Page 150 of Songbird: Black Kite
“I know, baby,” I agreed, hating the fact that she was right. “Wren.Fuck. I have so many regrets. A goddamn lifetime of them. But one thing I’ll never regret is you. You and Cooper are the best things that have ever happened to me. And I may hate myself for missing all those moments, but you can be damn sure I’m not gonna miss any more.”
“But, what about the reporters? The things they’re saying...”
I cringed, knowing that for someone like Wren, someone who lived their life trying to go unseen, this kind of thing might be the deal breaker.
“Mick is already working on getting that shit taken down, but garbage headlines are part of the deal when you’re a musician. If you want to be with me—”
“I do!” she insisted, and I smiled.
“I’m so fuckin’ glad to hear you say that, baby.” And then, because I couldn’t wait another second, I kissed her, and it was like coming home. Our lips met, pouring all the longing of our souls into each kiss, and I felt lighter than I had in years.
Everything about Wren was perfect for me, and when she threw herself from her chair and into my lap, I marveled at the fact that she fit perfectly there, too. Wrapping her in my arms, I clung to her, my rational mind knowing she was right there, but my subconscious terrified that at any moment, this whole thing would be just another one of my dreams. The last thing I wanted was to wake up in my empty house, cold and alone all over again.
But Wren didn’t disappear, her body a solid weight against me as we sat at her kitchen table and made out like teenagers.
And like teenagers, we jumped apart the minute someone else entered the room.
“Mom!” Cooper hollered, skidding to a stop in the kitchen as she busted us. “Oh, my god! Were youkissing?”
“Yeah, we—”
“What did you need, Cooper?” Wren cut me off, raising an eyebrow pointedly in my direction.
Shit.
Turning my chair, I tucked myself under the kitchen table to hide my boner.
“Oh, yeah. Uncle Alex said that we’re going to California!”
Well, there went that surprise.
Fucking Alex.
The guy really couldn’t keep a secret.
Wren looked at me, and I rolled my lips in to keep from smiling.
“I just figured that since school was finished that maybe you girls would want to come see the sights out on the coast for a bit.”
Or forever. But I wasn’t going to push my luck.
“Can we, Mom? Please?” Cooper pushed her bottom lip out, eyes wide as she worked her magic on her mother. “I wanna go! I’ve never even been on a plane.”
“Cooper, I have to work. And what about Auntie Bri?”
“Auntie Bri won’t mind. She’d be mad if I didn’t go.” Wren frowned, but didn’t disagree. “And you can take some time off work. You haven’t worked in two days. What’s a few more?”
Wren never needed to work again if she didn’t want to but, again, I kept my mouth shut. It seemed wiser to ease her into the new life I wanted to offer her rather than completely upending her entire existence any more than I already had.
“I suppose I do have some vacation time saved up,” Wren mused, and I guessed according to Cooper, that was a win, because she squealed, flinging herself at her mother, who caught her with a soft grunt.
“Thank you! Oh, wow! Thank you so much!” Cooper spun in a circle, her arms in the air, before darting back down the hall to her bedroom. “I can’t wait until I can text Jillian again. She’s gonna go crazy!”
“See the sights?” Wren asked wryly, and I shrugged, pushing my chair back and pulling her back into my lap.
“I can think of quite a few things I’d like to show you, Bird,” I breathed, pressing a kiss to her throat. “And every single one of them involves you naked.”
Chapter eighty-four
