Chapter 9
9
Melissa
“ B oys,” I said with a scowl, before turning back to Xander. “No offense.”
The smirk came back, and he shook his head. “None taken.”
He’d been put through the wringer with the amount of poking and prodding he’d had to put up with today. Dealing with Wraith’s inability to be a human being shouldn’t have been added to that. I couldn’t exactly be pissed at Wraith, though. He needed information in order to help Xander, and Xander wasn’t giving up anything he didn’t have to. But being an ass wasn’t going to get him to open up. He needed more time.
“So, favorite TV show?”
Leaning back into the pillows, he frowned. “Um…”
Maybe too personal. He didn't look like he wanted to answer that one. I changed tactics. “Do you like music?”
That got a nod, so I figured I was on the right track. “What’s your favorite type of music? I’m pretty eclectic myself, but I was basically raised by a crew of bikers, so I’ll never say no to a good rock band.”
Another flash of a smile. He chewed his lip, but this time he looked thoughtful, not closed off, so I gave him a minute to answer.
“I like a lot of music… But rock is good, I guess.”
It wasn’t the full picture, but it felt like we were getting somewhere. Baby steps were still steps. I pulled out my phone, handing it to him after pulling up my playlist.
“See anything you like?”
He scrolled through it, nodding slowly. Then his brows furrowed. “You’ve got the Hamilton soundtrack on here.”
My eyebrows flew up. “Do you like musicals?”
If he did, he’d be my new bestie. It was the only thing neither Skylar nor Maggie seemed to care for. Maggie was a pop girl all the way, and Skylar only seemed interested in whatever was on the radio at the time. No one loved musicals like I did.
Xander shut down almost immediately, pushing the phone away. “It’s whatever.”
I was surprised at the abrupt change, but then I thought about it. He was a preteen boy. Admitting he liked things like musicals would probably get him bullied in some circles. And since he was related to Wraith’s asshole dad, it was likely unsafe to admit that at home. But we were alone now while we waited for Janelle to bring the IV. He didn't need to be afraid to tell me those kinds of things.
“You know, if you do like them, you can tell me. I’ll even keep it as our secret if you want.”
He shot me a frown, considering me. I decided to hit him with my famous pout.
“No one ever listens to musicals with me. I’m all alone in the fandom. I need a buddy.”
His lips twitched like he was fighting not to smile. I increased the look a little, widening my eyes. Gracie taught me how to make the pout perfect to get what I wanted. It didn’t always work, but it was surprisingly effective on Wyatt. I was teaching Zoey how to use it too, just to mess with him.
Finally, Xander relented, a shy smile ghosting over his face. “Yeah. I like them. I got to go to one for a field trip. I thought it was cool.”
My mouth fell open. “Seriously? That’s awesome! My schools never did anything that cool. Our field trips were like to the zoo or something.”
“We did that too,” he replied sheepishly.
I laughed and shook my head. “I’m jealous. I’ve only ever seen one Broadway show. I traveled all the way to New York to see it. It was a gift from my dad for graduating from nursing school. I swear I was ready to pack up and move to the city the second the curtain closed.”
“Why didn’t you?”
I shrugged, smiling at him. “My family is here. It’s been my dad, my brother, and I for as long as I can remember. I couldn’t fathom walking away from them. Besides, they always need more nurses around here.”
His expression went a little moody, and I immediately felt guilty for bringing up the tight bonds of my family. Hopefully, one day he’d have that kind of bond with Wraith, but not yet. They both needed more time to get to know one another.
I elbowed him gently to distract him and tipped my head toward the open doorway. “See that doctor over there? The one with the white hair?”
He nodded, frowning.
“Don’t find yourself alone with him unless you want an hour-long conversation on what it was like back in his day in the hospital. According to him, he basically ran the place and nothing could get done without him.”
“Is that true?”
“Is what true?” Janelle asked as she bustled inside.
“I was telling him about Doctor O’Malley.”
She huffed out a laugh, her eyes on her work as she set up the IV. “You mean about how he seduced half the nurses on staff when he was in his prime? Or how he single-handedly ran the entire hospital?”
That made Xander crack up, and I finally got a glimpse of his genuine smile. He really did look a lot like his brother.
We met with the social worker, who was rightfully pissed at how bad off Xander was. She knew me and accepted my backing of Wraith and let them go home for the night so she could read over the report. They had to come back tomorrow, but she didn’t feel the need to keep Xander overnight if he had a safe place to go. Immediate family was obviously high on that list, and after Xander confirmed he was related to Wraith, she let them go .
After a long day in the hospital, Xander was rightfully beat. He fell asleep on the drive to Wraith’s place. Wraith met us out front and Dad wasn’t far behind with a couple of boxes of pizza and Xander’s things. He only had a backpack and a duffle bag, but that didn’t surprise me. He hadn’t told me outright yet, but I made the guess that he was a runaway. I just couldn’t figure out where he ran from. Somewhere big enough that they took kids on field trips to musicals. El Paso maybe? Or Tucson?
I gently shook his shoulder to wake him and he grumbled, turning in his seat to avoid me. When Wraith stopped by my side of the car with a questioning look, I opened the door enough to whisper, “He’s asleep.”
He pressed his lips together tightly. “He needs to eat.”
True. He’d had a few snacks since I brought him lunch, but nothing big. He needed full meals if we wanted him to recover. I tried again to shake his shoulder, but he wouldn’t budge. Wraith had to open his door and pull him out, letting Xander lean against him as they headed inside. It was cute to watch, and I felt my heart flutter watching how caring Wraith was being. Why did he have to be so good? If he was an asshole, it’d be a lot easier to get over my crush.
Xander was bleary-eyed at the table, staring off into space. Wraith made his plate for him and only once the smell hit his nose did Xander look around with a frown. His focus dropped to the pizza, and he inhaled the first slice almost without chewing. I bit back a chuckle and Dad looked amused, but Wraith frowned at Xander.
“Slow down or you’ll choke.”
“‘m hungry,” Xander said around a big bite. I nudged a can of coke at him so he’d have something to wash it down with.
Wraith couldn’t counter that argument. The poor kid was hungry, and he needed to eat. Still, he watched him like a hawk. Anyone who thought the crew was dangerous clearly was blind. Even to a strange kid he barely knew, Wraith couldn’t harden himself enough not to care.
“Is Wyatt on his way back?” I asked, grabbing my own slice of pizza.
Wraith nodded. “They left a few hours ago. Should be back soon. I’ll bring the report with me to his office tomorrow.” He glanced at Xander. “You didn’t bring any of your important documents with you, did you?”
Xander shook his head slowly. “No. I tried to find them, but he hid them. He uses them to open shit in my name.”
Startled, I jerked my head back. “He can do that? You’re only twelve!”
He shrugged, like it was no big deal to him. “They don’t check. As long as the social security number is connected to a person, they don’t care.”
Yikes. I’d need to make sure to mention that to Wyatt. If his dad was using his social security number, he was killing the poor kid’s credit score before he even became an adult.
Wraith looked about as happy with that information as I was. “I’ll take care of it. Do you have a phone?”
Again, Xander shook his head. That didn’t surprise me, nor Wraith based on the look on his face. He pushed out of his seat and disappeared into his room, coming back a minute later with a brand-new phone in his hands. He handed it off to Xander without blinking.
“Use that. We’ll connect it to my account tomorrow. For now, you can connect to the Wi-Fi if you want.”
Xander looked stunned, shooting me a wide-eyed look. I smirked.
“If it’s tech-related, Wraith is your guy. You don’t know this yet, but your brother is a genius. He could probably hack the FBI network if he felt like it. We’re just lucky he doesn’t do anything crazy like that. Though, none of us actually knows what he does for a living.”