Page 3 of Wild Hearts

I press my lips to his, cutting him off. “Let’s just enjoy the rest of tonight and see what happens.”

“We’ll figure it out.” He kisses the tip of my nose.

“Until then, promise me this stays between us.”

“Wren–”

“Brady, please. Just promise me.”

Brady studies my face before sighing. “I promise.”

CHAPTER TWO

Brady

MARCH.

I SING ALONG to Luke Combs at the top of my lungs as the sign tells me I’m about sixty kilometres from Newcastle. I get to hold my girl again in less than an hour. A grin splits my face. I still can’t believe I can call Wrenmygirl.

The last two months have been an emotional rollercoaster. I’ve had to keep Dad’s infidelity a secret while watching him play the doting husband to the unsuspecting wife, and the only light in the darkness has been my phone calls with Wren. We avoid all topics related to my family and I feel guilty for keeping so many secrets from my sister. Instead, Wren and I focus on how in less than a year she’ll be at Blue Haven University and we can finally be a real couple.

Her parents don’t know about us either. They want her focused on her final year of high school, and a relationship – especially a long-distance one – would be a huge distraction in their eyes. But they’re going away for a wedding this weekend, so Wren’s invited me to stay. Then it’s only another four weeks until my sister’s eighteenth birthday, which happens to fall in the middle of the school holidays, and Wren and her mum will be coming up to Blue Haven.

We can make this work.

I follow the GPS directions to Wren’s house and pull up in her driveway. The front door opens and she steps out in a blue sundress, a nervous smile on her face.

“Hey Rookie,” I greet her as I climb out of the car and stretch. It’s been a long eight-hour car ride with only two toilet stops along the way. I grab my bag from the backseat and lock my car.

She steps off the front porch to meet me and I pull her in for a hug, burying my nose in the crook of her neck and breathing in her scent of coconut and cherries. It feels so good to have her in my arms again–even though it’s only been eight weeks since I last saw her.

“I missed you,” I say as I pull away and tilt her chin up so I can brush my lips over hers.

Her cheeks flush pink and she smacks my chest playfully. “We only spoke on the phone yesterday.”

A chuckle rolls through me as I boop her nose. “It’s not the same as getting to see your pretty face in person.”

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