Page 56 of Sticks and Stones (Shadow Valley U)

I left her in that little room for too long. Let her whimper and cry, as long as it didn’t gettoo bad. But she was having nightmares this whole time.

“You okay?”

I jerk out of my thoughts. Evan stands over me, his brow furrowed. We made it back to the locker room before he decided to confront me, at least. He’s been weird all day, but I’ve ignored it—well, mostly just ignoredhim. How the hell am I supposed to explain the hold Wren has on me?

My attention moves around the room. The only ones left are my housemates, which presents the perfect opportunity. They’re all in various shades of distress, annoyance, or concern—and it’s all pointed at me.

“We need to have an emergency house meeting,” I tell them.

An hour later, they’re all seated around the kitchen table.

Except Wren.

I experience a weird déjà vu moment of walking in on her holding court in a similar fashion. Although, right now, she’s working the last hour of her shift at Shadow’s. It’s bound to be busy after the game, which should keep her occupied until we’ve come to an agreement.

“What’s all this, Foster?”

I glance at Grant, then down at the supplies I laid out on the table.

Wren told me the truth, and I feel oddly protective of it. I’ve been collecting her secrets like pennies since high school. I never told Evan about Wren’s involvement with my arrest, definitely didn’t tell him about me threatening her after.

But now’s the time to share at least some of them.

“Wren’s in trouble.”

Silence.

Evan glares at me. “Stone—”

“Shut up, E.” I take my time meeting the rest of the guys’ gazes. “Listen. I wouldn’t be coming to you guys if it wasn’t serious. You all heard Wren screaming last night. You saw how she was.”

Nods all around.

I sigh. “It’s my fault. She’s been having nightmares for weeks.”

“And you’ve been sleeping outside her door out of guilt?” Sully asks. “Is that why you’ve been playing like shit?”

“He looks like shit, too,” Taylor mutters.

I hold up my hands. “It’s not an excuse. It’s just an explanation.”

“A shit explanation,” Grant pipes up. “What are you saying?”

Evan’s still glaring at me like I’m about to piss in his cereal. But if he had just toldmethe truth, even if it wasn’t his secret to share, I would never have shared that picture online.

Could I have predicted it going viral? No. But that’s unimportant.

“Wren comes from a bad family,” I say. “And the photo I posted has brought down on her some attention she was avoiding.”

“Hiding from,” Evan spits.

I nod my acceptance. “Right. Hiding from.”

“Who?”

“Well, her father in prison, for one.” I wince. “I won’t get into the details, but he’s used her for years. And when the social workers caught on, that’s when she went to Evan’s house. But she always went back to him. Until he went away.”

Archer leans forward, resting his forearms on the table. He’s directly to my right, and he searches my face. “How can he hurt her from prison?”