Page 79 of My Pucking Enemy
When Wren gets here—if she agrees to come—I’m going to beg for her forgiveness. Swear to her that I don’t think any of this shit—leaking about me to the press, giving information to the other teams—has to do with her. I’ll promise her that I’ll do everything in my ability to get her job back, if she still wants it. I’ll be on her side against Coach Vic.
I’ll beg Wren to open up to me, tell me what the hell has been going on with her.
And I’ll tell her that I love her.
“Luca,” Cal says, reaching out and jostling my arm. I blink, wondering what the hell he wants, since the parking lot is still empty and she’s obviously not coming. But Cal pulls on my arm again, forcing me to turn and look the other way. “Look.”
Wren is here.
But she’s not coming from the parking lot—she’s coming from the building, walking next to Coach, who—looks like he’s been crying?
I stand up, my body willing me to go to her, but something tells me to give them space, and Cal and I watch as they embrace for a moment, before Coach nods, puts a hand on her shoulder, then turns and walks back inside.
And that’s when Wren looks up and sees me.
“I’m gonna wait in the car,” Cal whispers, but I’m not paying attention to him.
She’s standing twenty paces away from me, wearing a pair of snug jeans and a beige knit sweater. Of all her looks, this one is the tamest, her hair falling in loose curls around her face, which is free from makeup.
“Wren.” I realize I’ve started walking toward her, and when I reach her, she laughs almost nonchalantly.
“Déjà vu, huh?” she asks, her eyes darting over to the trash can. Last time we stood here, it had only just started to snow. She was in her coat and a knit hat. And I was looking like a complete and total asshole.
Just like now.
“I should have had your back,” it’s the first thing I say, because it feels like it’s the most important. “And, I love you.”
Wren blinks, and for a second I think she might just turn around and walk away now. I came on too strong—especially with everything that’s happened—and she’s just going to run.
But then she sighs, shakes out her hands and says, “Listen. I don’t think I can say it right now. But I feel it, okay?”
All the blood leaves my body. Relief hovers on the edge, somewhere I can’t quite reach.
“Are you—really?” My words come out as breath. Wren steps forward, rises up on her tiptoes, and kisses me.
“My dad found me,” she says, when she draws back, and her words are like a bucket of cold water over me. I pull back a bit, look her over.
“What? Why didn’t you—”
“He confessed to leaking information to the other teams. I have no idea how, but Vic says he’s going to run an internal investigation to figure it out. I didn’t tell you because…I mean, there are a lot of reasons, but the primary one is that I was embarrassed. That you were right about me.”
“Fuck me,” I say, shaking my head, and it makes her laugh. “I never should have judged you. I didn’t know you. And now that I do, I know you had nothing to do with that stuff, Wren.”
“Luca, it’s not—”
“No, I need you to hear me right now.” I take her hands in mine, hold them there. “I love you. And I—I have kind of a problem with trust.” She smiles, and I go on. “I’m working on it, and I need you to know that you have the benefit of the doubt when it comes to me. You always will.”
Wren’s eyes start to tear up, and I realize that aside from that day in my parents’ basement, I’ve never really seen her cry. We step forward at the same time, our bodies coming together, and I tuck her into me, breathing and breathing.
It reminds me of being on the ice. The terrifying, horrible feeling that I’m losing control, that I won’t be able to get the puck in the net, that we won’t win the game. Then the pure euphoria when I do my best and it somehow works out for me in the end.
I’m doing my best with Wren.
“Okay,” Cal calls, his voice echoing along the buildings, and Wren and I don’t pull apart from one another when we turn to look at him, looking small at the far end of the sidewalk.
He holds up his phone, and even from this far, I can tell that there’s a smile on his face. “Does that mean Wren is coming over for supper?”
Wren
