Page 43 of Inferno
“I’ve got a few candy bars under my bed. You can have them.” As Mason’s face lit up, Manning put his finger to his lips and winked. “But don’t tell the others, or they’ll know you’re my favorite.”
Mason beamed with sheer delight. “I won’t tell ’em!” he promised before dashing off to raid the secret stash.
Manning grinned ruefully at Taylor. “Sorry about that.”
“It’s okay.” She was blushing hard, not meeting his gaze. “I-I should be going anyway.”
“But we haven’t finished our math homework yet.”
“I know, but I need to get home before my brother goes to bed.”
“Why?”
“Well, I always read him a bedtime story. It’s our nightly ritual.”
Manning was impressed. “You two must be pretty close.”
“We are.” She gave him a stern look. “So I’m not a fan of tormenting little brothers.”
When Manning ducked his head in shame, she grinned. “But you redeemed yourself with the candy.”
“Thank you,” he said humbly.
Taylor laughed.
Manning smiled at her. He wanted to kiss her again to see if he’d only imagined those electric shocks, but he was afraid she’d bolt if he went near her, and the last thing he wanted to do was scare her off.
“I’ll go get my dad so we can take you home.”
Taylor hesitated for a moment,thennodded. “Okay. Thank you.”
Manning left the kitchen and made his way down the hall and around the corner to his parents’ bedroom. The double doors were closed, so he just figured that his parents wanted privacy to talk and catch up on each other’s day.
But as he raised his hand to knock, he heard faint noises coming from within the room. Low moans punctuated by squeaking bed springs.
Manning jumped back from the door.
As a slow flush crawled up his neck, he made a disgusted face, then turned and beat a hasty retreat.
When he returned to the kitchen, Taylor was packing up her books. As Manning dropped back into his chair, she glanced up and asked curiously, “Where’s your dad? Is he coming?”
Manning shuddered with revulsion. “I don’t wanna know.”
Taylor gave him a puzzled look. “What do you mean?”
“Nothing.Why don’t we, um, finish our homework? I wanna make sure you can solve the rest of the problems.”
“Okay,” Taylor agreed slowly. “But your dad’s coming, right?”
Manning grimaced. “If he isn’t now, he will be soon enough.”
