“I’m not. But it wouldn’t hurt to enjoy the view. I feel like I’m going to get in trouble if I enjoy the eye candy in there. And for the record, those guys might as well be blind to all other women in the world. They haven’t even noticed that I exist. They’d be sleaze if they did notice, considering they’re taken, but still. I’ve never felt so teased.”
My laughter starts pouring out, and she takes a step back as though I’ve lost my mind. Then again, I can’t remember laughing this hard at something so small.
“Since when the hell do you laugh at something so mundane?” she asks, doing the thing where she makes me worry that she’s in my head.
“I don’t. I don’t know what’s wrong with me,” I utter through the fits of laughter.
Wren managed to assemble a small army of help, yet he also made sure not to bring anyone single that might hit on Bella. Obviously he doesn’t want to risk anything going wrong with our rocky start. He certainly didn’t do it because of me, considering he knows I’m dating someone. Or… at least I think he does.
That makes me appreciate him even more. Just knowing he’s giving this all he’s got is a good sign. It takes me at least five minutes to finally stop laughing, but Bella can’t seem to stop smiling.
“Fine. I’ll deal with all the hotties being taken if you keep laughing like that. It’s nice to hear.”
I just roll my eyes while she opens the door, and I trek back into the house as two of the said hotties use the open door to walk out our sofa. Bella checks out Rye’s ass, but quickly looks away when the smiling Brin sweetly clears her throat.
“Torture,” Bella whispers, prompting me to snicker softly while moving back toward the kitchen where the girls are all quick to swarm me with questions about Angel. This I can talk about easily. Maybe this won’t be so bad after all.
***
ALLIE
This is hell. Pure and utter hell.
Wren Prize is freaking amazing. He’s nothing like the Wren Jacobs I met in Cancun. In fact, this Wren would kick that Wren’s ass for his behavior. How can one person change so much in such a short span of time?
Albeit, seven years is a long time, but not enough for someone to be this incredibly different. The girls all talk about him being the voice of reason amongst the group—the most mature. They keep acting as though it’s impossible he was a jerk. Not that I mentioned it. He apparently told them he was an asshole to me, yet they still can’t believe it.
I wouldn’t believe it either if I hadn’t seen it for myself, because after spending a whole day with him, I can’t even picture him as the same guy. In fact, I’ve questioned my memories of that night, which pisses me off.
“You know,” Bella says as she sidles up next to me, climbing onto a stool so that she can properly hang a picture, “Wren Prize is definitely becoming my favorite person on a moving day. All of our stuff is almost unpacked, and it’s just barely getting dark. And all of his friends have stayed. That’s pretty amazing. Loyalty like that, well, it’s rare. I thought only we had it, yet they all have it to him.”
Yeah. As if I needed a flashing neon sign.
“I’m pretty sure the Wren I met in Cancun wouldn’t have this many friends.”
She shrugs while leaning back, staying on her stool, and admiring Kade Colton who is working tirelessly without his shirt, his hidden tattoos exposed. The fact he has a tongue ring has only driven Bella crazy with envy, and I’ve laughed about it all day.
She isn’t actually looking for anyone to date—at all. I think she’s only continued the torture spill because I keep laughing. I can’t even remember the last time I’ve laughed so hard, but these people are all so laid back with a good sense of humor. It’s easy to forget they’re strangers.
“So, the Dane guy is apparently the world’s sweetest fucking husband on top of everything else. Kode, his brother, is a bit of a jerk to everyone but his woman and his close circle of friends. That’s cool, I guess. His friends seem to get him, but I wouldn’t mind never knowing him. Raya is cool as hell, though. She and I are going out one night.”
Crap. Now my best friend is going to be a part of his circle. What if she’s around Wren more and starts liking him a little too much? No. No. No. I can’t get jealous. That’s stupid. Why am I acting so stupid?
“That’s… nice,” I say, trying not to frown and act like an immature brat. Besides, Bella would never get with Wren for the simple fact he’s Angel’s father.