He sounded distant, like he’d slipped away to another place, and as a ring on his left hand caught the sun, I wondered who he’d left behind. A normal person would’ve let him be, but I didn’t move. Instead I glanced around and tried to reconcile myself with the image of two rugged veterans sharing the space I’d always believed would eventually be Maggie’s. I recalled with perfect clarity the day I’d realized it neverwould.
“Maggie, why do you have all your pans on thefloor?”
She looked at me like I’d asked her why the sky was blue. “So I know where they are, Pietro. I can’t find things when you hide them in theattic.”
“I’m not Pete.I’mAsh.”
“I know you are, angelo. You’ll always be mybabyboy.”
Desta nudged me with his nose. Jed grinned. Somehow he was right in front of me again. Jesus. The dude was like a damned ninja orsomething.
“Can I seeyourink?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah. Sure.” I held my arm out. People asked to see the wizard sleeve on my arm all the time, but the way Jed looked at it was different. He turned my arm this way and that, then nodded, almost to himself as much as me.He’s seen the scars. I didn’t know how I knew. But I did. He’d seen them, and I didn’t know why it fucking matteredeither.
Jed let go of my arm. His grip had been light and brief, and despite the issues I usually had with people I didn’t know putting their hands on me, it hadn’t felt wrong. Still, it was probably time I left him alone. “Um… I’m gonna leave you to it. I’ll be upstairs most of the day if you needanything.”
“Thanks. Figure I’ll be fine, though. This place has everythingIneed.”
I took him at his word. Back upstairs I felt a little strange knowing Jed and Desta were just below me, even stranger than the odd tingly feeling I’d gotten when Glenn had first moved in, which was bizarre in itself. Plenty of tenants had lived in the downstairs apartment in the eighteen months before we’d bought it, and I’d never given it muchthought.
Something about Jed was different, though—perhaps because he’d seen right through me—and for the few hours I was alone in the light of the early morning, I felt… weird. Not bad, butweird.
Danni broke through my brooding a little while later when she let herself into the apartment. Cosmo climbed up my legs and positioned herself in her customary place on mylefthip.
“Dwawing.”
I grinned and kissed her nose. “Drawing? Again? Don’t you want to do something elsetoday?”
Cosmo shook her head. Danni laughed. “It’s your own fault for making it so much fun. She’s not allowed to draw on the wallsathome.”
It was true, but the way I figured, I drew on the walls all the time, then painted over them and started over. Where was the harm in Cosmo doing it too? “It’s a beautiful day. I might take her out to draw on the sidewalk.Thatcool?”
“Fine by me. It’s your day, honey. Do what you want.” Danni put her hand over mine, stilling the restless fingers I’d been drumming on the counter. “You okay? You seem a littledistracted.”
“What? Oh, no. I’m good. Just tired. I had to get up early and let Glenn’s buddy indownstairs.”
“Is that the dude withthedog?”
“You’veseenhim?”
“I saw a guy coming out as I was going in. Kinda looked twice.” Danni’s smirk was shameless. “What’shelike?”
“Different.” I turned my encounter with Jed over in my mind. “I thought he’d be like the rest of Glenn’sbuddies.”
“I don’t think there’s many people out there likeLuke,doll.”
I had to grin at that. Glenn’s friend had paid us a visit last winter. He hadn’t said much, but he’d fascinated Cosmo with his tales of New Orleans and had been enchanted by the city-stained, Chicago snow. “He’s not like Luke, but he’s not like Glenn either. I don’t know. He’s just…different.”
Danni eyed me. “Sounds like he got under your skin. Maybe we should ask him and Glenn to have dinner with us tonight. See what he’sreallylike.”
Her tone was teasing, but I knew she meant it. Danni loved nothing more than feeding a crowd—especially when she was pregnant—and as my apartment was bigger, she usually commandeered my kitchen to do it. “You ask them, then. Pete and Glenn have to work late at the hospital, so they’ll need feeding if they ever makeithome.”
Danni ruffled my hair. “Don’t get pissy. You know Pete would quit the ER if you askedhimto.”
I snorted. I’d never ask that of Pete. He needed the buzz of the crazy ER. Working civilized hours at the clinic had driven him half-mad. “I’m not pissy.I’mjust—”
“Different,” Danni finished for me. “And I wouldn’t have you any other way. I gotta run. I’ll go by the store on my way home and get the stuff for chili, so don’t worry aboutdinner,okay?”
