All Chapters of Off-Side Love With My Best Friend's Brother : Chapter 61 - Chapter 70

Wren’s povAnna showed up twenty minutes later, hair still damp from a rushed shower, sweatpants thrown on over what looked suspiciously like one of Ryan's old shirts. She didn't say anything about it, and for once, neither did I.“Show me again,” she said, dropping onto my bed.I pulled the messages up and handed her the phone instead of reading them out loud. She read both texts twice, her face going progressively paler. “Okay. We're telling Ross. Right now.”“I know.”“I mean it, Wren. This isn't a let's wait and see situation anymore.”“I said I know.”We found him downstairs, already elbow-deep in cleanup from the night before, a trash bag in one hand. He looked up when we came in and immediately set the bag down.“Why do you two look like that?”“Like what?” I asked.“Like someone died. What happened now?”Anna didn't bother easing into it. She held her own phone up, the screenshot already pulled up from when I'd forwarded it to her, and handed it over. “Read this.”Ross read i

Wren's POVNobody slept much that night. I know because I heard footsteps on the stairs at almost every hour, Ross checking the locks again, Dani's door opening and closing somewhere around two, even Anna shifting restlessly on the air mattress we'd dragged into my room so she wouldn't have to drive home in the dark.By morning, the five of us were gathered in the kitchen looking like a support group for people who'd all had the same nightmare."We need an actual plan," Dani said, sliding a mug of coffee toward me without being asked. "Not just locking doors and hoping.""What kind of plan?" Ryan asked. He'd come back over before sunrise, unable to sit at home not knowing what was happening here. "We can't exactly go arrest him ourselves.""No. But we can figure out where he actually is right now." Dani leaned against the counter. "If he's been in that group chat, there's a chance he's said something about location. Where he's staying. Who he's with.""I can check," Ryan said. "I'll s

Wren’s POVThe morning sun felt too bright, cutting through the kitchen windows and highlighting the dust motes dancing in the air. I held my coffee mug with both hands, absorbing its warmth, but it did nothing to melt the ice that seemed to have permanently settled in my chest.Dani was sitting across from me, a legal pad in front of him. He was writing down a timeline of the texts, his brow furrowed in concentration. The bruise on his jaw was darker today, a deep purple-green that made me look away every time my eyes drifted to it.“The police said they were going to contact Emily’s parents first, right?” I asked, my voice sounding thin even to my own ears.“Yeah,” Dani said, not looking up. “Since she’s still technically registered at her dorm, they were going to start there. If she’s cooperating, we should hear something by afternoon.”Ross walked into the kitchen, looking like he hadn’t slept in days. His hair was a wild nest, and his eyes were bloodshot. He didn’t even bother ma

Wren’s povThe air inside the police precinct was cold, smelling of floor wax, damp coats, and stale, burnt coffee. I sat in a hard plastic chair in the hallway, wrapped in a jacket that belonged to Dani, my hands folded tightly in my lap to hide how badly they were still shaking. A few feet away, a heavy metal door separated us from the interrogation room where Emily was being questioned. Through the thick glass of the two-way mirror in the observation room, Dani and Ross were watching her every move. I couldn't bear to stand in the observation room itself, but the door was cracked just enough that Detective Miller’s voice, and Emily’s sharp, mocking replies, drifted out into the hall."We checked your phone, Emily," Detective Miller was saying, her voice perfectly level, the tone of a woman who had dealt with teenagers like Emily a thousand times. "We saw the messages in the athletics group chat. You’ve been talking to Blake Lawson. You’ve been complaining about Ross, feeding Blake

WRENThe red light of the notification on my phone screen felt like it was searing into my retinas. Back Patio Door: Lock status manual bypass attempt.Before I could even gasp, Dani was off the floor.I hadn't even heard the guy wake up; it was like he’d been hovering in a state of predatory awareness. In the dim, blue-tinted light of the security monitors, I saw him grab the heavy aluminum baseball bat he’d kept leaning against the doorframe."Dani," I breathed, my heart hammering so hard it felt like it was going to bruise my ribs."Stay here," he whispered. His voice was a low, vibrating growl I’d never heard from him before. "Lock the door the second I step out. Do not open it for anyone but me or Ross. If you hear a struggle, call Miller immediately. Do you understand?""I’m coming with you," I said, my voice trembling as I swung my legs over the side of the bed. "I can’t just sit here and—""No," Dani said, stepping closer and placing a firm hand on my shoulder. His eyes were d