Page 78 of Livewire Witch

“I find it’s best to pretend like they aren’t here when they get like this,” Silver says with a little eye roll. “But thank you for saying that, anyway. Not that you need to apologize. We’re all good, Fabian.” Her voice is softly lilting, and it feels like a calming balm to my ears.

I briefly wonder if she’d come and talk to me when I’m maxed out with stress, or read me a bedtime story or something when I’m struggling to sleep.

A weird sense of déjà vu... or I guess whatever it’s called when you think you’ve heard the exact same thing before, goes through me. Somehow, it feels like I’ve heard Silver’s voice before doing just that.

Maybe she’s snuck into my subconscious and the dream version of her reads to me in my sleep.

Fuck. My head is a complete mess. Whatever drug we were slipped last night must have finally tipped me over the edge and I’m now in the middle of a breakdown.

If I am, it seems remarkably... pleasant.

“Do you think Z’s okay?” Silver asks. “He didn’t eat anything earlier, and he’s been down at the gym for hours.” She bites her lip anxiously and I’m half tempted to tug it out from between her teeth with my thumb before she can make it bleed.

“Last night freaked him out. He’ll be fine once he beats the shit out of something, you’ll see,” Roscoe replies, wrapping his arms even more tightly around Silver’s compact frame.

She hums, twisting her fingers in front of her. “Maybe I should go down there.”

That’s followed by a nod and she pulls herself to her feet, ignoring the way that Roscoe’s hands trail right the way down her body as she stands.

“I’m going to go down there,” she repeats the words like she’s psyching herself up. Then, with no further hesitation, she heads off out the door with a singular determination.

“He’s only going to yell at her,” I say.

Roscoe leans back against the window, splaying his legs out. “You never know, man. They have a whole weird push and pull thing going on.” He shrugs and yawns. “It’s just as likely she’ll come back with that just-fucked glow.”

I cock an eyebrow in confusion. Isn’t shehisgirlfriend? Does that mean the two of them... share her?

Fuck, why does the thought of that make my dick start to swell?

OVER THE NEXT WEEK, I begin to collect pieces.

A tinkling laugh.

That little snort when something is too funny, and she doesn’t have time for a full laugh to come out.

The unimpressed eyebrow raises.

The astounding lack of a sense of direction where she’s constantly going left when she should go right.

How she seems to always take care of everyone around herself before giving any attention to her own needs.

A symphony of sighs, some sad, some downright wistful.

All locked away somewhere deep inside me.

“Hi Fabian. How are you today?”

“Thanks, Fab.”

“Thank you, Fabian.”

Just one week of knowing Silver’s name and I’m growing obsessed.

I watch her whenever we’re in the same space, like my eyes can’t focus on anything else when she’s around. Watching her asshe watches a movie from Roscoe’s lap and feeling a weird mix of contentment and envy sprouting in my chest.

ZEPH’S QUIET ALL WEEK, closing in on himself. Ro and I leave him to it. We know it’s just how he gets sometimes, which I’ve tried to explain to Silver, but she seems to be taking it personally.

I haven’t spoken directly to her too much because I’m afraid I’ll open my mouth and all the obsessive, intrusive thoughts will spill out of my mouth.

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