Page 53 of Composed at Randy's
“You’d better not.” The hell portal flares and there isn’t a doubt in my mind that this man has killed people without remorse in the past and wants me to know it.
As bodyguards for Wren go, Kai seems almost perfect. If it wasn’t for him ditching Wren and nearly letting him starve, I’dprobably like him. But as things stand, I don’t think he’s that great no matter how formidable he appears.
He’s letting me know with every bit of his tense, ready-to-fight body language that I need to prove myself to him. I narrow my eyes right back at him and have to bite back a growl. He needs to fucking prove himself to me too, and I make sure he knows it.
Something about that makes his hell portal close, but the tension in his frame doesn’t lessen one bit.
I give him a smile, showing all of my teeth, before turning my attention back to Wren, who seems not to have noticed any of the by-play. He grabs one of my sleeves, and I allow myself to be pulled between Kai and Kimono Guy.
Kai doesn’t stop us, but he rolls his eyes before moving to intercept the people who try to follow us. Kimono Guy doesn’t try to stop us either, but he gives me a cool, assessing look before turning to help Kai manage the crowd.
So, a Baelfire fan, but loyal to Wren. Good for him. Maybe if he can keep from letting Wren starve for an entire year, I might not hate him either.
Wren darts between two curtains, holding tight to me, so I get smacked in the face by the heavy, velvet material because he doesn’t take up enough space to make a hole large enough for me to fit through.
I’m not annoyed at all. I’m delighted by his size, his energy, and his easy acceptance of whatever life gives him. I’m overwhelmingly obsessed with Wren and everything he does. He can drag me through a million curtains at top speed, and I’ll still be laughing by the end.
We reach our destination—a corner filled with scaffolding and surrounded by the random odds and ends that tend to get tucked out of sight during events like this so no one fancy can see them.
God forbid that happen.
“I think I’m underdressed for your event.” I gesture to my ripped jeans and leather jacket. “No, hold on.” I pop out my pinky finger tipped with chipped, black nail polish like we’re ladies having high tea. “This should fix things.”
Wren gifts me with the best laugh, husky and free of any self-consciousness.
He wouldn’t be laughing right now if he was planning on hating me forever, right?
He pulls one side of his fashionable sports coat away to reveal the loose crop top he’s wearing underneath. “I stole it from Marty. Shelly made me wear the coat to make me fit in, but maybe I should stick mine out too, just in case.” Wren pokes my pinky with his.
I’m not really registering his words anymore. Wren is wearing my merch. He has my name emblazoned across his chest like he’s my property.
Oh shit.
I try to shift subtly to allow my incoming hard-on a chance to not make itself known to the world.
“That looks…” I cough because my mouth has gone dry. “It looks good on you. Really, really,reallygood.” That might have been one too manyreallys. I bite my lip to keep any more words from escaping, like,“I bet it will look amazing on you as a gag while I fuck you over the scaffolding.”
But we haven’t even talked yet, and we need to.
I take his hand in mine. “Wren, I?—”
“I’m sorry!” Wren shouts. “I’m sorry I ran away. I should have left a note, but I didn’t think of it until I was long gone, and then it would have been super weird to pop back in, shove a note in your hand, and then run away again, you know?” Wren’s eyes are pleading with me to understand. “I had to go.”
I kiss his small hand and smooth away the worry lines between his eyebrows with my thumb.
“You don’t need to apologize, Wren. Really. This is my fuck up, not yours. I should've listened to you instead of trying to fix all your problems. I just wanted you to be happy and safe, and I failed miserably.”
Wren’s eyes go wibbly and soft. “You didn’t fail. I'm so grateful you're the one who found me when I needed help, but I promise that you don't need to fix all my problems. I have a wonderful support team. I know it may not seem that way, but this is the first time something like this has happened since Kai joined my team, and it's partially my fault for being so forgetful.”
“Self-care is a real problem for you, isn't it?” I put a hand on his hip, stroking an exposed hipbone with my thumb. He’s so thin that it makes my heart hurt.
Wren’s eyes look everywhere but at me when he whispers, “Yeah…”
I tilt his chin to get him to look at me. “It’s okay. There are lots of things I can’t do either, but everyone worth being around still loves me anyway.”
“I hope I’m someone worth being around.”
“If it were up to me, you’d always be around.”
