Page 63 of Wristlocked
I’m actually in a decent mood by the time Lyot and I meet Gia for her mysterious shopping trip. Jamie is passed out again, napping on my couch after letting me get a decent meal in him. Lyot says it’s normal.
“Is it only pills?” he asked me, keeping his voice low as we watched Jamie devour his second chicken burrito and bob his head in time to some hip-hop song he was listening to on his old-school wired earbuds. “I didn’t notice any track marks.”
“Yeah, he’s always been terrified of needles, thank fucking god. He’ll do heroin when it’s all he can get his hands on, but only to smoke. He prefers shoving shit up his nose.”
“Have you ever seen him detox before?”
“A couple of times at the beginning. He’d go on and off every couple of weeks when I’d beat the shit out of his supplier.”
Lyot raises his eyebrows. “Ballsy.”
“Nah. They were mostly other punk kids from the home in those days. I’d teach one of them a lesson, and they’d run scared for a few days or a week before Jamie’d convince another one it was worth the risk.”
“He’ll probably sleep a lot for most of the next twenty-four hours, but then it’s gonna get brutal for a while.”
“I know.”
“What are you gonna do about classes? Think you can trust him if you have to leave him alone?” He sounds skeptical, but I’m determined to try.
“I took all his money away this morning.”
Lyot blinks at me, his gray eyes way too knowing and a little sad. I shove my hands in my pockets and look away.
“I don’t know,” I snap. “I’ll figure something out. I’m not fucking abandoning him again.” Jesus. What is it about this guy that pulls these confessions out of me? If I’m not fucking careful, I’ll be crying on his shoulder about goddamn Celeste.
But I can’t help feeling more optimistic than I have in years. At least Jamie is fuckinghere, where I can keep an eye on him, and when I told him he had to be clean to stay in the dorm with me, he agreed without putting up too much of a fight.
Fuck Chace and his stupid eyes. This time I’m taking care of my little brother.
We take the bus down to the University district instead of calling for an Uber. Lyot awes the other passengers by doing walking levers off the top handrails, while Gia sits on my lap and I tease her nipples with a hand under her white hoodie. By the time we get off, all of us are flushed and smiling.
Lyot seems to recognize the area, but when I give him a questioning look, he shakes his head, hiding a grin. Gia dances along the sidewalk a few feet ahead of us, throwing dazzling looks over her shoulder every few steps.
We end up outside a sex shop.
“What are we doing here,Shadow?” I slide my arms around her waist, enjoying her shiver. My visions of nipple clamps andleather floggers die a quick death, however, at the next words out of her dangerous mouth.
“I’ve decided I want to try pegging,” she says, leaning her head back on my shoulder and giving me an innocent smile. “It’s when—”
“I know what pegging is.” Pulling back, I turn her in my arms to face me. “You are not getting anywhere near my virgin ass with some huge fucking dildo.”
Lyot is watching us, eyes alight and amused. “Why does it have to be huge?” he asks, moving closer.
“Because she’s got a size fetish, and you’re the monster dick that started it all.”
They’re both laughing at me now.
“Only my half has to be huge,” Gia says, eyes sparkling.
“Your half, huh?”
“Yeah, I’m thinking I want one of those double-sided ones like Vaya and Jules use.”
Jesus. Fucking women have no discretion. I suddenly wonder exactly how much Vaya and Jules have heard aboutoursex life.
“On each other, or on Ren?” Lyot asks curiously, obviously suffering from the same lack of fucking boundaries as the women.
“Both?” Gia shrugs.
