Wren blinked as he looked at her while a small blush crept up his cheeks.

Diana’s panties were with him. He had stuffed them under his bed with his trousers and planned to wash them later but she was already looking for them?

Even the music paused in his ear for some reason and he stood there blinking at her for a full second.

[You are so cooked, Host. Hehe~]

’Shut up.’ He thought back at Nyx before turning to Diana.

"I have no idea where your panties are. Maybe you misplaced them... I came home not too long ago after cleaning up at the resort and didn’t see you around." He looked at her. "Where were you anyway?"

Diana blushed and turned to look at the pot she was warming food in.

She couldn’t tell Wren that she had been watching him from her bathroom while he was doing... that so she stirred the food and kept her eyes on it.

"I was at the neighbor’s place." She said. "The old lady down the road, her grandson was out with his friends so she needed help turning on her TV."

Wren nodded. On his way out to jog that morning he had seen an old woman outside with a young boy, so that checked out.

He took a step closer and Diana immediately took a step back, an embarrassed look appered on her face that she couldn’t seem to control.

Wren raised an eyebrow. "Is something wrong?"

"I—I’m just feeling very hot." Diana said, her words coming out in a slightly jumbled rush. "From all this warming... and if you come too close your body heat will only make it worse so please just... just stay where you are."

Wren blinked and then it clicked. He stepped back with an embarrassed rub of his hair.

"Right." He said. "Well, I’m heading out to buy some clothes. Ryan didn’t point out any boutiques on the drive around town, do you know if there’s one on Main Street?"

Diana tilted her head left and right as she thought.

"There is one." She said and described the building... It was a pale yellow storefront about halfway down Main Street with a hanging sign above the door and flower boxes on the windowsills.

He couldn’t miss it.

"It’s easy to find, trust me."

"Thanks." Wren said.

He was about to turn toward the door then stopped. "Do you want anything from there? Clothes, anything... I’m feeling generous today."

Diana blushed and shook her head quickly. "Save that money for when you have a girlfriend. Buy her lots of things."

Wren’s face twitched. He took several steps forward until he was right at her side.

"I’ll keep asking until you tell me what you want."

Diana flinched and her face went as red as a tomato... In her head she was screaming at herself.

Why was he doing this to her? Standing this close, asking personal things, telling her all of these things...

It made her heart flutter and she didn’t want it to flutter.

She was a married woman... She had a husband... She had responsibilities and a house to run and food on the stove right now and absolutely no business having her heart flutter because her stepson was standing too close in the kitchen.

He was a meanie, A complete and utter meanie and she did not know how to make him stop.

She opened her mouth and stuttered twice before giving up on words entirely and turning to the opposite counter.

She picked up her phone, came back and held it out toward him with her eyes fixed firmly on the floor like the tiles had suddenly become very interesting.

It was a picture of a sundress that was colorful and flowed perfectly, it looked pretty simple but amazing as well.

She kept staring at the floor as she explained.

"My friends told me about this one... it’s on sale at that boutique for a thousand credits and they said it would fit me but I don’t know if it actually would." She paused. "You don’t have to buy it. I just wanted to know how it would look on me... from your perspective, since you’re going there anyway."

She added the last part quickly like it made the request more reasonable.

Wren looked at the picture. Then he looked at her... specifically at her figure, the full chest, the wide hips, the curves that the current house clothes weren’t doing any particular justice to and then back at the sundress.

"It would look amazing on you." He said simply.

Diana’s head snapped up. "Really?"

"Really." He nodded. "It’s a beautiful dress and it would only add to what’s already there."

"S-stop flirting with an older woman who is also your stepmother—" She spun back to her food, both hands finding the ladle immediately.

"It’s not flirting if it’s true." He said and walked toward the door.

He stopped at the frame and looked back. "I’ll pick it up on the way home."

"You really don’t have to—"

He was already gone. Diana stood at the stove and stared at the pot for a long moment after the door closed then she pressed both palms flat against her cheeks and held them there.

It was just a gift.

A pretty gift that her friends had already told her about and said wasn’t expensive... That was all it was.

The fact that he had looked at her figure before saying it would look amazing on her was completely irrelevant and she was not going to think about it again.

Diana stirred the food but she was absolutely thinking about it.

...

Cara stood behind the counter in Briggs & Bay watching a man with his three year old daughter work slowly and carefully through the shelves.

The little girl kept pointing at things and the man kept looking at prices and shaking his head, except when she pointed at the biscuits, those he actually picked up and Cara smiled while watching them.

She wished Ryan could do this sometimes.

There was nothing wrong with being the town mechanic... it was necessary work and she understood that better than anyone but necessary didn’t mean he couldn’t also be present.

Her parents were visiting right now and he hadn’t seen them once since they arrived, he hadn’t asked how the drive was, he hadn’t come home for lunch. He had just sent a text saying he was going to be late and then nothing.

Sometimes she wondered if he just didn’t want to be there anymore. If the life they had built together in Harlow had started feeling like something he was maintaining rather than something he actually wanted.

Or if he was cheat... She cut the thought off before it finished.

’Cheating... I wonder who he’d even cheat with given that his dick is that sma—’

The man was at the counter now with his daughter and Cara flashed her best smile.

"These are a great choice." She said, picking up the biscuits and looking at the label. "Goldmalt Digestives... you have a good taste."

The man laughed. "She picked them herself."

Cara looked down at the girl. "You did? Clever girl."

The girl giggled and hid behind her father’s leg.

Cara named the price, took the cash, packaged everything and watched them leave. The door closed behind them and the shop went quiet again.

She exhaled and leaned on the counter.

Was Wren actually going to come tonight?

He better.

She hadn’t been out for drinks in a genuinely long time... Ryan’s all-nighters at the garage had become so regular that her evenings had shrunk into just her, Olivia and whatever was on the television and Wren had invited her so he had better show up.

Ryan would have no problem with it regardless since Wren was practically family to him and there would be nothing to it. They were just two adults going out for drinks and conversation.

Even if Wren was, objectively, very cute. The door opened and she looked up with her customer smile already in place.

It dropped and became a real one the moment she saw it was him. She gave him a small wave from behind the counter.

"Ah Wren... you’re here? You got lost didn’t you?" She said.

"I didn’t get lost." He said. "I came here on purpose actually."

She stepped out from behind the counter.

"Welcome to Briggs & Bay then." She gestured around the shop. "I sell snacks, dried goods, drinks, and household basics. Anything you’re looking for?"

"Do you have Tanfa?"

She went to the mini-fridge, found one at the back where she kept the cold ones and handed it over. He reached into his pocket automatically.

"On the house." She said.

His smile widened in a way that was slightly ridiculous and she laughed at it.

"My parents arrived safely by the way." She said leaning against the counter with her arms crossed loosely. "Olivia latched onto my mom immediately and didn’t even look back at me when I left."

"That’s how some kids are." Wren said.

"You’re right..." She agreed. "So we’re good for tonight, right?"

"That’s actually why I came." He said. "I wanted to confirm you were still up for it, who knows? You might have to cancel and couldn’t contact me."

She gave him a look. "Why wouldn’t I be?"

"People change their minds after all."

"I don’t change my mind about drinks." She said flatly and he smiled. "Besides if I cancelled now my parents would spend the entire evening asking me why I look bored and I’d rather be out."

"So I’m a rescue mission?"

"You’re a very convenient rescue mission." She said. "Don’t let it go to your head."

He held up his hands and she laughed.

"If you drink too much, you might end up being a drunk like Dani." Wren said. "I don’t want to carry anyone home..."

"Ahem!" Cara cleared her throat. "I’m the one that taught Dani’s mom how to drink like that and I can carry myself home thank you very much though I might fall."

Wren looked at her and she looked back at him then the two of them started laughing.

Cara didn’t know why she was so comfortable with him already.

Maybe it was the same university thing or the fact that he actually knew how to hold a conversation without making it feel like work.

Either way she liked it, he was a smooth talker.

"Did you get permission from Ryan for our outing?" Wren asked.

"Not yet." She said, walking over to the counter.

He came around to the other side as she picked up her phone, dialed and dropped it on speaker between them.

Riiinnggg~

"What kind of drinks do you like?" She asked. 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

Wren opened his mouth to answer but the call connected and clapping came flooding through from the other side immediately.

Cara’s eyes went dark.

Ryan’s voice came through before she could say anything.

"Hey, what’s up? I’m at the church right now." The pastor’s voice was carrying clearly in the background behind him.

Wren let out a sigh. If Ryan hadn’t said that first it would have been a really bad situation.