Blood and Chocolate

His hands tightened on her shoulders instead, and she felt his breath on her cheek as he bent his head closer. "Let him go," he whispered in her ear. Then the pressure of his hands was gone.

She turned to see him strolling toward the parts store. How dare he?

There was a moments silence; then Bingo hummed her appreciation. "Ummm-mmm. Buns of steel, absolutely."

"Who was that?" one of the gigglers asked breathlessly.

"A jerk," Vivian said, putting her arm around Aiden.

"He hasn't been bothering you, has he?" Quince asked, making a fist.

Vivian was touched by his concern. "No, he just irritates me," she said. Quince wouldn't last a second against Gabriel.

Aiden squeezed Quince's arm and shook him affectionately. "Come on, you guys," he said. "We've got a movie to see."

Chapter 14

14

When Aiden called the next night he had bad news. "Don't tell anyone," he begged. "They'll never let me live it down. Guys don't get grounded."

Oh, yeah, Vivian thought. Like, who am I going to tell? She didn't imagine she'd see the Amoeba without Aiden to take her out with them. "How long?" she asked.

"Until I can get my mother to tell my dad to lay off."

How can he allow them to restrict him like that? Vivian thought. What was wrong with him? No one could cage her up. "That's awful," she said. "What are you going to do?"

"Paint my room, supposedly," he answered. "Dad's stacked a pyramid of cans outside my door. He said twenty-five coats should do it."

"What about work? "

"Oh, he's got that timed." Aiden's voice was brittle. "I can go to work but if I come home five minutes late he's phoning the courts to have me officially declared an uncontrollable minor."

Vivian wasn't sure what he meant, but the threat sounded terrible. "Can he do that?"

"God knows, Viv, but I don't feel like testing him. I thought he'd lighten up when he retired from the army. Fat chance. Sometimes I wonder if he wasn't blown up in Vietnam before I was born and they sent home a robot replica."

Vivian chuckled. "That would make you a cyborg."

"Huh?"

"Half human, half robot."

Aiden let out a delighted yelp of laughter, but it was cut short by someone calling out to him in the distance. "Gotta go. Parents home," he said, and Vivian found herself holding a dead line.

Vivian was surprised when Bingo showed up at her door that evening.

"Thought you might like some company since your boyfriend's in the slammer," Bingo said.

"How did you know?" Vivian asked.

"I phoned up to see what was on for the night and his old man told me," Bingo replied. "Well, actually," she continued, "what he said was, 'He's not spending any time with you weirdos until he cleans up his act.' "

Vivian laughed. She recognized the tone of voice. "Want to come in?" Thank goodness Esmé was at work. She could trust Rudy to be a gentleman.

Bingo poked her head through the door and looked around. "Neat house, but I got Jem in the car and a stack of videos. Wanna come to my place and OD on popcorn?"

Vivian hesitated. She wouldn't have Aiden to hide behind. What if she didn't know how to join in? What if she made a fool of herself? But this is what you wanted, you coward, she told herself. She ignored the flutter in her stomach and nodded. "Yeah. Thanks. I'd love to."