Page 42 of Trust No Alpha
“Not really. I had a small kitchen in my locked rooms, but a servant cleaned it every day.”
“Well, it’s pretty easy since I have a dishwasher. Bring them over to the sink.”
“Okay.” Kris helped clear the table, then stood at the sink looking down.
“We’ll rinse them first and I’ll show you how I load them in the washer.”
For a spoiled rich kid who probably had his meals served to him on golden platters and thinking food came like magic from the air, Kris never complained. He didn’t do a great job getting the dishes rinsed, but Thorne was not one to criticize.
After the kitchen was clean, Thorne said, “What do you like? TV? Movies? To be left alone?”
For a moment, Kris looked confused. He said, “You don’t have to entertain me.”
Thorne shrugged off an urge to lightly smack his upper arm. “I’ve been alone for years. Sure I’ve been to town a couple times a week, but I don’t normally have guests in my home. It will be a treat to watch a movie with someone else in the room. Strange, but a treat.”
Kris looked skeptical. “Okay. A movie, then. I don’t care what.”
Thorne brought up something on a subscription channel, got them a couple of beers and plopped himself on the couch.
Kris looked at the bottles. “I’ve never had beer before.”
“What?” Thorne grinned. “Well, you’ll probably hate your first. But you get used to it after that.”
For some reason, that didn’t sound right to his ears, how the words came out, their double meaning. But he ignored the flush that grew against his cheeks.
Kris popped off the cap and drank. He did not make a face, but he didn’t smile, either. Well, in fairness, he’d not done any smiling since he’d arrived.
During the course of the movie, Kris drank the entire beer and did not comment. But Thorne could tell he was perplexed by the taste of the drink.
By the time the credits rolled, Kris’s eyelids drooped.
Thorne said, “You can stay. Watch whatever you want. I know it’s early, but I’m turning in.”
He wasn’t tired, but he’d read a book. He needed to do something to distract himself from the distraction of Kris. And it was Kris who needed rest. But he wasn’t going to order him to it.
Kris blinked. “Oh yeah. I think I will, too. Thank you for dinner.”
“You’re welcome. Have a good night.”
Once Thorne was in bed, tablet in hand, he grew instantly restless. He couldn’t stop thinking about Kris. He liked Kris, and it was good to have him here. And it wasn’t good.
In his mind, he listed the good things first.
One: He’d been lonely so company was a nice change.
Two: Whether the boy would admit it or not, Kris needed his help. Thorne had promised himself twenty-five years ago he’d never be responsible for seeing harm come to another, and though Kris’s dilemma was not his fault, he’d be contributing to another’s downfall if he did not at least try to assist him.
Three: The boy in the window. That image had haunted him. Now he had a name and a face to put to the image. That made him smile.
Four: Kris’s presence gave him pleasure.
Which now led him to his list of the not-so-good reasons why he couldn’t stop thinking about Kris.
One: Kris’s presence gave him pleasure. Nothing wrong with that. A companion for a meal and a movie. Someone who desperately needed help. It felt good to be able to provide that help. But those pleasures weren’t the problem. It was another secondary pleasure he hated to admit even to himself. Attraction. Racing pulse. Arousal. The scent of Kris alone might be the cause, but combined with Kris’s unselfconscious beauty, and his desperate situation, Thorne could not help but respond. There was danger there. To both of them. Not good.
Two: If, and that was a bigif, they were ever discovered, the Vandergale wrath was nothing to lightly dismiss.
Three: Kris had not yet entered his first Burn. He had been eighteen for many weeks now. Maybe due to his rare condition the Burn would bypass him, but Thorne could not count on that. It would be stupid not to make advance preparations. Just in case.
