Page 85 of White Raven
“Jesus, you’re not craving because of a baby too, are you?”
Wren paused mid-chew and shot Sarah a look. “Bitch…” She reached into her bag and pulled out a bottle of body spray, squeezing down on the top and squirting a mist around her. “Away with that bullshit. I got a morning-after pill.”
Sarah waved away the mist, choking on the scent—and Wren’s response. “Wait, wait…amorning-after pill?” shegrinned. The guy in front of them turned his entire body around at that. Wren shot her face towards him. “So, youdid?”
Her hot-headed bestie narrowed her eyes at their unwelcome companion and fixed her face into something very Wren-like and devious. “Oh,yes…I slobbed on that pickle, and he bruised my insides with his—”
“You’re unbelievably vulgar,” he dared, cutting her off. Wren only grinned.
“Aww, thanks. Next time, wear earbuds or remember what your mama taught you, dipshit.”
“Yeah, unfortunately for you, mymamataught me to keep my eyes on the prize…smile.” He pulled a camera from his shoulder bag and snapped several pictures of them both before racing for the door. He’d never even made it to the register. Sarah and Wren lowered their hands from the front of their faces and every person in the shop drew their attention to them. “Thanks for the headline,” he mocked, sticking his middle finger up at Wren and teetering his cell phone between his fingers.
“You motherfu—” Wren started to storm after him, and Sarah threw her arm out.
“Wren! Don’t…you’re just gonna make it worse,” Sarah soothed, watching as he took off running down the sidewalk. Wren was stunned…red-faced…furious.
“He recorded us,” she choked, biting down on her lip as she shook her head.
“Unfortunately, that’s a shitty side effect of dating Brent Stratford.”
One girl turned around from the front of the line and dropped her mouth open. “You’re dating Brent Stratford?!” Murmurs from around the shop started firing up, and people started pulling out their phones. Sarah cut the line, grabbing Wren’s hand and slapping a five-dollar bill to the counter for the almonds as she dragged her out of the front door.
They hurried past a few cars and down an alley, and Wren’s breathing became heavy, and pissed. “Wren,” Sarah started, trying to console her. “It’s alright. You used to tell me—”
“Fuck that, Sarah!” She kicked the side of a dumpster hard enough to cause a rattling echo down the alleyway. “This is exactly why I didn’t want to get involved, dude! You never went anywhere without a dozen people waiting to snap your fucking picture. Is this gonna be my life?!”
“It might be for a while. I guess the question is, how much is this relationship worth to you? I know I haven’t asked, but the past few days you’ve been a lot less bitchy, you’re smiling more, and you’re not holing up in that apartment like a fucking bat.”
“Sarah, I don’t wanna be front page news. I’m my own worst enemy, I don’t need to add that to my list. We haven’t put a label on this shit. We’re just…” She gripped her hair and paced a sharp circle, reaching into her bag for her cigarettes.
Sarah leaned against the opposite wall of the alley, lighting up just as Wren did the same. Wren took a few hits and gathered her composure, taking the other wall and staring down the narrow passage.
“You lied to me,” she said, blowing smoke.
“What?”
“You told me he was a lousy lay. He’s probably the best I’ve ever had. I’ve never had my cooter demand more than it could take in my entire fucking life. We were like animals. I’ve never been so high…and you know that’s saying something.”
Sarah smiled softly…knowingly. “I never lied to you, Wren. I told you, for me, fucking Brent was…mediocre at best. We didn’t click. There was no spark there.”
“A spark? That son-of-a-bitch burned me at the stake!”
“Exactly.”
Wren took another drag, staring at her in confusion. “What?”
“You found thething. Brent’s got all the working parts, dude. He’s packing a decent member, and he’s got a great body. Aside from that, forus?There just wasn’t any more to it. That’s what’s making this different from any other one night stand for you. Even the ones you thought you’d be over-the-moon about. Y’all have somethingreal.”
“Did you just call his cock, amember?”
Sarah dismissed her attempt to change the subject. “Are you willing to lose him over the publicity?”
She was quiet for a minute, but finally sighed, smoke pouring through her mouth and nose. “No.”
“Good. They’re vultures. As long as you’re in Boston, that swarm is gonna be everywhere. He handled it better than I ever could. This whole thing with Conrad is gonna blow over soon, Wren. They’ll move onto juicier news. Don’t let this come between what you’ve got.”
“I hear you,” she grumbled, toeing a crushed drink can with her foot.
