AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Stollo’s clasp was firm. “And until that day, you’ll still keep volunteering at the food bank?”
“I will.”
“Then I’ll see you the next time I pull that duty.”
Pietro nodded. “I’ll look forward to it.”
Stollo was not at the distribution center when Pietro returned the next day, so Pietro didn’t linger after the food was handed out. But he found equally interesting company awaiting him when he made it back to his rented rooms that evening.
“Cody!” he exclaimed when he spotted the courier lounging outside his door. “I wondered if you would go to the trouble of tracking me down.”
Cody grinned and pushed himself away from the wall where he was leaning. “I found you a day after you moved in,” he said matter-of-factly. “I’ve been by a couple of times but you weren’t home.”
“Come on in. I think I can scrape together a meal if you’re hungry.”
“I’m always hungry.”
The rooms were low-ceilinged and cramped, but since Pietro had no furniture except the few pieces that came with the rent, the space wasn’t unbearably crowded. Rather, it was shadowy and hot, though candles took care of the first problem. An open window didn’t do much to help the second one.
Pietro rummaged in the small kitchen while Cody looked around with a critical eye. “Do you need me to find you a table? And some chairs? I know shops where you could get them cheap.”
“Maybe, if I stay here long enough,” Pietro said, cutting up fruit and unwrapping a portion of cooked meat. “I keep thinking I’ll find better quarters someday, I just haven’t figured out where.”
“If you tell me how much you can afford, I can tell you the best places in the city.”
Pietro grinned at him over his shoulder. “You are an invaluable source of information.”
Cody grinned back. “That’s my job.”
In a few minutes, Pietro had assembled a couple of plates of food and brought them out to the main room. There was nowhere to sit except the rug, but Cody sank to the floor without even bothering to grimace. Pietro had the feeling that all experiences were roughly equal to Cody—what he cared about washavingthose experiences, no matter how uncomfortable or unconventional.
“So you came looking for me a while back?” Pietro asked. “Did you need something?”
Cody shook his head and talked around a mouthful of food. “Nope. I just like knowing where people are.”
“Do you know where Jayla is?”
“Sure. She found a job right away.”
“And Aussen is with her?”
“She is.”
He did not, Pietro noted with some relief, volunteer any information about where, exactly, Jayla might be employed. He wondered what Cody would say if Pietro asked for the details.I’d like to look them up and see how they’re doing.But surely Jayla would have warned Cody not to share that information with Pietro. There was a closed, cautious expression on Cody’s open face; he knew he was supposed to keep this secret.
“It occurs to me I don’t know whereyoulive,” Pietro said. He munched on a piece of fruit and surveyed his visitor, trying to guess. “Not with your parents. Not by yourself in some tiny place like this one.”
Cody grinned again. “Nope. Big old converted warehouse on the edge of the Quatrefoil. About ten couriers live there at any one time, so it’s a lively place.”
“Ah. I can instantly picture you there in a building teeming with life. You do not seem like a man who is drawn to solitude or peace.”
Cody shook his head. “I like it when stuff is going on.”
“Do you come from a large family? Is that why you like all the noise and chaos?”
“Yes. Eight brothers and sisters in a very small house. Everyone else liked it better when the older ones started clearing out, but I thought it was lonelier.”
“Are you still on good terms with your family?”
