Page 56 of The Players We Hate
Me: Meet me at the bridge behind Alumni Hall. Twenty minutes.
***
I pulled into the lot near the bridge and killed the engine. The truck rattled to silence, but my thoughts wouldn’t. They spun restlessly, louder than before. I sat there,gripping the wheel until my knuckles ached, staring through the windshield at the gray light bleeding across the buildings. It all looked colder and darker than it was, which I guess was fitting.
Wren stood in the middle of the bridge, arms wrapped tight around herself, an old sweatshirt swallowing her frame. Her hair was twisted into one of those messy knots that looked casual but wasn’t. When her eyes found my truck, her face changed. There was a hope sparking in her gaze before she had the chance to cover it.
That hope gutted me.
If I was being honest, I didn’t want to be here. Didn’t want to see her. I knew the second I did, I’d remember everything I was trying like hell to forget. The way she whispered my name against my skin, the way her laugh loosened something inside me I hadn’t realized was wound so tight.
Reed and Beckham were right. Wren Perry wasn’t just a girl who got under my skin. She was a risk I should’ve seen coming. If her father was tied to what we were suspecting, she was dangerous. If he wasn’t, maybe that was worse. It meant she was nothing more than bait. She was a trap I’d already walked straight into.
She hurried over, a coffee cup in her hand, ponytail bouncing. Boots crunched on the gravel as I unlocked the door. She climbed in, bringing the smell of espresso and vanilla with her.
“Hey,” she said softly, a smile tugging at her mouth. “Congrats on the win tonight.”
I didn’t answer.
The smile slipped. “Talon?”
My jaw tightened. “You said you wanted to see me.”
She blinked at me, unsettled. “What’s going on? You’ve been different since our trip to Braysen. The whole ride home, it felt like something had changed. Did something happen?”
Her fingers twisted in her lap, her eyes cutting back to me, searching.
“What’s going on?” she asked quietly.
I stared at the dash, forcing the words out like gravel. “I’ve been thinking. About us.”
Her body stilled, like even breathing might make the moment collapse.
“I don’t think we should see each other anymore.”
The silence that followed was sharp enough to cut.
“What?” she whispered.
I finally looked at her. “That first night… the two of us together… it never should’ve happened. There’s too much bad blood between our families.”
Her head shook once, disbelief flashing. “You don’t mean that.”
“I do.” My voice was flat even though it burned to say it. “It wasn’t supposed to be anything. Everything just… got out of hand.”
Her breath caught. “You’re lying.”
I shook my head, even as it felt like I was tearing something out of myself. “Don’t make this harder, Wren.”
Her brows pulled tight. “Why are you doing this? What changed?”
“I just needed to get close to you,” I said, forcing myself not to look away. “To get under Wells’s skin. That’s all thisever was.”
Her mouth parted. Silence crashed down around us.
She blinked against the tears threatening, her voice breaking as she whispered, “That’s not true.”
I didn’t move. Didn’t reach.
