Bitter

Chapter 18

Reed

3 Months Later

“Ahhh help!” I hear coming from the front door.

I walk around the corner from my room and see Wren with about ten bags of groceries on each arm. I laugh as she tries to shuffle over to the kitchen, and I grab a couple bags off of her and help set them on the table. “Why didn’t you call for help before you decided to only take one trip from the car?” I ask.

She slides the rest of the bags down onto the counter. “Because I’m not weak,” she says matter of factly.

Fuck, she’s cute.

I lean forward and press a kiss to her lips. She gives me the most beautiful smile when I pull back just like she always does. I’ll never get used to the feeling when she looks at me like that. These past few months have felt like I’ve been living in a dream. Except instead of waking up and being disappointed, I get to wake up with her in my arms.

She narrows her eyes at me. “Stop looking at me like that.”

“Like what?” I play innocent.

She smirks as she starts unloading the bags. “You know what. Riley will be here in ten minutes. We have to get this prep done for tonight!”

I walk up behind her and wrap my arms around her waist. I lean down and kiss her soft shoulder. I still can’t believe I get to touch her like this. Usually when you want something and you’ve built it up in your head for so long, then the reality is disappointing, but with Wren it’s the complete opposite.

I’ve known her for so long, but I’m still learning new things every day. She’s different now too. She was always comfortable around me, but now she doesn’t hold back at all. Most couples would think fighting more would be a bad thing, but, fuck, I love the way she speaks her mind. She’s not that timid girl with me, and her confidence is so fucking sexy.

And the sex. Fucking hell, the sex is amazing.

I bite down a little harder on her neck. “All I need is five minutes.”

She squirms and turns around in my arms and smiles at me as we hear a car pull up into the driveway. “Guess she’s early.” She places a quick peck on my lips before she walks toward the front door to let Riley in.

Riley is a student that responded to her ad at the local culinary school. She’s helped Wren with the past couple of events she’s done so I don’t have to. I miss it though, so I usually still tag along and help carry stuff in if I’m not doing anything else anyway.

It’s been super helpful for Wren though because Riley has given her advice on the more technical parts of cooking like plating presentation and wine pairings. It’s been one event after the other the past couple months, so she’s only working a couple shifts at the restaurant still.

Apparently my mom went kind of crazy with recommending Wren to all of her friends, which only made things more uncomfortable when everything blew up. We went a whole week with no drama after we got home from the cottage, but apparently my mom pestered my dad about where he was and what was going on until he caved and told her everything.

She came pounding at our door the Saturday morning after we got back. “This better be some kind of joke,” she said it like she didn’t believe it was true.

I couldn’t exactly deny it since I was in nothing but my shorts and Wren walked out a moment later wearing nothing but my t-shirt. My mom’s eyes shot back and forth between us, but I barely paid any attention to her as my eyes focused in on Wren. All I could think about was getting my mom out of there and getting Wren back in the bedroom.

Surprisingly, my mom was more mellow about the whole situation than my dad was. Maybe it’s because she had time to process it before she came over. I’m not exactly sure what my dad told her. Maybe whatever Wren said to him actually got through to him. She still hasn’t really told me what they talked about that day.

Don’t get me wrong, my mom yelled for a good five minutes straight, but after that, she finally calmed down enough to have a rational conversation about it. We agreed to keep our relationship quiet for as long as possible, which was honestly okay with us for a while. It was nice being in our own little bubble. Eventually though, it started getting impossible to pretend when all I wanted to do was touch her and kiss her and hold her.

We still haven’t openly admitted to anyone that we are dating, but we aren’t exactly trying to hide it either. Everyone we’re close to already knows anyway, so really it’s only when we are out in public that someone we know might see us together and start talking.

Wren’s parents barely batted an eye when we told them. Her mom’s only concern was how well my business was doing to which Wren told her to fuck off. Well, not exactly, but she did it in that way she’s perfected where she keeps her family at arm’s length without creating any drama between them. Either way, they didn’t care as long as they didn’t have to help her with anything.

It wasn’t until last month though that my parents really accepted the idea. It happened right after Marley came around their house looking for money. Money for her very pregnant self. I don’t think my parents really accepted the idea that Jake was a cheating bastard until then.

When we first found out about the alleged pregnancy, Wren was livid. She slammed the door when she got home from her shift and immediately started pacing the living room and cursing Jake, mumbling under her breath about how he was so concerned about her getting pregnant and he didn’t even bother to strap up with his whores. Her words, not mine.

I hate to admit it, but the sex that fucking night. Fuck, probably the best of my life.

It honestly felt like she was trying to impregnant herself by fucking me hard enough. I gladly stuck around for the ride. I wouldn’t mind having a baby with Wren. It’s not something we’ve talked about yet, but it’s not like we’ve been trying very hard to avoid it. I think she’s still taking birth control, but I never actually asked.

Turns out it wasn’t even Jake’s baby. She was only a few months pregnant, which means it had to have happened after he had already passed. I think the relief of not having to deal with that scandal was so high that us being together kind of got moved to the back burner.