A Pizza My Heart (Slice, #1)

by Teagan Hunter

Had my heart broken by the girl who never knew I was head over heels for her.

Wren laughs, and the sound is like music to my ears. It’s been too long since I’ve heard her laugh. I’ve missed it.

noticed him every time I had to walk by him, every time he laughed a little too loud in that typical Foster way. Which is weird because I never noticed Foster before. He was always there; I never had to notice him. I shouldn’t pay any attention to him now though. I wasn’t lying yesterday when I told him I was upset he left. I was royally pissed the fuck off, and though I’m happy he’s back, I’m still mad about him leaving…and worried he’ll do it again.

I want to laugh because the only thing I’ve done with her since I was eighteen is pretend. Pretend I didn’t feel anything for her. Pretend it didn’t kill me every time she started dating some jerk who was no fucking good for her. Pretend she wasn’t everything to me. Pretend it didn’t gut me to leave her. Pretend I’m over her. Pretend, pretend, pretend.

Not if you just open your eyes, Wren.

Please don’t see that I’m in love with your sister. Please don’t try to take my balls from me. I like them very much. Please, please, please.

And after having such a horrible experience with Layla, I’m just trying to find the right somebody to spend my time with. Someone who makes me laugh, who will laugh with me. Somebody who makes me feel good and worthy and all the things I haven’t felt in a long damn time. A person who will let me be me. Like Wren.

With her being so far away, I could watch her unabashedly—which was one of my favorite things about being on the beach. Every time she’d throw her head back in laughter, the sound would carry up the shoreline, and that ever-present pinch in my chest would get just a little tighter. I was mesmerized by her. I was enraptured. I was in love. And she had no fucking clue.

“One day, Foster. She’ll see you one day.”

Well, it’s too late. I have feelings—a lot of feelings. And I’m tired of pushing them away. Maybe the reason all these dates—hell, my marriage even—didn’t work out is because I was never with the right person. Maybe…just fucking maybe…that right person is Wren. If only I could convince her I’m more than just her brother’s best friend.

Having him in my space feels almost…normal, and that surprises the hell out of me.

When our eyes locked together, I could see the sadness settled in his like it was totally at home there, and it broke me just a little more.

Foster steps between my legs, my thighs spreading with ease to fit him, and my back goes ramrod straight at the intrusion. Not because it’s unwelcome, but because it feels so…right. He fits between my legs like he was made to be there.

“Oh, I’ll woo you all right. You’re going to be swooning when I’m done with you.”

“I’m gonna date you so hard, Wren.”

Not fake date me. Date me. I don’t know if the phrasing was intentional or not, but either way, it makes my heart race in a conspicuous way. And I’m not sure what to do about it.

Pretending to care. Pretending she’s mine. No. Not anymore. By the end of this little agreement of ours, Wren is going to know exactly how I feel about her, and I’m either going to lose a friend or gain something even better.

His warm green eyes hold mine for a moment before falling shut. A deep breath. A step. Then, his lips are on mine. Warm. Inviting. Right. And gone before I can react. He rests his forehead against mine, letting the crickets fill the silence between us.

Yeah. I just did that shit.

“Because I wanted to.”

“I’ve wanted to kiss you, Wren.”

His fingers continue to stroke across my cheek, and I get lost in the simple touch, enjoying it way more than I should. He’s looking at me with something I don’t recognize. No, that’s not true. I recognize it all right; I just never expected it from him. Lust. Foster is lusting after me, and the crazy part is that he’s not the only one feeling that way. I close my eyes against the revelation, scared and unsure what to do about it.

I’m running on about three hours of sleep, but she’s worth all of it and more. I just wish she’d see that.

“I didn’t forget about you, Wren. I could never forget about you. You’re the reason I left.”

“Bullshit it didn’t. All that crap we talked about before? Idealized kid shit. I didn’t want to leave. I was just running from what I couldn’t have.”

I jerk my head back at his words and the memory surfaces in my mind. That night…it wasn’t just the lack of sleep. It wasn’t my imagination. It was real. Foster was actually telling me he loved me, and I blew him off like it was nothing. “Oh god…”

“It crushed me when you didn’t get it.”

This doesn’t feel foreign. My lips were made for his.

Confused. Consumed. Longing. Apprehension. Timorous. I feel so many things. Him. Me. Us. I feel…

“Everything.”

“You.”

No. Fuck that. I’m going after what’s mine.

I’m stuck between the door and his body and there isn’t anywhere else in the world I’d rather be.

“I know you. I know you’re scared. I know you don’t want things to change between us, but they already have changed. We can’t go back to the way things were before. I can’t walk away knowing how good your lips taste.”

“How alive you make me feel.”

“It will happen.”

“You’re fucking perfect, Wren. Every part of you is perfect.”

“Because you and I, Wren—we’re bound to happen. Whether you want it or not, you have a piece of my heart, and I don’t want it back.”

I miss him making me laugh. I miss the way he looks at me, like I’m the only person in the room. I miss the way he makes me feel…what did he say the other night? Alive. I miss feeling alive.

Without a word, Wren crawls between my legs, fitting her back against my chest and snuggling into me like she’s always belonged there. Because she has.

I want him to understand I finally know what he’s known all these years. He has a piece of my heart. A piece that’s always been his. A piece I don’t want back.

This moment with Foster inside me…his hands on my body touching me in places I never thought I’d be touched…the way his heartbeat is synced up with mine…the way his breath sounds like it’s forever caught in his throat…everything about it… It’s perfect. Everything I didn’t know I was missing. Everything I didn’t know I want. Everything I need. “I love you,” he says against me. I don’t say anything. I don’t have to. Because I fall apart around him at his words.

I step toward her, grabbing her waist and tugging until she’s flush against me. I grasp her chin between my fingers and hold her stare to mine. “Don’t fucking ‘Foster’ me, Wren. I didn’t do this to buy your love. I don’t need to buy it. I already have it.”

In that moment, I watch her fall completely. Wholly. Wren Daniels loves me. And I love her.

“I’m an idiot. I’ve been waiting for that moment, ya know, the one that just feels like ‘the big one’ where it hits me like a ton of bricks. But I didn’t have to. You’ve been sneaking your way into my heart for the last thirteen years, piece by piece.”

“Yep. It was slow, took years for me to realize, but once I did, I couldn’t shake it. You were mine before you even knew it.”

“For my house. For saving my business. For loving me even when I didn’t love you back. For coming back.”

“I came back for you, you know. I mean, sure, a part of it was me tucking tail and running, but it was also you. I couldn’t stay away, not when a piece of my heart was here with you.”

And I feel it. Everywhere.

“You don’t have a piece of my heart anymore, Foster.” “No?” “No. You have the whole damn thing.” “Good, because a slice of it was never going to be enough.” Then I lose myself in her again.