My Blood Approves (14 page)

“
What?” Jack kept his tone
sober, but I could see the corners of his mouth creeping up at my
use of the word “superpowers.”

“
Calming me down or making
me feel whatever it is you feel.” I had expected him to avoid the
question or shrug me off, but instead he got serious and his
forehead creased.

“
You feel what I feel?” He
cocked his head to the side a little bit, looking at me
curiously.

There was a good chance that I was blowing
everything out of proportion. He was charismatic and excitable, so
his emotions had a way of dominating situations. That didn’t mean
that I actually felt what he felt.

“
Not literally, I’m sure.
It’s just like when you want me to calm down, I usually do. Or when
you were nervous about the dog, I felt you tense up so I got
freaked. But it’s probably nothing more than what normal people
feel.”

“
Hmm.” He didn’t look
convinced, but he pulled his hand back from mine and opened the
door to the Jeep. “You must be feeling pretty calm and happy right
about now, so let’s go inside before it wears off.”

“
That’s actually a good
idea,” I agreed and got out of the Jeep.

“
You mean it does actually
wear off?” He hurried around to meet me, and it felt weird for me
to be on the other side of the question-and-answer game we always
played. I wrapped my arms around myself and shrugged. “No,
seriously. I don’t understand how this works.”

“
I don’t know either. I
just assumed you’d know what I was talking about.” We had reached
the door into the house, but he paused, staring off into
space.

“
Unless…”

“
Unless what?” I
asked.

“
Nothing.” He shook his
head, shaking off whatever thought he had.

“
Jack!” I protested, and he
smirked at me.

“
I’ll tell you later.” He’d
never said that me before, and it surprised me.

“
Really?” I asked
hopefully.

“
No. Come on.” Before I
could argue more, he opened the door and walked into the house.
“Hi, honey, we’re home!”

“
Peter, hold Matilda!” Mae
shouted from another room, and I cringed, knowing that Peter was
just a room away. Then Mae raced into the entryway, her arms
already open to hug me. “Alice!” She threw her arms around me,
holding me tightly to her. “I’m so glad you’re here!”

“
Me too,” I told her, and I
was surprised to find I actually meant it.

“
You know, I’m here too,”
Jack pointed out when she released me. He had only meant it as a
joke, but she turned and hugged him anyway. “Thanks.”

“
You know we’re always glad
you’re here,” Mae smiled at him.

“
I know you’re glad that
I’m here,” Jack corrected her, and a new fear gripped me. Maybe
both Peter and Ezra didn’t like him, meaning that I wouldn’t even
stand a chance.

Suddenly Matilda came bursting into the
room, but Jack intercepted her, and she jumped happily into his
arms. This is a hundred pound dog, and he caught her in his arms
with ease. I knew that eventually I’d have to stop being so amazed
by Jack.

“
Peter!” Mae shouted
towards the other room, where Peter remained hidden.

“
She got away from me!”
Peter said, his silken voice shooting through my body. If he had
even half the strength that Jack had, hanging onto Matilda wouldn’t
be a problem. He’d let her go to spite us in some way.

“
Peter,” another voice
boomed. His voice was deeper than Jack’s or Peter’s, and it
resonated in a way that made me flush warmly. He was disapproving,
and I knew that if I had been on the receiving end of his
disproval, I’d probably faint.

“
Sorry,” Peter
grumbled.

“
That’s Ezra,” Mae told me,
smiling proudly just at the mention of her husband.

Jack finally put down Matilda, who had
completely saturated his face in slobber, and she bounded away. Mae
looped her arm in mine, and I knew she would revel introducing me
to Ezra, so I let her lead me into the next room.

“
He’s really not scary at
all,” Jack reassured me as he wiped dog slobber of his face with
the back of his arm.

Then we walked into the living room, and as
soon as I saw him, all my fears melted away. My very first thought
was that he looked like an angel. He was taller than Jack and
Peter, but he didn’t seem to tower over anyone.

As I had suspected, he was gorgeous, and he
wore a white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up and collar
unbuttoned, revealing a tantalizing hint of his chest. His eyes
were deep mahogany and infinitely warm. His skin was the same
tanned color as Peter’s, but his hair had sun kissed streaks
through it.

He was in his mid-twenties, and he looked
amazing, but he also looked… old somehow. Around his eyes, I could
tell that he was much wiser than his age belied.

“
And you must be Alice,”
his deep voice rolled warmly towards me, sending pleasurable chills
coursing through me.

There was something about his voice, I’d
heard it when he said Peter’s name, but I couldn’t quite place it
until he spoke more. He had a faded accent, maybe Irish or
Australian, but I couldn’t be sure since it was so soft. He stepped
closer to shake my hand, and that’s when it finally dawned on
me.

Ezra had an accent, but Peter and Jack
didn’t, and maybe Ezra being born in another country while the
other boys were too young to pick up an accent could explain
that.

But their eye colors were all so distinct
and completely different. Ezra had deep brown, Peter’s were
shocking green, and Jack’s were a soft blue. There was no way they
were brothers.

“
And you must be Ezra,” I
said.

He held my hand in both of his, and he
smiled so warmly at me, I thought I would melt. Out of the corner
of my eye, I could see Peter standing in the corner, casting an odd
look at us, but I tried to ignore it.

“
I’ve heard so much about
you.” He let go of my hand and took a step back so he was at a
polite distance. Mae stayed planted at my side, and she had started
stroking my hair again. I realized belatedly that she was showing
me off.

“
All of it good, I hope,” I
said quietly. It was an incredibly cheesy thing to say, but I
couldn’t think of anything better.

With Ezra stepping back, he didn’t quite
eclipse my view the way he had before, and I couldn’t help but
sneak a glance at Peter, who was staring straight back at me. He
leaned his shoulder against a wall with his arms crossed over his
chest. Wearing tight fitting jeans and a black tee shirt, he was so
amazingly gorgeous that I had to pull my eyes away to look back at
Ezra, who suddenly didn’t seem quite as astonishing in
comparison.

“
Isn’t she lovely?” Mae
gushed, putting her arm around me. All the attention was
flattering, but very odd. Mae treated me as if I had cured cancer
or walked on water, and all I had done was show up.

“
She is something,” Ezra
said, and I felt him appraising me, so I straightened my back
slightly. “But you knew she would be.”

I didn’t know what the hell that meant, and
I wanted terribly to ask, but I knew it would have to wait until we
left and I was safely in the car with Jack.

“
She’s just a girl,” Peter
scoffed, making me crumble inside.

My body slouched automatically, but I fought
to keep my facial expression even. Ezra turned to shoot a glance at
Peter, who just looked away and shifted his weight.

“
Peter.” Ezra wasn’t
disapproving this time. He just sounded like he didn’t understand
him at all.

“
Well, you don’t need to
put her on display,” Peter muttered. He refused to look at me, but
he snuck glances at Ezra. “She’s here. I get it.”

“
I was just introducing her
to Ezra,” Mae told him, but there was a protective edge to her
voice.

“
I’m sorry about Peter,”
Ezra turned back to me, smiling apologetically. “He seems to have
completely lost his mind.”

Peter rolled his eyes at that, and I
wondered what it was about me that bothered him so much. I’d barely
said anything around him. In fact, I’d mostly just stood there and
stared dumbly. How could that be so offensive to anyone?

“
You know what would be
fun?” Jack asked. He’d been standing off to the side of me,
crouched down on the floor so he could pet Matilda, who had rolled
over on her back so he could rub her belly.

“
Nobody
wants to play
Guitar
Hero
.” Mae sounded exasperated when she
turned to give him a look.

“
But you can play the
Beatles! You loved the Beatles!”

“
He’s back on that again?”
Ezra asked, looking a little disappointed.

“
He bought a new system or
something,” Mae said wearily. “I don’t know. It’s just been the
past couple days.”

“
Well, maybe we should let
the kids play, and you can fill me in on what else I’ve missed
while I was gone,” Ezra suggested.

Mae took a step away from me, and he slid
his arm around her slender waist. They really looked perfect
together, and something about them made me incredibly jealous. Not
because I really wanted to be with Ezra (although, there were much
worse things I could do) but because of how obviously they were
made for each other. I wanted to be made for somebody like
that.

“
Have you
played
Guitar Hero
?” Jack asked suddenly. I’m assuming he was asking me, but he
was already hurrying over to the giant plasma television hanging on
the wall and hooking up the gaming system.

“
Let me know if you need
anything,” Mae gently touched my arm. “And don’t be afraid to tell
him when you’ve had enough. He can play that game for hours, so
you’re gonna have to be the one to stop him.”

When they walked out of the room, Mae rested
her head on Ezra’s shoulder, and I couldn’t help but feel sad to
see them go. Peter, strangely enough, didn’t take this as his cue
to exit, and stood where he was, glowering at everyone and
everything.

“
So have you?” Jack looked
back over his shoulder at me.

Matilda had followed him over to where he
sat crouched on the floor, putting the game in the player and
hooking up the wireless guitar controllers. She shoved her nose
right in his hair, drooling over it, but he didn’t seem to really
mind or notice.

“
Like
once, at a friend’s house,” I said. Jane had been making out with a
guy the entire time, while I sat downstairs in the living room and
played
Guitar Hero
with his nine-year-old brother. It had been a
hoot.

“
It’s really awesome,” Jack
said.

“
I don’t know why you’re
making the poor girl play with you,” Peter said. For once, he
didn’t sound angry or irritated, and I think he was almost coming
to my defense. “You’re going to completely slaughter
her.”

“
I am the
greatest
Guitar Hero
player of all time.” Jack was insanely proud of this
accomplishment, and why wouldn’t he be? He had amazing talents that
he downplayed constantly, but he was really, really good at a video
game. He had his priorities in order.

“
Of course you are.” I took
the plastic guitar from him and dropped the strap over my
shoulders.

“
What song do you want?” He
started scrolling through the song list so fast I could hardly even
read it, but I caught a few that I liked.

“
Um… how about
Interpol?”

“
Good choice,” Jack
commended me.

I was acutely aware of the fact that Peter
was staring at me, and it made me extremely self-conscious. His
gaze didn’t feel quite as hateful as it had before, but that didn’t
change the effect he had on me. Ezra had been able to calm him down
somewhat, and for that, I would be forever grateful. I couldn’t
bare him hating me.

A few strums on the guitar switch later, and
the game started rolling. The object was to hit the colored buttons
on the arm of the guitar in time with the same colored buttons
flashing on the screen, but it was much harder than it sounded.

Jack had put me on the easy skill level, but
he was on expert and flying through it. Peter had been right. There
was no contest between the two of us. I could barely even finish
the song.

“
Oh, that was brutal,”
Peter said when we had finished playing.

He left his place on the wall and walked
over to me, making my heart pound so loudly I could barely hear
myself think. He was careful not to look me in the eyes, and I
could tell that was a very deliberate decision. Then he held his
hand out towards me, and at first, I didn’t understand.

“
Give me the guitar. Jack
needs a good ass kicking.”

“
You need it more than I
do,” Jack scoffed.

I started to pull the strap off over my
head, but it tangled in the length of my hair. Peter reached out to
help me, and for a second, his hand was over mine.

His skin felt much different from everyone
else’s. It was just as baby soft, but it was burning hot. It
reminded me of when I accidentally touched an electric fence when I
was a kid, except this was pleasurable. It actually sent a jolt
through me, and I saw his eyes flash up, meeting mine for just a
second, so I knew he felt it too.