Page 119 of You Had Me At Thirteen

‘If you mean he couldn’t stop staring at you, then yeah, he’s a weird one.’ I’m glad I’m not the only one that thinks Eli is super creepy. But, it is Wren agreeing with me which doesn’t say much considering he’s suspicious of everyone that isn’t in his circle.

‘Well, look at me.’ Wren motions down his body. ‘Maybe he swings both ways.’

I scoff. ‘Big head much? Get over yourself, Stevenson.’

Wren pulls me onto his lap so I’m straddling his hips, his fingers massaging my butt. ‘Which head are we talking about?’ He waggles his eyebrows at me, his beautiful smile rendering me brainless.

My insides vibrate and I become breathless. His beauty makes my heart hurt sometimes, but I’d go through the worst pain just to see him smile like this.

With his hands wrapped around my waist, I grind myself over his growing hardness, sending a growl rumbling from his chest. In one swift movement, he has me flipped onto my back as he presses himself between my legs.

‘You make me so hard. If your mum wasn’t downstairs, I’d be inside you right now.’ He bites my earlobe, making me moan and throwing my head back into the mattress. I’m always hyper-aware of the way my body reacts to his words.

‘We can be quiet,’ I say, against his jaw, sucking the soft skin just below his ear.

He shivers, goosebumps spreading up his neck. ‘With what I want to do to you, you’ll be screaming my name, beautiful.’

Good Lord.

FIFTY-THREE

Matilda

* * *

I’m on the phone to Audrey when Wren storms around his room, shoving his fighting gear into his gym bag.

‘Babe, I have to go. I’ll call you back.’ I hang up before Audrey even has time to respond to me.

Wren won’t look at me as he grabs his fighting gloves from the cupboard, because he knows I’ll try talking him out of whatever stupid shit he’s about to do.

I push against this chest. ‘What are you doing? Who was on the phone?’

His phone rang while I was talking to Audrey, but he stepped outside so I didn’t hear the conversation. I just assumed it was one of the boys, but I guess not. One phone call is all it takes for him to sink back into his old habits. Smashing someone’s face in is better than dealing with his emotions.

Yay.

I just thought we were past this. He’s been opening up to me more and more since his mum’s death.Talk without the therapyhe calls it. But there’s no talking to him now. I can all but see the bulging vein in his forehead ready to explode.

‘Get out of my way, Matilda.’ He stares me down, his jaw tight, eyes unblinking as his eyes dart between mine.

‘Where are you going? You can’t keep fighting to stop feeling, Wren.’

‘Move,’ he says as he barges past me.

I throw my hands up and chase him down the stairs. ‘Damn it, Wren. Talk to me. What’s happening right now?’

His silence pushes me forward, and I’m still chasing him when he reaches the car and climbs in, so I race to the passenger side, hoping he has it unlocked. When it opens, I let my shoulders relax a little. Maybe I can convince him on the drive to the warehouse to turn around.

But as he peels out of the driveway and down the road, not once looking at me, I know I have my work cut out for me.

‘Wren,’ I say, reaching for his hand on the gear stick. ‘Please, just talk to me.’

He snatches his hand away. ‘I’m done talking, Matilda. Where has it got me? Now I have to deal with my dad’s mess…’

‘What do you mean?’

My question goes unanswered, and as we pull up in front of the warehouse, Wren’s out of the car and marching across the gravel road so fast that I have to run to keep up with his long aggressive strides.

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