“Give me a break. You’re trying to put the two of us together. Your couples-only dinner party is a dead giveaway.”
“I don’t like that we’re all coupled up and you’re not.” Harper frowned. “I don’t want you lonely.”
Oh God. She really didn’t want Harper and everyone else feeling sorry for her. Talk about pitiful. “I’m not lonely. I work too much to ever be lonely.” Sort of a lie, sort of the truth.
“The fact that you think working too much is totally okay totally isn’t.” Harper sent her a stern look. “I think you two would make a perfect couple.”
“I can’t stand him.” Lies. “He makes me insane.” Truth. “He’s always making fun of me.” And I sort of love it.
“He’s just teasing.”
“Yeah, well, sometimes it hurts.” Not really.
Okay, yes really. But only when I believe he sees me only as a joke. That’s when it hurts.
Growing up, her brothers never took her seriously. And her father definitely never took her seriously. Even her mom—whom she adored and would do anything for—didn’t believe she could do much beyond marry well and raise a family. Those had been her mom’s goals, so she believed they should be Wren’s too. Maybe she had ambitions. Goals. Maybe they had nothing to do with this town or the work she was doing. Maybe she needed to leave.
But where would she go? Why did she constantly beat herself up for staying in Wildwood? Harper left and came back. Delilah was perfectly content.
So why did she feel so restless?
“Should I have West talk to him?” Harper offered, breaking into Wren’s wayward thoughts.
“God, no. Keep my brother out of it.” Wren shook her head, sending a worried glance in West’s direction. He was talking to Tate, but they seemed friendly enough. Tate was even smiling and laughing, so that had to be a good sign.
The last thing she wanted was one or all of her brothers running to her defense. It was fine in school, not so much in adulthood.
Besides, she didn’t want to scare Tate away. Not when she was finally starting to realize she liked him.
“He seems into you.” At Wren’s frown Harper continued. “Tate. I think he likes you.”
“He wants to sleep with me.” Harper beamed, and Wren almost hated to be the one to shut her down. “But there’s a big difference between wanting to sleep with me and actually liking me, Harper. You know this.”
“So it’s just a sex thing?” Harper sounded disappointed.
“I don’t think Tate knows how to commit. And I refuse to get involved with a man who can’t commit.” She tried to act tough, like she wasn’t bothered by her friends finding love, but she yearned for the same thing. She wanted to find a man who wanted to be with her, who loved only her.
Considering their less-than-perfect upbringing and the example their parents had set, Wren was surprised by the devotion her brothers displayed toward their women—all three of them. The youngest, Holden, had been in the longest relationship of them all, and he was still madly in love with his girlfriend, Kirsten. West and Lane followed Harper and Delilah around like lovesick puppy dogs.
Wren wanted that. She wanted a strong man who was confident, who knew what he wanted and went after it. And once he got it, he worked his hardest to keep it. She’d had a boyfriend long ago who she’d believed was the one. Her old high school love, the boy she gave her virginity to. She’d been the devoted one in that relationship. Following Levi around like he was the man of her dreams, secretly planning their future wedding, writing her name in the back of her school notebooks with his last name attached to hers.
Levi Hamilton
Wren Gallagher Hamilton
Wren Hamilton
Levi and Wren Hamilton
Mrs. Wren Hamilton
Yeah, she’d truly believed they were the perfect couple . . . until they weren’t anymore.
And though she hated to admit it, she’d never really gotten over the way he dumped her. Out of nowhere, just before he left for college. She was a year younger and had been fully prepared for their upcoming long-distance relationship. Couldn’t deny the little thrill that buzzed through her every time she thought about having a boyfriend in college.
But he’d broken up with her the day before he left, explaining that she deserved her freedom and so did he. During their time apart, he knew they would change too much. He couldn’t stand the thought of her sitting at home waiting for him, missing him, when she should be truly experiencing her senior year and having fun.