Matt shook his head and grinned. “Her dad was one of the people who backed Dr. Cooper when he first discovered TNV. And her grandfather used to be Immortal. He wrote that parenting book you guys like so much.”
“Oh,” Daphne said. “So that’s how it happened.”
“Well, that was part of it,” I replied. “The girl found out after I saved her dog.”
“Maybe we should get a dog,” Gage said.
“No way,” Niles protested. “I’m not cleaning up after a dog.”
“It could be an outdoor dog.”
“You’d still have to feed it, son.” The conversation shifted, and I relaxed.
After dinner, the family moved into the living room. Gage was informed that the dishwasher was still broken and it was his turn to do the dishes. I’d assumed they had at least one full-time servant there as well as a repairman to fix a broken dishwasher fairly quickly, but didn’t see or hear about either one. Any potential servants could have gone home for the night, but they probably would have been mentioned over dinner. Even if it was only something like “I wish Florence had done a better job on those floors today.” Then again, the dinner conversation had mostly revolved around me and other trivial things.
Gage reached over my head to take my plate, his head coming in close to mine. “Need any help with these?” I asked.
He shook his head. “Nah, I’ve got it. But…I could always use some company.”
Two minutes later, everyone else was in the living room and I stood by the sink next to Gage, who was up to his elbows in soapy water. “So how do you like The Necropolis so far?“ he asked. “Other than the traffic, because I think we already covered that.”
“It’s interesting. I’m still trying to figure out how to work all my new electronics. Our dryer has a touch screen.”
“What did your old dryer have?”
“Clothespins.”
He laughed and immediately looked over to me, probably afraid I was offended. But I wasn’t.
“It took me awhile to get used to those things,” he said. “Even longer to get used to all the TV channels. But now I guess it’s kind of normal.”
“Your brother doesn’t seem to think so.”
“Oh, he’s gotten the hang of all the gadgets.” He slung a plate in the air to dry it. “He’s not used to the lifestyle. Even though he didn’t actually pay for it, his new car costs more than our old house. And none of us are used to getting a check in the mail for doing nothing.”
“That’s good, isn’t it?” I said. “My grandpa always says that once you get complacent with it, you start to feel a sense of entitlement.”
“Your grandpa is very smart.” He squeezed a soapy sponge over plate and bubbles ran down his tanned, toned arms. I discreetly dropped my hands in the water and slung them at him.
“Hey!” He almost tripped, but flung a handful of water back at me. Soon we were engaged in a full water war. I slipped on the floor and almost fell over, but he grabbed me before I hit the ground. His head rested on my shoulder as he pulled me back to my feet. “You okay?” he said, still laughing. His hand was still on my waist; he moved it, but I felt a wet handprint.
“Hey you guys, come here!” Elizabeth called from the living room. “You’ve got to see this. This guy’s about to drive his motorcycle into a lake!”
“Now I remember why I never watch TV,” I muttered. Gage laughed again, took my arm and led me to the living room.
The couch was almost full, but we managed to squeeze in beside one another. Gage grabbed a blanket from the back of the couch, draped half of it over his legs and offered the other half to me. Even though my palms sweated like crazy, I took it.
chapter four
Matt offered to drive me back to my apartment later that night. The temperature had dropped significantly and I shivered as we stepped outside. He slung off his jacket and placed it around my shoulders, maybe a little too gently. “Wouldn’t want you to get sick,” he said. “Not that it would be a big deal.”
“You know,” I said, “It’s weird. Even before I was Immortal, I never got sick. I can’t even remember the last time I had a cold.”
“Lucky you. But now that we’ve talked about it, you’re going to get sick. Just watch.”
“Yeah right,” I said.
But less than a week later I was sick. I don’t know if it was the sudden drop in temperature or if Matt actually did jinx me. But I woke up Saturday morning with a sore throat, runny nose and a cough so bad my sides hurt. Even though it would only last 48 hours with the TNV, it felt like the cold was trying to cram as much misery as possible into a short amount of time. Luke had a package of Gatorade bottles in the cabinet; even though I didn’t really need them, they tasted so good that I ended up drinking half of them that afternoon. By Sunday morning, I could finally sit up and talk to people, but the living room coffee table was littered with Gatorade bottles and tissues.
Elizabeth came by later that afternoon, which was a surprise considering our relationship was quasi friendly at best. She would have been more welcome if she had restocked my Gatorade supply and not brought me biology assignments (or at least told me what to do instead of tossing them in front of me). But she was pleasant.
“So how are you feeling?” she asked, but didn’t wait for an answer. “Paige and I missed you last night. You didn’t miss much, though. We just hung out at her house and watched TV. She didn’t want to go out because Matt didn’t go. Said he was studying.” She snickered. “Anyway, I haven’t even talked to you about dinner Monday night.
