Chapter 94

“Well you can’t blameme for worrying,” Nick said. “It looks bad, baby, you without even an ID, working under the table for scraps?”

“Andy can make his own choices,” Jason said, finally joining the group and doing his impressive loom, biceps flexing as he twisted the dish towel in his hands. Strange how it had seemed so frightening at one time, but now, Andy felt sheltered. Protected. “He keeps telling you he wants to stay. Suggest you listen.”

Nick sized Jason up, cautious and somehow contemptuous at the same time, the way he’d face down a posturing gang member on the subway. “It would really be in your best interests to let me take him home,” Nick said. “Andy’s sucha darling, I’m sure you’ve noticed, but over time, he’s just terriblyexhausting to take care of. So high maintenance, and it looks like you’ve got plenty of maintenance to do here already, without having to add him to the list. You wouldn’t believe all the work I’ve had to put in these last years.”