Everything You Want Read Online Free PDF Page B

with another teasing
reply, and when he didn’t I looked back up at him.  He was leaning back on
the couch with a thoughtful look in his eyes, and a small, pleased smile on his
lips.  “So how about that tea?” he asked when he noticed me looking at
him.  “Do you want a refill?  I have plenty more.”
    “Oh, no.  I’m good, thanks.  I
actually need to get going.  I’ve got a few things to do tonight before I
go to bed, and it’s about time for me to take the dog out, so…”
    “Okay,” he said, standing up. 
“Thanks for bringing the cookies over.”
    “You’re welcome.”
    “Feel free to bring over some more cookies,
or cakes, or pastries or whatever.  Anytime.” 
    He opened the door for me and I walked
out into the balmy summer evening.  “Sure, no problem,” I said.
    We stood there and smiled at each other
for a moment before I turned and walked back to my apartment.  When I
heard the door shut behind me I paused before sticking my key in the
lock.  A slow smile crept across my face.  Yeah, I could see myself
making him some more cookies, or cakes, or pastries or whatever.
     
     
     

Chapter 6
    Kieran
    “I’m too old for this crap, Ollie.”
    “Just five more minutes,” my friend,
Ollie whispered.
    I crossed my arms and sighed.  “This
is stupid.  I can’t get busted for being out here.  I’m a
teacher.  I’m pretty sure defacing property is frowned upon.”
    “Five more minutes!” Ollie whispered
louder.  “You know, you used to be a lot more fun.”
    “Yeah, I used to be a lot more drunk,” I
mumbled, and walked back over to where my best friend, Shannon, and his
fiancée, Alisha, were still sitting in the parked car a few feet away.
    I never thought I’d feel like an old man
at twenty-four, but I did.  It wasn’t so bad when it was just Shannon and
me, but with Ollie…
    “It’s creepy out here.  Looks like a
good place to get mugged,” Alisha complained as I climbed into the backseat. 
    “Yep,” I agreed.
      I watched Ollie as he finished
tagging the old underpass.  “Done!” he gave us the thumbs up and shoved
the spray paint cans back in his backpack.
    “Good,” I said, quietly enough that only
Shannon and Alisha could hear me. 
    Ollie considered himself to be an artist,
and he really wasn’t bad. He was actually the one who got me into the whole sketching
thing.  Ollie was serious about his art.  I liked most of his stuff,
and thought maybe he could make a living at it if he put in enough time and
effort.  He was just a little too old to still be using graffiti as a
means of artistic expression.  His reasoning was that he could reach a
wider audience that way.
    “You know, this is why I never take you
guys anymore.  You’re always rushing me.”
    “Because if we get caught we would
probably lose our jobs.  We need them to pay for things, you know,” I
said.
    “Not to mention this place looks like a
crime scene,” Alisha muttered.
    Ollie glared at us.  “I can’t help
it.  I was inspired and I needed to get it down, and the guys I normally
go with now were busy.”
    “So paint it on a canvas,” Shannon
suggested.
    “That’s not how it works,” Ollie said
through clenched teeth.
    I rolled my eyes, but couldn’t help
grinning.  Ollie was always getting on to us for not understanding his
artistic visions.
    Shannon and Ollie were my two oldest
friends.  Also my only friends, besides Emery.  We had grown up
together, gone to college together, and moved to Memphis afterwards. 
Well, Shannon and Ollie had moved first, and I had joined them later.  I’d
taken a little detour during college and graduated a semester late.
     “Let’s hit the Lounge,” Alisha said
as Shannon started up his car.
    “No.  I don’t want to run into Ilana.”
    “Why not?  It’s been about a month,
hasn’t it?” Alisha asked.
    “Something like that.”
    “You have to see her sometime,” she said.
    “In this city?  No, I