In the Crease (Assassins Book 11) Read online

  “Wren, you don’t have to. Don’t you know that?”

  “But it’s scary. Like the whole opening up thing. But I feel like if I don’t try, then I’m letting him down. I’m lying, and he doesn’t deserve that.”

  “He doesn’t.”

  Running her hands down her face, she leaned into it as she took in a deep breath. “I’m sorry, Wells.”

  Breathing into the phone, Wells chuckled. “No, I’m sorry, Wrenny. I love you.”

  “I love you too.”

  “I was gonna call you tomorrow and apologize, but I figured one more day of being a prick would be good, even if Jensen threatened to kill me.”

  Her brows pulled together. “What?”

  “I just got off the phone with him. Like seconds before you called.”

  “Jensen?”

  “Yeah, he called to tell me to get my head out of my ass because I’m hurting you. That you love me and feel like I don’t love you, which is completely untrue. I love you, Wren, so damn much, you know that. Don’t ever question that.”

  But she wasn’t worried about that, only Jensen. “He called you?” she asked, her heart skipping in her chest. “Even after we just fought?”

  “I could tell he was upset, but he was direct and to the point before he let me go—without giving me a chance to speak.”

  She couldn’t wrap her brain around it. Why would Jensen do that? “I don’t understand.”

  “That’s Jenny. He loves you, Wren, and even when he’s mad at us, he will always do what’s best for everyone. He’s loyal to a fucking fault.”

  Her lips trembled as she slowly shook her head. “Can I tell you something?”

  “Anything,” he said simply. “You know that.”

  She almost couldn’t breathe as she whispered, “I don’t want to lose him.” A sob broke free. “Like, now that I have him, I don’t want to think about not having him. I don’t know if it’s for selfish reasons or for, like, real, ya know?”

  Wells chuckled. “Let me tell you something, okay?”

  “Okay?”

  “You remember that summer—I think we were seventeen, so you would have been fifteen—and we were at Richard Oberlin’s pool party?”

  She paused for a second and shrugged. “What does this have to do—”

  “Yes or no.”

  “Yes, jeez.”

  “Okay, I remember I saw Jensen staring at you—you were in some stupid purple bathing suit that had a rainbow across your ass—and I started teasing him for staring at you. He ignored me, like always, even when Jo gave him shit, but he didn’t care. He kept staring at you, this dumb grin on his face. But then Richard came over, and he was talking shit, that the rainbow on your ass was so big that the pot of gold on the other side was probably massive… Well, before I could kill him, Jensen plowed his fist into Richard’s mouth in a way that was straight out of some damn ninja movie. Jo started laughing so hard, while I stood there in shock before Jensen very calmly told Richard if he ever said anything about you again, he’d kill him.”

  Wren’s face broke into a grin. “I remember his nose bleeding, but I didn’t realize that’s what had happened.”

  “Yeah, and I knew from that moment that one day he would get you, that you would notice he felt way more than just a friendship for you, and I knew you wouldn’t have a chance. Did I think it would be like this? No, but I always knew. Wren, really, don’t destroy this. Don’t let the past ruin your future. Because Jensen is one of a kind, and you’ll never find anyone like him.”

  “I know—”

  “Listen, I get it. You’ve been through your fair share of assholes, everyone knows, and we all understand. You’ve been scorned. But maybe this one time you can let something good happen for you.”

  Swallowing hard, Wren’s eyes fell shut as she leaned back into the island.

  Don’t let the past ruin your future.

  She repeated her brother’s words a million times in her head, over and over again.

  The problem was, it was easier said than done.

  But damn it, she didn’t want to fail.

  This was supposed to be fake, a means to an end so she could get her money. Now, things were different. It wasn’t about the money anymore. It was about the woman and the mother she could be with Jensen by her side.

  Holy fuck, that was one terrifying thought.

  But it didn’t just come out of nowhere.

  Which meant something.

  Right?

  “I thought you said you were poor when we were younger?”

  Jensen looked over at Wren as they drove down the long driveway that led to his parents’ house. “I was.”

  She looked back at the house that was in the distance before scoffing. “We have two very different views on being poor.”

  He laughed. “When I was drafted, I used my bonus to rebuild my parents’ house.”

  “Oh,” she drawled, and he looked back out the window, taking in the beauty that was his parents’ home. It used to be a two-bedroom cabin, but now it was three bedrooms with bigger rooms and much more space for his parents. With his father’s diabetes and his immobility, it was good to have the room for his wheelchair and then the pool in the back for exercise. Jensen loved his parents’ home, and thankfully, they did too. “It’s big.”

  “Yeah, my dad is in his wheelchair more than he isn’t.”

  “That sucks.”

  “It does,” he agreed as they pulled in beside his mom’s van. “But he doesn’t let it get him down. You ready?”

  She looked over at him and let out a shaky breath. “Nervous.”

  “So am I,” he admitted as he reached for the door. “But they’re excited to see us.”

  She didn’t look sure of that as she got out and he did the same, going to the back for their luggage. Meeting him by the trunk, she ran her hands down her belly, fixing her shirt as she looked around. “What if she’s still mad? Your mom?”

  He looked over at her as he lifted up one of her bags. “She wasn’t ever mad. She was just annoyed.”

  She gave him a dry look. “Same damn thing.”

  “I beg to differ, but either way, she won’t say anything. She isn’t one for confrontation.”

  “When it comes to her son, she is just fine with confrontation. I’ve heard her go at it with your coach plenty of times. Remember how my mom would put her on speaker? Man, she would go off.”

  Jensen’s mouth quirked. His mom was a firecracker when she needed to be. “That’s different. It wasn’t my wife.”

  She pressed her lips together as she looked toward the house. “Still. Makes me nervous.”

  Reaching out, he cupped her by the back of her neck before pulling her toward him. “We’re good, okay?”

  Before she could answer, he pressed his lips into hers, and she stepped toward him willingly. She wrapped her arms around his waist, and his heart skipped a beat. At first, he wasn’t convinced by the list he had found. He knew how she was. She made lists, and most of the time, if she didn’t like the outcome, she would ignore it. But that was the second list that had to do with him, and he didn’t think she was ignoring it. It felt a little like a dream, but he really did think she was trying. That she was letting go and trusting him. It had only been a few days, but he swore he felt closer to her in that time than he had in the three weeks they had been together.

  It was either that, or he was making it something it wasn’t.

  He wasn’t sure, but he wouldn’t deny that he enjoyed the way she clung to him or leaned into him as she kissed him.

  Pulling away, he kissed the side of her mouth and then her nose. “Everything is going to be fine.”

  She nodded as her eyes met his, and damn it, she was beautiful. Her eyes were so green, that pretty makeup on her eyes that made his insides feel all crazy. Her lips were glossed up, and her hair was down in big curls along her shoulders. She was wearing a pair of shorts and a long, very thin long-sleeved shirt that hugged her belly in