Page 32 of Red Card


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“You’re doing great guys! Loving the teamwork. This is what it’s all about.” Her soft giggle floats through the room and Fitz groans again.

“I swear to fucking God, Liam, if you fart right now I’m going to break both your legs and you’ll never be able to play rugby again.”

For fuck’s sake.

Rory giggles again. “Okay, Ezra, now you put your foot on… blue.”

Ezra mutters a string of curses under his breath and attempts to wedge his body between Liam and Brooks.

Only he knocks all three of them over in the process, causing them to end up in a heap on the plastic game mat and Rory to nearly lose her shit laughing.

The only ones left are Wren, Fitz, and me.

Until Wren lifts a hand and shoves Fitz to the ground. “Oops, Fitzy’s out.” He smirks.

“Ooooh, just Wrenny and Kill left!” Rory says, bouncing excitedly in her chair.

“Ror,” Wren whines, followed by a deep groan. “I told you, yougottastop calling me Wrenny. It’s fucking with my masculinity.”

It’s fascinating, watching the dynamic between all of them. How comfortable they are together, how at ease they seem to be.

If you saw Wren Michaels standing on a rugby pitch, the first thing you’d think is that’s one big motherfucking bloke. Big,wide, boxy shoulders and built so solidly that he could withstand tackles from two guys at once. He’s massive to say the least.

But then you see him around Rory and the bloke’s a fucking teddy bear, all soft and squishy to her as if he couldn’t pick her up and toss her around like a feather.

It’s mind-boggling to witness.

She’s got all these guys completely wrapped around her pretty little finger, and she knows it.

Even Brooks and Ezra, and they’re arseholes to everyone, so it surprises the shit out of me to see them respect and value what she thinks.

“Wren, oh shit. There’s acaterpillar!” Rory cries, jumping up from the chair.

What is she going on about? A caterpillar? The long… fuzzy little bug?

The next few seconds seem to pass in slow motion. Wren practically levitates off the bloody ground as he lets out a high-pitched scream. It’s so loud and piercing and un-fucking believable that I blink, trying to figure out if I passed out from all the blood rushing to my head or if that really just happened.

“Motherfucker! Fuck. Fuck. FUCK. Where is it? Where the hell is it, Rory!” He’s all but sprinting as he dives for the couch, jumping onto the cushions and wielding her fluffy green throw pillow like it’s a weapon. “Those areSatan’s eyebrows! Get it away from me.”

Half the guys are in tears on the floor watching Wren lose his fucking mind over this mysterious caterpillar that I suspect doesn’t even actually exist.

“Oh my God,” Rory wheezes, doubling over as she clutches herstomach. Fresh tears are streaming down her face. “Wr-r-ren. S-s-top. I’m going t-to pee.”

I drop down and sprawl on the plastic mat, watching her laugh. “Please don’t while I’m on the floor.”

This only seems to make her laugh harder.

“Glad you could come and witness this embarrassing shit firsthand tonight, Cairney,” Fitz says from the floor beside me.

Wren retorts angrily, “Fuck you, Fitz, don’t make fun of my fear. You’re scared of fuckingcarrots.”

Fitz sits up abruptly, his expression sobering and his gaze narrowing. “You dick. You weren’t supposed to tell anyone that. Did you see the girl on1000 Ways to Die? Bet she fucking regrets that carrot.”

“Yeah, only because she shoved it up her pus—”

“Oh my God, I told you fuckers to never tell that story in front of me again. I’m fucking scarred for life,” Brooks says, cutting off Wren.

Shit, I know exactly what he was about to say, and that’s pretty fucking scary to think about.