My Blood Approves Read Free Page B

sex for
money.
    “ Nothing,” I
shrugged.
    “ Nothing?” He raised an
eyebrow, his suspicion making him look older than he really was.
Aside from the baby fat that clung to his cheeks, he could actually
pass for being older than me.
    “ We couldn’t get in
anywhere,” I explained through a mouthful of cereal. “So we just
wandered around looking for a club until my feet were completely
destroyed, and then we came home.”
    “ Jane didn’t drag you off
to some party?”
    “ Nope.”
    “ That’s very unlike her to
end a night without vodka or sex,” he commented.
    “ Life is full of
surprises.” I had eaten all my cereal, so I drank the rainbowed
milk from the bowl and hoped that Milo would let the subject drop.
“What are you up to today?”
    “ This,” he shrugged.
“You?”
    “ Same.” I
set my bowl down on the coffee table and settled back on the couch.
“There’s a movie about a sex addict on Lifetime . Care to
watch?”
    “ Sure.” He got up from the
kitchen chair that sat in front of the computer desk and planted
himself at the end of the couch.
    I stretched out, resting my battered feet on
his lap. He started to say something about the state of them, but
then answered his own question by simply saying Jane. We both
agreed that she was the source of all my life’s problems.
    We spent the rest of the
afternoon camped out on the couch watching a Lifetime movie marathon. Mom got up,
showered, and left for work early, citing overtime, but I was never
sure if I believed that or not.
    Sometimes, I think she just didn’t like
being in the apartment. At this point, it had become more like Milo
and I lived on our own. We even did all the grocery shopping,
cooking, cleaning, laundry, etc. (By “we,” I mostly mean him. But I
did help. Sometimes.)
    Around nine, I finally decided that I ought
to shower. When I went into my room to gather my clothes, I noticed
my cell phone flashing on the table. I had ignored it all day
because I had wanted to ignore Jane, but I knew that eventually I’d
have to deal with her.
    Much to my surprise, buried underneath the
mass of texts from her, I found a text message from Jack.
    Motion City Soundtrack tomorrow. First Ave.
Seven o’clock. I’m buying. You in?
    He’d been paying attention last night when I
just casually mentioned liking the band Motion City Soundtrack, and
he’d invited me to a concert. First Ave. was a rather historic
little venue downtown, not far off from where he found us.
    I knew that if Milo heard about it, his
paranoia would kick in, and he'd do everything but forbid me from
going. Despite that, I couldn’t feel that way. Sure, Jack was too
old for me, but we weren’t dating, and I didn’t really feel like
that would become an issue.
    I sighed, then quickly
responded with, That’s too much $. I
already owe you too much.
    Oh be quiet. Money doesn’t
matter. Are you in or not? Jack replied
within seconds.
    Yeah. But don’t get in the
habit of buying me things. I messaged him
back.
    Don’t get in the habit of protesting when I
buy you things. ;)
    Funny . I replied, hoping it sounded as droll as I wanted it
to.
    I’ll pick you up at
six-thirty. Sound good? That was cutting
it awfully close to the time the show started, but he was inviting
me, so I’d play by his rules.
    Yeah. See you then. :)
    I decided instantly that I couldn’t tell
Jane about this. If hanging out with Jack became a regular thing, I
knew I’d have to tell her. And Milo.
    But for now, I thought it’d be best if I
kept it to myself. I couldn’t keep anyone’s secrets, not even my
own, so I couldn’t really explain what compelled me to keep this to
myself.
    I spent the next twenty-four hours avoiding
Jane and hedging Milo’s questions. He had a sixth sense when
something was up with me, and it was nearly impossible to keep
anything hidden from him.
    When I was getting ready to go out, he knew
there was a guy involved. I don’t know how. All I had put on was