

“Yes,” I said.

Her hand wiped over her face, she shot Tam an expression of help me out here.

“I wanted to ask her to stay with me,” I repeated.

“And how was she supposed to know that? Did you tell her?”

I shook my head. “No, fucked up.” The fight left me, and I buried my head in my hands. “I know I did. But what can I do now?”

Reaching out, Penny took my hand, pulling it from my face. “You talk to her. You don’t jump to conclusions. And you tell her how you feel.”

The break in my voice hurt as I spoke. “And if she doesn’t want to stay with me?”

Penny shrugged. “Falling for someone is exactly that. Falling. Sometimes, we don’t know where we’ll land. But you’re not going to know until you try. I know it’s scary. Most worthwhile things aren’t easy.”

“That’s the thing.” I stared down at my hands. “It was easy. How I felt with her. It was exactly how my Gramps said it was with Gran. Simple and life-changing. Everything with her was effortless.”

Wren standing on my porch, the light filtering through the little stray hairs loose from her braids. Wren’s grin as she held that bag of cookies in the grocery store. The delicate touch of her finger against my jaw as she leaned in to kiss me. The spark in her eye when I helped her down from the truck. She had taken root in me, flowing through all the cracks and holes I had inside, sealing me together and changing everything.

“I need to talk to her.” I jumped up, stumbling for my shoes. Tam stood up with me, concern ceasing his brow.

“How are you going to get there? You can’t drive right now. Look outside.”

A glance outside saw the snow piling up, fat white fluff blanketing the cars in the driveway. “I need to see her.”

“It’s a blizzard out there. Your truck is miles away, and even if I could get you to your truck, there’s no way you could make it up that hill to your place,” Tam argued.

“If you won’t take me to my truck, I’ll walk. But I’m going back home to her. One way or another.”

---