Page 19 of Wire
Beretta_Penn: You’re so gross.
St_Margarita: You love it. So, what’s up, babe?
Rolling my eyes, I wonder if I’ve interrupted something. Mags isn’t usually this flirty.
Beretta_Penn: I just needed to talk to someone. My dad is in the hospital. He hurt himself and I got a scare.
St_Margarita: Oh babe! Is he OK? Are YOU OK? Do you need me to meet you somewhere?
Beretta_Penn: Wait, you’d do that for me?
St_Margarita: Can you feel my eyes rolling through the Wi-Fi? Of course, I’d do that for you. I’d do anything.
Beretta_Penn: You better stop otherwise I’ll start crying.
St_Margarita: Well duh, you’re a girl after all.
Beretta_Penn: And now the feeling has passed.
St_Margarita: …..
St_Margarita: ……
St_Margarita: I’m serious though, Retta, you need me, I’m there. I’ve got your back, for always.
Beretta_Penn: ………
Beretta_Penn: For always.
I put my phone down when Switch comes into the room to check Dad’s vitals and whatever other things he felt the need to check. It was a little hard to concentrate on what was happening when there was a flock of butterflies in my stomach going crazy.
What if Mags comes here and he doesn’t like me? What if I don’t like him? We don’t really know anything about each other.Except each other’s innermost thoughts and feelings.Stupid inner monologue. A knock at the door has me snapping out of my thoughts to see Wire standing in the doorway.
“Do you mind if I come and sit for a bit?”
“Oh yeah, sure. Have a seat.” I stand and go to move so Wire can sit, but he stands where he is, not moving, a frown on his face.
“Where are you going?”
“Oh, I thought you wanted to have a seat. I can go do some homework and stuff.”
He gives me an odd look and I can feel the heat rising in my cheeks. They burst into flame when Wire lets out a deep, throaty chuckle. I’m momentarily stunned, as I don’t think I’ve heard him laugh before. Wire is lovely and thoughtful and incredibly nice, but he also seems to be weighed down by his responsibilities. Responsibilities that seem to all be self imposed. I’ve noticed him checking the cameras often, noting where all his brothers are. Hearing him laugh is something new and I feel very lucky to have heard it.
“I was asking to come sit with you. I wanted to make sure you were doing OK. And I’m selfish and wanted to make myself feel better.”
He clears his throat and rubs the back of his neck. Is he shy?
“My friend, she’s having a rough time and I can’t be with her to make it easier, so I thought I’d help another friend.” His lips curl slightly and he raises his eyebrows in question.
“Oh, of course! I mean, I’m doing OK, but you can still sit with me. Dad not long ago nodded off and Switch was just in topping up his meds.”
He nods at me, and then his long legs eat up the space between us. He drags a chair from the corner and places it close to mine. He settles in with a little groan, rolling his head on his shoulders for a moment.
“Tech neck?”
His lips twitch “I’d like to blame it on a badass injury where I was blown up or did it BMXing or something but yup, tech neck from sitting far too long staring at screens.”
I study him for a moment, his curls are pulled up into a beanie that he wears fairly often to keep his hair out of his face. Chewy told me he’s always losing his hair bands, so the beanie is the next best thing to keep his hair out of his face.