Page 71 of Ruthless Desires: Vol. Two
“Hunches are always worth exploring, love.”
Wren nods silently. I was hoping that getting this off her chest would help her to relax, but she only looks more uptight. When our server comes by to take our orders, I’m pretty sure even they notice.
Once he’s gone, Oliver says, “Why don’t you talk about last night, princess.”
After dragging in a long breath, Wren turns to Rhett. He doesn’t look angry. In fact, he looks desperate to fix things.
“There isn’t anything left to talk about,” he says firmly.
“There’s not?” she asks.
“We all understand why you kept it from us, right? You were afraid of how I’d react?” Rhett makes a point of looking at all three of us, waiting until we give him confirmation to continue. “And you’ve already promised not to keep something like this from us again, correct?”
Slowly, she nods.
“Then we’re done,” Rhett says with finality. “No need to go digging through it all again. I, for one, would prefer not to dwell on it.”
“No,” Oliver says. “No, we still need to talk.”
The fear in Wren’s eyes makes my chest ache. I never want her to be afraid of us.Ever.
“What are you doing?” I hiss at Oliver.
He ignores me, reaching across the table and holding out his hand. Only after Wren hesitantly places her hand in his does he continue. “I’m not angry, princess. I just need an explanation.”
“Okay,” she whispers unsteadily.
“Why did you go swimming by yourself? You could’ve drowned, Wren.”
Oh.In the middle of everything else, I completely forgot about that.
“I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it on my own. Without a security blanket or a crutch, I guess. You guys make me feel brave. But I need to be brave on my own.”
“I understand that.” Oliver keeps his voice calm as he rubs the back of her hand with his thumb. No doubt he’s trying to soothe her. “But why last night? And why such a drastic change? You went from a kitchen sink to a pool. You don’t think that’s too big of a jump?”
“I…” She falters and tries to pull her hand away, but Oliver keeps his grip firm.
“It’s because Ludo called you a coward,” Rhett says lowly. “Isn’t it?”
“He didwhat?”By the time I realize I’m practically shouting the words, it’s too late. The few people in the restaurant glance toward us, but at Rhett’s glare, they turn away quickly.
“He noticed that I was being avoidant of water, so he told me that fear isn’t my problem, cowardice is. I didn’t want him to be right about me.”
“Wren,” Oliver says, “his opinion of you doesn’t matter. Let him be right, let him be wrong. The only thing that’s important is that we support you. You’re allowed to take your time with this, and you’re allowed to let us help you.Please.I don’t want you to hurt yourself.”
After an agonizingly long moment of hesitation, Wren nods. “Okay. I’m sorry.”
I don’t like how much Wren is apologizing, but before I can say something, our food comes. Wren barely touches her plate while we eat, which I’m beginning to realize is a common occurrence for her when she’s nervous. At some point, she excuses herself and heads for the restroom. We all watch her go.
“Was I too harsh?” Oliver asks once she’s out of earshot. “That wasn’t what I was trying to do.”
“You were fine.” I reach over and squeeze his arm. “I think she’s still feeling guilty, but that will fade.”
“She looked scared,” Rhett says.
“I hated that,” Oliver mumbles into his plate.
“She’ll be okay,” I say. “This is the first time we’ve had anything close to a fight with Wren. And it wasn’t with one of us—it was with all three of us at once. I hate fighting with either of you, but I hate fighting withbothof you even more.”
