Page 51 of Shaken

And then he’s gone. And I’m left lying there, alone, wondering if that’s possible.

SAWYER

Ileave Wren sleeping soundly in her bed and walk across the yard to my house with Zeus tailing behind me. My mind is reeling.

Can’t slow down. Won’t shut up. Reeling.

I can’t call Hudson because if I wake up Maddie, he’ll kill me. She’s getting less sleep with each day she comes closer to delivering the baby. If I call Max, I risk waking up Serena. Jace is clueless. That leaves Becks.

I walk in my front door and swipe my finger across the screen, then hit his number.

It rings twice before he answers, “What?”

“I need to talk to somebody.”

He grunts, then shushes someone I assume is Kendall. “You okay? Need a lawyer?” he asks, deadly serious.

“No, asshole. I just need to talk. You remember when Haley Davenport and I were in that car accident?” I put the phone on speaker and drop it to the kitchen counter, while I start a pot of coffee.

Becks yawns. “Yeah. She totaled your new car. Tried to get you to take the blame for it. Thank God, Dad knew you were lying.”

“Wren thought I was driving.” All these fucking years, she blamed me. “She’s hated me for years because she thought it was my fault.”

“Oh fuck.” I hear a door shut on his end, and then the fucker starts peeing. “Dude, that’s bad.”

“You’re seriously pissing while you’re talking to me?” Why am I surprised?

The toilet flushes. “Not anymore. So what are you going to do about Wren?”

“I’m not sure. I know it’s bad, but it’s not my fucking fault. I’m not sure how I ended up being the bad guy.” I lean against the counter, picturing the devastation on her face last night and knowing I’ve got to fix this.

“I say give her space. She’s got to deal with shit herself. She’s the one who just found out everyone lied to her.”

“I didn’t lie,” I groan and beg the coffee gods to speed the hell up.

“Do you care about her, brother?”

“I’m not sure care is a strong enough word, man.”Fuck.

“Give her space to work through it then.”

“You aren’t even a little helpful, brother,” I groan.

“I do what I can. Call me later, after I’ve had some coffee and sex, and I’ll come up with better options.” He ends the call, and I’m left staring at the phone.

Space.

I’ve never been good at space.

I shoot off a text and hope she hasn’t blocked my number.

I can try physical space, but that doesn’t mean I’m leaving her alone.

Sawyer

I never wanted to hurt you.

Wren: Thank you for telling me the truth last night.

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