Free Heart in Wire: A by a Thread Companion Novel by R. L. Griffin

shrugged. He was fine with Billy not being involved. He’d get it done, he had to. He promised himself he would as he thought about one of their last meals when they were all together.

    Millie had invited El over for lunch. She’d made it clear that Patrick was going to be there because she was suspicious of why El had stopped talking to him altogether all of a sudden. He’d never told her why they fought and then with the bombing, it just didn’t seem important. But, when Millie had seen her in the rehab facility, El said something that made Millie upset and she wouldn’t talk to Patrick about it. The situation was delicate because Millie and Patrick were both friends with El and El’s hatred of him now caused a rift in his and Millie’s relationship, but he wasn’t completely sure why.
    Patrick was in their room putting a shirt on when he heard El arrive and listened as Millie told her about Twitter. He waited in there for a while, trying to decide how to handle El, and emerged from the room just as Millie was pulling the Frito Pie out of the oven.
    El’s body went rigid when she saw him. Billy grabbed El’s hand and pulled her next to him on the couch. He hated that Billy was still in her good graces; it wasn’t fair. Billy had known about Jamie too, but if Patrick told El that, then his entire argument about why he didn’t tell her before was moot.
    Patrick was going to make her talk to him today. He stalked through the kitchen and stood in the doorway into the den. “El.” He nodded at her.
    “Asshole,” El spit through clenched teeth.
    Well, at least she was talking to him. He burst out laughing.
    “Tell us how you really feel, El,” Billy managed through his laughter.
    “Always has,” Patrick commented. Pushing his luck, he walked over to the couch where Billy and El were sitting and sat defiantly, shoving her over in the process. The couch was not big enough for all three of them. He felt a peace inside just by touching her, her leg rubbing up against his. He smiled as El elbowed him in the stomach, trying to push him away from her. He leaned into her ear and whispered, “I’m sorry.” His skin began buzzing with longing, being this close to her.
    She didn’t look at him, but got up and walked into the kitchen, and began setting the table with Millie.
    “She looks okay,” Billy whispered as he played Madden.
    “I guess so,” Patrick responded quietly. “I don’t really know how to make this better, Billy.”
    “Yeah, I guess there isn’t a card for, ‘Sorry I lied about your fiancé being dead.’”
    “Yeah, well she never gave me a card thanking me for helping her survive the first year either.”
    “Patrick…” Billy paused the game. “You think El’s going to do something like that? Be aware of someone else’s feelings and take the time to thank them? Seriously?”
    He didn’t say anything. El had given him more than he could’ve asked for, but he wouldn’t admit that to anyone. “She gave me a gun.” He shrugged.
    Billy eyed him warily. “Why do you always do that?”
    “Do what?”
    “Defend her, protect her.”
    Patrick looked at her setting glasses on the table. “Someone has to.”
    “Patrick, it’s not your job, man.”
    Patrick heard El mention to Millie about the fact she should’ve walked over for lunch since she knew they’d be drinking. “I wish you would’ve brought Coop!” he called from the den.
    El glanced at him, acknowledging his comment, but didn’t answer. She walked over to the drawers and pulled out silverware.
    Millie began pouring the drinks at the table, her side-swept bangs falling over her brown eyes. “Come on, it’s ready,” she announced to the guys in the den.
    Billy grabbed Patrick’s arm and turned to face him, making him stop moving toward the kitchen. “Be careful, Patrick,” Billy warned.
    They sat and Billy loaded his plate with Frito Pie. Everyone else was quiet and tense about this lunch. Patrick couldn’t find