Page 24 of Livewire Witch

“You’re asking for my help instead of demanding it? And you’ve just told me something personal about yourself?” I widen my eyes. “Holy shit, are we bonding? Is this you making me one of your buddies?”

He lets out a little grumble. “You’re as annoying as Roscoe.”

I snort, then hesitate. I don’t want to push my luck here, but I also don’t know if I’ll get this opportunity again. Zeph is herechattingto me. Not growling. Not insulting me.

I decide I’m going to cling onto the moment and see if I can satiate some of the curiosity that’s been building in me for months.

“How exactly did you guys become friends?” I ask.

“I was kinda... an intense kid,” he replies with a shrug.

That earns a full chuckle from me.

“Yeah, no shit.”

He squeezes my leg in warning, but it feels kind of nice. Companionable, almost.

“Fabian was always quiet, focused. Even when he was a preteen and should have been spending his time playing games and dicking about. I guess his dad had started training him up from a damn young age. He was too young for any of the shit that his dad and Felix had him doing. It was like as soon as his powers kicked in, they worked out they could use him to make the district into something bigger.” He scowls, stroking small circles on my calf like his hand is working without his conscious control. Kind of like you stroke a kitten to make yourself feel better.

It’s kind of weird. A big shift from how things have been with us previously. But I can’t say that I don’t like it. I’d much rather this than have him treating me like I’m going to rob them all blind at any moment.

“I dunno why he decided to take me under his wing. I was hanging around by the river one afternoon and it was starting to get late. Back then, the entire area was a lot rougher than it is now and I shouldn't have been hanging around as late as I was. I think maybe he could tell that I did not want to go home, so he invited me to go home with him instead. That was where I metRoscoe, he was... a lot like me. Didn't feel like he had any place he fit. No parents, no one that gave a shit."

“You fit together, though.” I hazard a guess, because it's how I felt when I met Rook and then Ember and Luna, then Hanna.

“We fit,” he says quietly, hand still on my leg like he's forgotten it's there.

Then he adds fewer than fifteen words that send my world even more topsy-turvy than it has been over the past few weeks.

“I'm starting to think you might just fit in with us, too.”

Thisfrom the man that couldn't stop his barbed comments just yesterday.

“What's changed?” I ask him and just like I said my thoughts out loud, he seems to understand.

“Your family being here, I guess. I hear the things you do for people that matter to you. What you've done for people that matter to us,” he says the words haltingly, like he's working through his thoughts as he voices them. “I see how Ro lights up when you're around—how you still have his attention, which is almost unheard of. I see how Seb thinks you hung the moon. And I see how Fab not recognizing you crushes you each and every time it happens.”

Jesus, fuck. My headache is back, and it’s now pounding behind my eyes as I try to absorb his words. Huh. Who knew he could be a romantic? And damn sweet?

“Being an asshole is my default,” he says. Like that's news to me. “But I, uh, don't want to be an ass around you. Not anymore, so I'm going to try not to be.”

I know that Z might be a lot of things, but he’s not a liar, so I just nod. “All right.”

He nods back. We're a couple of nodding fools.

“I'll help you with this job,” I say, waving the file I still haven’t opened yet in the air.

“Good.” He blows out a long breath that’s full of relief.

“And we'll be best buds before you know it.”

He grimaces and flicks at my knee before propping his feet up and turning back to the TV.

I hide a smile. Best bud material, for sure.

8

Zeph

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