“Wow,” I laughed.
At least we arrived at his house on a happy note. As soon as we walked inside, Matilda ran to greet us, and Milo followed her.
Seeing him was still an adjustment, and I wondered how long it would take me to get used to him. He walked like he was about to trip over his own feet but would elegantly catch himself. He was like Bambi learning to walk –all stumbles and a graceful bound.
“Hey,” Milo sounded out of breath and his smile was too bright.
He brushed his hair from his forehead, and he was even wearing it different now. It had always been just a standard guy cut, but he went for a more popular style.
“How are you?” Milo fidgeted with his sleeve. He did a weird head bob, and he reminded me of Mike Meyers from Wayne’s World. Was this Milo’s interpretation of cool?
“Good,” I answered unsurely. “You’re looking really… good. I like your hair.”
“Thanks.” He touched it self-consciously and blushed. It was a glimpse of cute Milo that made me miss him again. “Mae did it.”
“She loves hair,” I said.
“Yeah,” Milo agreed absently.
He looked over to Jack and rubbed the back of his head, and that’s when it finally dawned on me. He wanted to impress Jack. He lacked the ability to mask his crush, and he had no clue what to do with himself.
Newly gay, newly vampire, and barely old enough to drive.
I felt like the biggest bitch in the world for being irritated with him. Sure, he messed up my non-relationship with Jack, but he was just a scared, confused kid. He was going through a whole huge thing that I couldn’t help him with at all, and I should be happy he had someone like Jack to show him around.
“You guys have a nice drive?” Milo looked at Jack, and his eyes were hoping that we didn’t have too nice of a drive.
“It was good,” Jack nodded.
He chewed the inside of his cheek, growing uncomfortable with the way Milo looked at him, but I think that was for my benefit. Ordinarily, I’m sure he would brush off Milo’s adoring gaze, but with me there, it felt… well, everything just felt really, really awkward.
“So, while you were gone I totally found that thing and I got to the next level,” Milo announced randomly, and it took me a second to realize he was talking about some kind of video game.
“Oh, yeah, really?” Jack looked impressed, which was a bit too much for Milo.
“Yeah!” Milo beamed. “Here, I’ll show you!”
With that, he reached out and took Jack’s hand to drag him off to the living room. The gesture was probably meant to be flirtatious in some way, but it only succeeded in making him look more like a little boy.
“I’m going to go check out the game,” Jack shot me an apologetic smile as Milo pulled him away.
Once they were gone, I took a deep breath. Things are weird, but Milo’s still Milo, Jack’s still Jack, and pretty soon we’ll have this all sorted out. Soon. That’s what I’ve gotta believe.
“Why are you hiding in here?” Mae walked into the entryway to claim me. “I saw the boys go in the living room with those stupid games, and I couldn’t believe they left you stranded.”
“I wasn’t really stranded,” I said, but she looped her arm through mine, leading me on through the house.
“It’s just so strange not having you around all the time.”
“At least you don’t have to make so much food,” I said, and she laughed.
“I know I’m a horrible cook, but I still love baking!”
I thought she’d take me into the living room, where she’d harass the boys until they quit playing video games. Instead, she took me past the living room and down the hallway, to Ezra’s den at the far end of the house.
It was what I’d expected of a rich vampire’s den. The walls were lined with bookcases covered in books and antiquities. A massive mahogany desk sat in the center of the room with high end computer equipment on it. A reproduction of Rembrandt’s The Mill hung above the distressed leather sofa. Behind his desk, a massive window revealed the blackened lake behind the house.
Ezra sat at the desk, staring at the computer monitor. If Mae hadn’t been dragging me in, I never would’ve entered his den. I didn’t want to break his concentration, but Mae thought nothing of it.
“Hello, love!” Mae chirped, and Ezra looked up from the screen to smile at us. “And what, pray tell, has your attention?”
“Nothing of real importance.” He leaned back in his chair, giving the screen one last look, before turning his attention fully to us. “Just a stock tip someone told me to check into. I don’t think it’s going to be fruitful but…” He shook his head.
“Ezra doesn’t care what he’s looking up on the computer as long he’s looking it up,” Mae said with a bemused smile. “The other day I caught him watching a video of an elephant painting with his trunk.”
“It was an elephant painting,” Ezra said, but that only succeeded in making Mae giggle. “And I suppose you’ve seen an elephant paint?”
“No, but it’s just a weird thing for you to be interested in,” Mae said, and I concurred with her entirely.
“Technology fascinates me,” Ezra allowed, then rested his eyes on me. “I can watch an elephant paint live on the internet. That sounds like nothing to you, but when I was a younger man, the poor animal would’ve been dead by the time I heard about it. This right here – this is magic.”
“You’ll never cease to amaze me, darling.” Mae looked at him with complete adoration. It made me uncomfortable witnessing it, as if I were spying on some private moment.
“I should hope not,” Ezra smiled back at her. She left my side and walked over to him, giving him a small but passionate kiss on the lips.
“I never will,” she promised and headed out of the room. “Well, I’m sure you two have a lot to talk about.” Before shutting the door behind her, she smiled sadly at me.
“Mae’s never been one for subtlety,” Ezra sighed, staring at the closed door. “Go ahead. Have a seat.”
“Okay?” I carefully sat down on the sofa behind me. “You have something to tell me”
“It’s not something I need to tell you so much as a conversation we need to have.” Ezra moved his chair over so he wasn’t hiding behind the computer. He tried to look relaxed, but he was hesitant to meet my eyes. “Your brother’s turning was quite unexpected.”