Dom Luka With Trust (pdf)

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lan.
But plans change. Just like mine did, a few moments later, when Milo s fron
t door opened.
I m sure that there were plenty of times when I could have showed up at my c
loseted boyfriend s house that he would have considered a bad time. I was pr
etty sure that this time made the list. I m not sure how long I stood there,
like an idiot, staring in disbelief at Jame Graham as he held the front doo
r open. I shouldn t have been startled to see him. If anything, I knew that.
But after my confrontation with him earlier that afternoon it seemed easy t
o become unnerved by his presence, even so much that for entire moments, I e
ntirely forgot that he was supposed to be Milo s friend and found it very di
fficult to comprehend the way that he was standing there. Milo, just behind
him, drew my attention as he released a short cough. His eyes were on mine,
looking drowsy and painfully red, but still concerned.
I tried to recover quickly. I was there for a reason, after all. Hey, I s
aid, focusing on Milo, who started to step forward. But, before he could re
ach me, or I could get any more words out, my eyes were on Jame Graham as h
e moved between Milo and me, his face furious and so close to mine that I c
ould smell the salami he d had for lunch.
What the fuck are you doing here? he demanded.
I raised an eyebrow at him, not appreciating the interruption. Just here to
see the father of my child, I remarked, just before I felt pressure on my s
houlders as he pushed me.
As soon as I realized that Jame wasn t going to stop with just shoving me,
I dropped the basket and various pill bottles rolled over the dark cement p
atio, some down the stairs and over the snow-covered lawn. The ingrate had
clearly lost his mind as he gripped the front of my heavy blue coat and st
epped on the banana bread, cussing about the nerve I had. He might have bee
n taller than me, and angrier than me, but his eyes widened when I grabbed
his thin wrists and dislodged his unwelcome hands from my clothing with vir
tually no problem at all. He attempted to pull his wrists from my grip but
I refused to let go before I swung him around until I was standing between
him and Milo s front door, at which point I shoved him away from me, alert
for any more attacks that he might want to make from the moment that my han
ds left his wrists.
Don t be a fucking idiot, Assface! I snapped. I don t want to fight with
you but that doesn t mean I won t!
Good! he retorted, blindly pulling back his fist. I m not sure what part
of me he planned to hit, but I had my hands up in an instant, ready to stop
him as I moved forward, roughly pushing him back again. I caught his attac
king fist in my palm and tilted my head back to avoid his other hand, which
reached threateningly for my neck. I felt his thumbnail scrape my chin, an
d a ridiculous kick to my knee before I became severely aware of Milo s bod
y moving between us, pushing at Jame as much as he was at me. His head was
low, as if he fully expected either one of us to hit him at any moment.
Stop it! he shouted, his voice sounding somewhat uneven, a little like min
e had when I d first reached puberty. Jame, just leave!
I blinked at that, taking a startled step back, mostly because if he were go
ing to tell anyone to leave, I thought it would have been me. Obviously, Jam
e thought the same thing because the look he shot at Milo was one of hurt ou
trage.
Milo!
I m serious, Milo responded, lowering his voice. I can t do this right now
.
You expect me to leave you here with him? Jame demanded.
Without so much as glancing back at me, Milo startled me again. I want him
here. I ll talk to you later but right now you just have to go home.
Jame shook his head, glaring at me. I didn t feel the need to gloat this ti
me, but I watched as Milo finally moved forward and grabbed Jame s shoulder
, leading him down the walkway. It seemed that Jame was taking Milo s car a
s Milo led him to where it was crookedly parked in the driveway, and the tw
o began to argue just loud enough for me to hear it. It was mostly Jame, ou
traged that I was staying, and Milo telling him that his head hurt too much
to argue--but I was his friend, and I wasn t going anywhere.
I d been wondering if Milo had been saying something along those lines to Ja
me. I d hoped he would. But, it seemed like this was really the first time,
and I actually became uncomfortable as I watched the two of them arguing. I
hadn t felt like an intrusion when I d first arrived, but I did now because
obviously, both of them were upset as Milo talked Jame into getting into the
green Honda.
I looked around me, the blood that had rushed to my head during the confron
tation slowly draining away as I caught sight of a broken basket, scattered
medicines and smashed banana bread. I knelt down to pick it all up, sudden
ly wanting to preoccupy myself with the task in an attempt to give Jame and
Milo the illusion of privacy.
I found that my hands were shaking. I really didn t like fighting, and may
be I d had enough of Jame Graham, but I didn t like that Milo sounded so d
istressed over arguing with him. I found myself wishing that I could fix i
t. But, I will admit that when I heard the Honda s engine come to life, an
d saw Jame pulling out of the driveway in Milo s car, I did feel a little
relieved that he was gone. Milo didn t, though. He was frowning as he head
ed back towards me in his black sweats and white socks, which were now wet
from walking through wet patches on the driveway. He was pale, even more
so than he d been when he stopped by the school, and something seemed unna
tural about the tiny beads of perspiration breaking out over his face in t
he freezing temperatures. I had the beat-up basket and its contents, minus
the smashed up banana bread which I d dropped in the outdoor waste can, w
hen I stood to meet him.
Hey, I said quietly, disturbed that he hardly seemed to have energy enough
to meet my eyes as his drooped to my chest. When Milo just stood there, wit
hout responding, I held out the basket. I wanted to bring this to you... an
d pick up the doll. It s both our grade, remember? I highly doubted that it
was still a good idea to bring up Emily.
Okay, he said simply, after a long moment of me staring at him worriedly
. But then, without making any attempt to grab the basket he walked around
me and then into his house, leaving the front door wide open behind him.
Milo?
I turned, stopping at the door as I watched him head up the stairs on his
own. I looked around the dark house, towards the living room, wondering wh
ere Juanita was. I guessed if she was there, she would have made an appear
ance around the time that Milo had been throwing himself between Jame and
me.
I let out a breath and decided to go in, closing the front door quietly behi
nd me before I followed the wet footprints all the way up the stairs, and re
ached his room around the same time that he did. I closed the door behind us
and walked slowly over to the desk to put the basket down next to the baby
carrier and our assignment, which he had in the same place, while Milo was m
ore focused on his bed, where the dark sheets were tangled with his burgundy
comforter. He allowed himself to fall onto his mattress face first, hugging [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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