Sweet Blood of Mine Read Online Free Page A

puled his dinner from the microwave and sighed. He looked down the hal toward Mom's office with a sad expression. I didn't blame him. This microwaved stuff sucked.
    "Dad, did you ever want a girl who was out of your league?"
    He raised an eyebrow and took a moment to answer. "Of course, son."
    I'm strictly heterosexual and not incestuous or anything, but my dad is a fairly handsome man. I'd overheard Myra Bergenhoff and another woman swooning over him in the grocery store once. Sometimes women would give him this realy intense stare, like he was a celebrity or wearing chocolate body spray. The only woman who never looked at him that way was Mom. I guess being married helps you look past a person's charm.
    Unfortunately, I didn't have Dad's good looks or his chocolate BO.
    "Having girl problems, son?" Dad actualy seemed kind of happy I wasn't tearing it up with the ladies.

    kind of happy I wasn't tearing it up with the ladies.
    "Sort of."
    "Anything weird ever happen?" He winked and said
    "weird" in a mocking voice, but his eyes looked oddly worried.
    I decided to play dumb since I didn't have a clue where this was going. "Girls are just weird." Then again, maybe he was questioning my sexuality. "Not that I don't like girls, of course. I totaly like girls and females of…uh…
    the human variety." I didn't want him thinking I was into bestiality either.
    "You know if you ever have any questions you can ask me."
    Eww. "I'l keep that in mind." I could sense a wel-intentioned but useless father-son chat coming, so I grabbed my microwaved mush and dashed into my room.
    My phone beeped. Another text from Katie. Want to study tonight?
    Despite the crushing sense of defeat overwhelming me upon learning about her and Brad, a tiny ray of hope blossomed. I'm so optimistic it makes me sick. I knew I was only setting myself up for another dose of hurt, but it didn't matter.
    I agreed to meet her over at her place in half an hour. I spent the next few minutes putting on my best pair of cargo pants and an XXL T-shirt to cover my fleshiness, and brushed my Gandalf-like hairdo until it looked somewhat presentable. I took Dad's Jetta and scooted over to her house with a dash of sunshine in my heart.
    I parked at the curb near Katie's house and walked up the driveway. Soft sobbing noises emanated from ahead. Katie sat under the glow of the outside lights near the front door.
    "Katie?" I said. "Are you okay?"
    She sniffled and wiped at her eyes. "Oh, God, I'm so embarrassed."
    I sat down next to her. "What's wrong?"
    She blew her red nose into a tissue and shook her head. The girl might be gorgeous under normal circumstances, but she was an ugly crier. I didn't care.
    She puled out a fresh tissue and wiped her nose.
    "You know Brad, right?"
    "Of course," I said in a tone that indicated Brad and I went way back.
    "He's a real jackass."
    On the outside, I managed to craft a concerned look instead of smiling or laughing maniacaly. On the inside I danced a jig. "What did the jerk do?"

    "I've seen Rebecca talking to him a lot. He always tels me they're just friends."
    I nodded solemnly. "Yeah. Not a good sign."
    Rebecca was one of the perpetual beauty pageant girls in the school. Pretty hot, I had to admit, but nobody topped Katie, not in my book. And what in the world was so special about Brad "I have a motorcycle" Nichols that made the girls want to talk to him? He didn't play sports, he wasn't muscular, and he seemed dumb as a brick. It had to be the motorcycle. That in and of itself probably added plus ten charisma to his character.
    Riding the school bus put me somewhere in negative territory on that count.
    "Jenny told me she saw Brad riding through Midtown on his motorcycle with Rebecca." Another sob shook her.
    Anger crept up my chest in a wave of heat. How could guys like Brad get away with garbage like this? He had the most perfect girl in the universe crying over him while guys like me could only dream of even kissing a girl like