Milo slowly calmed and Sammy urged him to stand. He still threw wary gazes in Dre’s direction but was mainly concentrated on Sammy, who kept on stroking his left shoulder and arm. When he answered, his voice sounded meek, dejected.
“They’re not my friends, just kids I know from school.”
“And they were teasing you?” Sammy was so calm and understanding. Even though Dre still wanted to teach the boy a lesson, he admired how Sammy got him to talk without using force, though Dre’s presence also seemed to encourage cooperation from the boy.
“Yes. They’re mean all the time because I’m at school on a scholarship and my mom is a single mother who works double shifts as a waitress. They say I have no place at a fancy private school. Two weeks ago, they cornered me on my way home and threatened to give me a beating. I’d just read a book about demons, so I told them I’d summon one who would hurt them instead.” Milo hung his head. “One thing led to another and before I knew it, I had agreed to summon a demon to show them. When the first attempts failed, they got impatient and said they would make me pay. I was glad when you showed up”—he looked at Dre—"because it meant they would finally leave me alone. The sacrifice was Chase’s idea. He said he wanted a lot of things, so we needed to give you an incentive, and he thought taking you”—he shifted his attention back to Sammy—"would be easiest, since you live alone.” Milo glanced at Dre again.
“I’m so sorry. It was never meant to get that far.”
Dre shared a long look with Sammy. If he’d gotten a dollar for every time he’d heard those words—‘It was never meant to get that far’—in regard to the paranormal world, he still wouldn’t have as much money as he had now, but it would come close. Regret about stupid decisions that cost lives seemed to be a very human trait, and ignorance of the paranormal world only carried so far as an apology. Sammy handed him a tissue from a box situated on the dresser. Milo cleaned his nose loudly.
“You must be smart to get a scholarship.” Sammy smiled at Milo. The boy shrugged.
“I’m good at math and physics. I want to go to MIT. That’s why I’m working at the delivery service. Half the money I give my mom and the other half goes into my college fund.”
“Wow, that’s impressive! Are you trying for a scholarship to MIT as well?” Dre hadn’t planned on being friendly to Milo, but the way the boy talked about his future plans had woken his curiosity. About ten years ago, Barion had thought about studying at MIT, though for some reason or another, he had always postponed it, as was typical for him. Dre admired Milo’s focus.
“Yes. A scholarship would be ideal, but the competition is a lot harder than it was for my current school, and I have to be prepared if I only get a partial scholarship—or none at all.”
“I guess you need all the money you can get.” Sammy looked thoughtful. “Would you be interested in working for me? Now that I’m dating”—a happy smile flitted across his face, as if he couldn’t believe it himself—“I could use a part-timer who looks after the shop when I’m not here. And since you know demons are real, you won’t be shocked by my more—let’s call them interesting—customers. What do you think?”
Milo stared at Sammy with his mouth open. “You’re offering me a job after I tried to kill you?”
Dre could understand Milo’s amazement. He felt it himself. Sammy grinned like a maniac.
“Well, you said you were sorry, which I believe. You need help, which I can offer. Besides”—Sammy winked—“who says working for me is something you should be grateful for?”
“I don’t care how bad it is. I promise that you won’t regret it!” Milo had transformed from a crying, miserable mess to an eager puppy. He hesitated a moment before he threw himself into Sammy’s arms. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
Over Milo’s shoulder, Sammy winked at Dre, who cleared his throat. “Fine. You learned your lesson. Now be a good boy and let me have some quality time with my boyfriend.”
Milo blushed and stepped away from Sammy. “Of course.”
“Come to my shop tomorrow after school, Milo. I can show you around.”
“Will do. Thank you, Sammy. Dresalantion.” The last was said with a hint of fear. Dre decided to let the boy off the hook, since it seemed as if he would be seeing him more often in the future.
“You can call me Dre. Let me give you your money. I’m sure you still have some delivering to do.”
Milo nodded. He took the money and put the two cartons with their pizzas on the small table in front of the couch. “I’m sorry. It’s probably cold by now.”
“Don’t worry. I have that covered.” Dre put his hand on Milo’s shoulder while leading him to the door. “There we are. Take care.”
“Yeah. You too,” Milo murmured before he made his way out of the alleyway. Dre watched him go, not sure what to think about this new development. He decided to let it rest for the moment and see if Milo showed up the next day. Basically he welcomed the idea of Sammy having more time for him, so perhaps it wasn’t such a bad idea letting the boy work for Sammy. That way, Dre could keep an eye on him.
He made his way back up to the living room, where Sammy was busy slicing the pizzas.
“I’m afraid Milo was right. They’re lukewarm at best.”
Dre sauntered over to Sammy, to press a kiss on his forehead. “As I already said, I’ve got this.”
He slung his left arm around Sammy’s waist, while holding his right hand over the pizza slices. Heat left his body in waves, and in less than a minute, the pizza was steaming again. With a smug grin, Dre turned his head to Sammy. “Told you.”
Sammy stared at the pizza with big eyes. “With you around, I can totally sell my microwave. You’re way cooler anyway.”
The twitching of Sammy’s mouth told Dre he was making fun of him. “Wonderful. I’ve graduated from heating blanket to microwave. I wonder when I’ll be something awesome?”
Sammy pretended to think about this for a moment. “You mean like game console level? I don’t know. Depends on what other hidden talents you have. Besides, microwaves are valuable kitchen appliances. Did you know that the American engineer Percy Spencer invented the microwave after World War II? The first countertop microwave was sold in 1967, and since then, they’ve become a standard appliance in home kitchens.”
