Smoke and Ashes Read Online Free PDF Page B

what?”
    â€œSorry?”
    She pulled the door out of his hand and closed it. “What are you expecting me to try?”
    He had no idea, so he followed her farther into the apartment.
    â€œI suppose I should be impressed that a guy your age actually sorts his laundry,” she muttered stepping over a pile of jeans and up to the kitchen counter where she set the bag down, shrugged out of her jacket, and started opening cupboards. “Ah. Plates.” And a moment later, “Cutlery?”
    â€œIn the drawer by the fridge.”
    â€œRight. It’s mostly plastic.”
    â€œThey were free.”
    â€œFair enough.” She handed him a full plate and stepped over socks and underwear and stood staring at the rest of the apartment. “Daniel told me you were gay.”
    â€œYeah.”
    â€œWay to work against the stereotype.”
    â€œWhat?”
    Her gesture took in the walls, the floor, and most of his furniture. “It’s beige.”
    â€œIt was beige when I got here.”
    â€œYou have a flag tacked up over the window.”
    â€œI’m a patriotic kind of guy.”
    â€œThe only thing on the wall is a poster for Darkest Night .”
    â€œIt was free.”
    â€œI figured. You seem to have spent everything you’ve made in the last year on that entertainment center.”
    â€œLook…” Tony pushed the laptop to one side and set his plate down on the small square table. “…if you’re here on some weird makeover thing, I don’t want my apartment redecorated or my life rearranged.”
    â€œYou sure?”
    Her smile changed the whole shape of her face. Made her look years younger. Made her eyes sparkle. Made her look like someone he’d like to get to know. Really well. Made him want to slide the sweater off her shoulders, push back the dark curls and…
    â€¦he suddenly noticed that the translucent antlered guy looked a lot more solid. Except for the horns, and the weird way his eyes had no whites, he seemed to be human. His skin tone was a little deeper than Leah’s—a regular coffee instead of a double double—he had a lot of long dark hair twisted into dreads, and he was naked. And, although it was difficult to tell for certain, given that he and Leah were still sharing the same space, remarkably well hung.
    What the fuck?
    Tony shook his head and Leah was once again just a not very tall stuntwoman eating chow mein in his living room. Alone. No overlay of antlered guy. Eyes narrowed, he took a step back and raised the plastic fork. “What was that?”
    â€œA test.” She caught a bean sprout before it fell off the edge of her plate. “Ninety percent of men fail it.”
    Tony did the math. “Well, good for me. I’m really most sincerely gay.”
    â€œAnd yet you still can’t afford a gallon of periwinkle paint?”
    â€œYeah, well here’s a thought…” He moved a pile of old sides—the half-size sheets with all the background information for each day’s shoot as well as the necessary script pages—and sat on the steadier of his two folding chairs. “…unless that guy is your inner interior decorator, how about you let the beige thing go and tell me what the hell is going on?”
    She thought about it for a moment, then nodded and sat on the edge of his bed. “You’re a wizard.”
    Tony just barely managed to resist coming back with, I know I am, but what are you? It was just past three in the morning, for fuck’s sake. He was a little punchy. He swallowed a mouthful of beef fried rice and said: “You’re…?”
    â€œNot.” A wave of her fork, dangling a piece of overcooked bok choi, cut off his reply. “It’s complicated. Maybe you should call your teacher, and I’ll only have to go through it once.”
    â€œMy teacher?”
    â€œMentor. Whatever you call the senior wizard in charge of