Page 110 of Stitches

The door banged closed behind him, leaving us in silence.

“I miss him,” Stitches finally said.

“We all do.” Ashes let out a sigh and rubbed his eyes.

Church remained quiet, his fingers raking gently through my hair.

“Malachi, are you OK?” he finally asked.

“No, but I’m trying,” Stitches answered, a sad look on his face. “And that’s worth everything, right?”

“Yes,” I whispered into the silence.

Stitches smiled and took my hand. “Then I’ll keep on working on it.”

I’d accept that answer because I’d make sure he succeeded.

He and the watchers were everything to me.

ASHES

That Friday night, I tossed a couple textbooks and some old clothes into the burning barrel, ecstasy flooding every vessel in my body as the flames licked the night sky.

I was acutely aware of Sirena behind me, Stitches’s arms around her while Church watched me burn anything I could get my hands on.

And Cady.

We’d brought her with us. Unfortunately, she’d brought along Adam. It hadn’t slipped past me that he had eyes for Sirena. I caught him staring at her more than once. I knew it made her uncomfortable too because she’d bury her face in Church or Stitches’s chest, depending on who was holding her. The look on Church’s face was murderous as the night wore on.

While it felt good to burn things, it wasn’t the best high I’d had with it. Knowing Sirena was uncomfortable made me want to call it a night and go home, but I’d promised Cady I’d show her different ways to start a fire, and she was more than eager to learn.

We’d made it through another night of Sirena hanging out with Bryce in the living room too. It was way more successful than last time was, and she seemed genuinely happy. Everyone but me kept their distance. Church and Stitches went out to the cemetery while I’d stayed home and kept to myself in my bedroom.

If I didn’t know better, I’d think Bryce still had it bad for our girl.

Mentioning that to Church would set him off and possibly ruin Sirena’s friendship, two things I definitely didn’t want to happen. I trusted her though, so in the big scheme of things, I figured it would be OK.

“You and Adam a thing?” I asked Cady as I watched her throw an old tire into the barrel.

“Yeah. He’s fun. Adventurous. I like that sort of thing.”

“You do notice he keeps looking at Sirena, right?”

She looked from me over to where Stitches and Sirena were. Much to Adam’s credit, he was trying to engage Church in conversation, but it didn’t look like it was going well.

“He’s just a people watcher. He’s harmless,” she said, brushing my concerns off.

“He makes Sirena uncomfortable,” I pushed.

“Did she tell you that?”

“No. But I can tell just by watching her that he does.”

Cady frowned. “I’ll talk to him about it. I’m sure it’s just him being curious. He likes to talk to people.”

“Well, as long as he knows she doesn’t speak back and he’s wasting his time.”

“Asher Valentine. Are you jealous?”

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