Page 12 of You Found Me in the Dark
I let out a breath and nodded, adrenaline mixing with nerves in my stomach. “Let’s go ruin someone’s night.”
She grinned and we both stepped out, the cold air slicingthrough the heat of the car. As we walked up the driveway, the music only got louder. The door was wide open. People were already wasted and spilling out onto the front lawn and porch. What had I gotten myself into?
10
WREN
Inside, it was chaos. Hot, loud, bodies packed tight. Every room was buzzing with energy, people dancing, laughing, shouting over the music. Strobe lights flickered against the walls in what could’ve been a living room, turning everything into a blur of motion.
We hadn’t even made it fully inside before it started.
“Damn, green shirt—what’s your name?”
“You new around here? ’Cause I’d remember that face.”
“Wanna dance, baby girl?”
It was like a floodgate had opened. Guys were suddenly everywhere, their eyes hungry, some bolder than others, and one even tried to grab my hand as I passed. Clearly, they were shitfaced. Harper laughed beside me, already having the time of her life.
I smiled politely, declined with nods, and tight-lipped “no thank yous,” pushing my way through the crowd. And while a small part of me was flattered by the attention, another part felt… weird. Like they weren’t seeing me. They just saw my clothes, or lack thereof. It was just this version of me I’d stepped into tonight. Still, it felt good to be noticed and to be wanted.
But this didn’t prepare me for him.
I turned a corner toward the kitchen, trying to find something to drink that wasn’t just flat soda and cheap liquor, when my heart stopped cold.
There he was.
Tyler.
He was leaning back against the counter like he owned the room. The same casual cool that used to drive me insane. His skin was tanned like he’d spent the last six months on a boat somewhere, and his blonde, messy, sun-kissed hair now rested on his shoulders. A faint five o’clock shadow framed his jaw, softening the sharp angles of his face but doing absolutely nothing to dull the effect he had on me. I hadn’t seen him since right before my twentieth birthday.
I met Ty when I was fifteen. It was just after moving in with Cam. We shared almost five years of history, love, and heartbreak. All of it was wrapped up in the boy I gave my first everything to… and now, standing in front of me as the man I didn’t think I’d ever see again.
He hadn’t noticed me yet. He was mid-laugh, talking to some girl, holding a red cup, completely at ease.
And I was frozen.
The room blurred and the music dulled. I was fifteen again. It felt like I’d walked into a fever dream I hadn’t signed up for, giving me the same butterflies in my stomach as the night we’d first met at that football game ten years ago. Harper hadn’t noticed I’d stopped, and when I glanced in her direction, I saw her hugging Lena.
Time stilled as he looked up, his eyes locking with mine. Hissmile faltered for a beat. The air between us thickened, full of everything we’d left unsaid all those years ago.
He didn’t say anything. Neither did I, but I guess it was time for some trouble. The thought struck before I could second-guess it. I lifted my chin, adjusted my V-neck slightly, and put a smile on my face.
My boots clicked against the tile as I moved through the kitchen, weaving past couples pressed too close together and a guy trying to pour tequila shots like a bartender. I never looked away from Ty, and he didn’t look away from me. His friend was still talking beside him, oblivious, but Ty wasn’t hearing a word.
That look in his eyes—I remember it. I’d seen it years ago when he used to study me like he was trying to memorize everything as if I was going to disappear. It was softer now, like he was still unsure it was me.
Up close, he looked the same but different. Like life had hit him a few times since I last saw him. But then again, maybe it was just growing up. When we broke up, I was only nineteen. He should now be getting close to thirty-two.
I stopped in front of him.
“Hey, stranger,” I said, the words casual, but my pulse was anything but.
Ty blinked once, then his mouth curved into a slow, hesitant smile. “Wren.”
His voice was still low and warm, roughened just enough to make old feelings rise like ghosts in my throat.
“I almost didn’t recognize you,” he added. “You look…”
