Page 15 of Goose's Wren

Blade, sitting on Bella’s other side, gives a low chuckle.“I never understood why you were so hung up on Sparrow anyway.Wren had more soul in one page of that notebook than Sparrow had in her whole body.”

Torque lifts his beer and shrugs.“I always wondered too.Plus, let’s be real—Sparrow never let Goose get past a make-out session.And only when Wren was in the room.Creepy as hell.”

I blink.“What?”

Blade smirks.“You seriously didn’t catch that?You don’t think it’s weird she always made sure Wren was nearby when she gave you any attention at all?”

Prez laughs and claps a hand on my back.“Hell, you really never noticed that shit, did you?”

The table erupts in laughter.

“Blind motherfucker,” Blood mutters around his drink, shaking his head.

Bella giggles.“We used to feel so bad for Wren.She’d sit there, pretending not to watch the two of you, pretending she didn’t care while Sparrow soaked up every ounce of your attention.”

And suddenly...everything shifts.

The notes.The glances.The way Wren always seemed to disappear quietly, the second I noticed her at all.The way Sparrow always had just the right words to say...Words that didn’t sound like her at all.

It hits me in the chest like a freight train.They weren’t her words.They were someone else’s.They were Wren’s.

I sit back slowly, the noise around the table fading as it sinks in.

I was in love with a ghost.And the one person who really saw me was standing just outside the spotlight the whole damn time.

I’m sitting there, frozen, lost in memories of the past.Realization hammering in my chest like a goddamn engine backfiring.

Everything’s shifting inside of me.Wren wasn’t just some quiet kid hanging around.She was the voice I carried in my back pocket for half a goddamn year.She was the one I fell for, and I never even knew it.

My bottle sits untouched on the table as I stare into space, still hearing Bella’s words echo in my head.

“She was always writing...most beautiful love poem I ever read...”

And then we all hear raised voices coming from outside.It cuts through the bar like a blade above the music.The laughter around the table quiets instantly as we all turn to look out the window.

And my blood ignites.

Wren’s in the parking lot.What must be her boyfriend, a fucker with dead eyes and twitchy hands, is standing toe-to-toe with her, gripping her arm hard enough I can see the strain from here.

She’s trying to yank away, her mouth moving fast, but he’s not listening.He’s shaking her like she’s a fucking rag doll.

Before I even realize I’ve moved, I’m on my feet and out the door.I hear the Prez call my name and chairs scraping against the floor.I cross the parking lot in a blur.The dumb fuck doesn’t even see me coming.

I slam into him full force.My shoulder connects with his chest and sends him flying backward, heels skidding on the gravel before he crashes flat onto his back with a choked grunt.

Wren gasps but I don’t stop.I’m completely consumed by rage.

I go down after him, swinging hard, one punch, then another, and another.The second my knuckles meet flesh, something inside me snaps loose.I don’t see anything but red.I’m not thinking, not pulling back.

This bastard hurt her.

He laid hands on her.

He made her flinch.

And now he’s going to pay.

A roar rips out of my chest as I drive another blow down, but two sets of arms haul me back.

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