Page 130 of Irons

I took off toward Matt, but Magnus tried holding me back. Plus, I was drunk, and it was probably for the best.

“I’ll take that because I made very bad decisions when I was barely fifteen. I could have killed someone and almost did, but you can’t blame Wrenly for someone else’s mistakes. I hope like hell that kid grows up to be a good man, because it does happen, and nobody probably hates him more than he hates himself. Get into Steve’s truck and let him take you home. You’ll need your rest because I think you’ll wake up tomorrow with a hell of a lot of regrets.”

Taking Her In

Travis

The early morning sun rose, cascading beautiful light down on Wrenly from the stained glass windows. I laid on my side in bed just to take her in and appreciate everything about her.

Her hair had several colors to it. There was dark strands that were almost brown, dark blond strands, and a lot of it was light blond. I remember when we were really little it was so blond it was almost white. She always had long lashes, and her skin was milky and soft.

My eyes took in every feature on her face, including the cute mole on her cheek and a few freckles here and there that I believe were newer. Just about everyone that was over in the sand box dealt with a sunburn here and there that left a few freckles.

I thought back to Matt, and I knew he was drunk, but damn the things he said had to break her heart. I wanted to drop him to the ground, but when I got close enough to him to see the pain in his eyes, I couldn’t do it. It was the pain and the alcohol that did the talking and crying last night.

She cried as Magnus held and comforted her in the Tahoe. I was driving and they were both wasted, but she toldher story and Magnus managed to listen. She was exhausted by the time I parked the truck, plus she was drunk, so I carried her all the way to our room. I even did all the shit she usually did at night before bed. I put a headband on her then used those makeup removing cloths to clean her face. Then I smeared the lotion from the blue container that said facial moisturizer on it. Then I undressed her, removed her bra and slid a pair of pajamas on her. I was pretty proud of myself, but only did it because she said she breaks out of she doesn’t get the makeup off at night. I didn’t want to give her another reason to be upset. When I was done, I put her in bed and covered her up.

I remembered one time when we were little and having a sleepover. She fell asleep on the living room sofa while we were watching The Lion King. We couldn’t have been more than six. The girl could sleep through anything, it was crazy. Clint was watching television in his room and for some crazy reason or another, I thought I had to get her into her bed. So, I tried picking her up but dropped her and she hit her head, but still didn’t wake up. I tried picking her up again and it took all my strength. At the time we were probably the exact same size, and I was a really skinny kid. I dragged her little body over to the steps, then tried picking her up again, but I could only get the top half, so her feet hit each step as I yanked and pulled. The little thing still didn’t wake up. Eventually, I got her to the top step, and finally, after I worked hard, I was able to hold her up bridal style as long as I stayed leaning against the wall and slid against it. I remember my arms and legs shaking as I tried to carry her. Clint stepped out of his bedroom and stood there with his hands on his hips.

“Are you shitting me?” He asked as he looked down at me. At that time the man looked like a giant.

“No sir, I’m not.”

“Why? She’s as heavy as you.” He said.

I was on the verge of dropping her. She had slobber running out the side of her mouth, and her arm was almost on the floor as my legs were giving and my knees were bending and trembling.

“She’s the princess. She told me so.”

I was worn out and trying my hardest not to drop her.

Clint chuckled. “That she is, let me give you a hand.”

“Yes, sir.”

He took her from me, and I followed as he laid her down in bed. I crawled in and started taking the braided pigtails out of her hair.

“What are you doing now?” Clint asked.

“She always takes her braids out.”

“Weird, but cute as hell.” Clint chuckled. “Try to go to sleep soon, okay?”

“Yes, sir.”

He left and I finished taking her braids out then leaned over to kiss her forehead. Not because I wanted to kiss a girl, but because I felt like shit for hitting her head several times. There were quite a few thumps as I made my way upstairs with her, but she didn’t wake up even once.

Last night reminded me of that time, mainly because she once again had a tiny bump on her forehead from me accidentally hitting it on the doorway to the bedroom. I guess my princess carrying skills never fully developed. I always adored her, even when she was being a pain in the ass. She would always have me on my toes, then I’d get pissed off. To me she was like a fragile little angel, then she would do some fucked up dangerousshit and it freaked me the hell out. If the boys did wheelies on their bikes, she had to do it too. If there was a BB gun war, well she had her own BB gun.

I was furious with her one day when she tried to ride her bike up a huge ramp. She was able to do it and not get hurt, but I was still so pissed I didn’t want to look at her. Then later that night she fell asleep watching a movie and all I could do was look at her. She may have given me hypertension at nine, but when she fell asleep I couldn’t take my eyes off her. I always knew the definition of precious and adorable.

I leaned in and kissed the spot on her head that hit the doorway last night. She probably would never know because it didn’t leave much of a mark, but I knew.

Her eyes didn’t even flutter before she groaned and reached for her head. I already had Tylenol and water waiting for her. I knew she would move slow and the same could probably be said for Magnus.

I pulled her into me, and she curled up in my arms.

“Let’s just stay here all day.” She whispered.

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