Free The Embers Of My Heart by Christopher Nelson Page A

can pull that off with jeans?"
    "Probably not. Put in the effort for her. She's worth it."
    He squinted at me. "Not to be a dick, but you don't have a thing for her, do you?"
    The question took me aback. She was attractive, definitely, and she was a lot of fun to be around. That being said, we didn't exactly click. The more I thought about it, the stranger it got. Both Jess and Star were aggressive redheads with direct personalities. I wasn't attracted to Jess and she wasn't attracted to me. I had been attracted to Star, and she had definitely been attracted to me. "No, I don't. I like her, but not that way."
    "You took a moment to think about that. Are you planning to steal my girl, Kev? Greedy bastard." He grinned at me, then turned to his closet. "Shirt and tie. Sure. I can do that for a few hours. Maybe."
    "Then you can invite her to take it off," I said. "The tie, I mean. Maybe the shirt if you're lucky."
    "I'm never that lucky."
    "Another thing I'd recommend," I said. "Bring mints. And don't bring cigarettes."
    He looked over his shoulder at me. "You think I don't know that?"
    "I think you're addicted and it's going to be harder on you than you want me to think."
    "That's fucking convoluted." He looked back into the closet and pulled out some clothes. "But yeah. I know. Believe me, I know. That's about the only way I'm going to get anything more than a half-assed kiss from her."
    "I know what I'm talking about," I said.
    "At some point, we're going to need to talk about other things," he said. "Between you, me, and Andreas, maybe we can figure something out."
    I nodded. "Let me know."
    Drew came out of the bathroom, dressed up and smelling of not-so-cheap cologne. I wished him luck as he headed out on his adventure, then the same to Max after his quick shower. Once they were both gone, I flopped into my chair and decided to do nothing of consequence for a while. I hadn't talked to Nikki about tonight, nor did I intend to. She had stung me too hard last year and I had done something awful to her. Our anti-Valentine's Day party had resulted in my getting close to Nikki, who belatedly told me she had a boyfriend. I felt led on. My reaction was nearly fatal. A psionically-assisted push. Massive trauma. Blood everywhere.
    I pushed the graphic memory away, but something in the back of my mind still nagged at me. Absynthe had said there could be cognitive damage from the injury. I frowned and flicked telekinetic force to the door to lock it in case anyone decided to barge in, then reached out for Absynthe's presence. It took a moment to settle my power and find her, but she answered quickly. Her realm was more red and less black today, but she was wearing all black. "Yes, Kevin?" she asked.
    "Sorry about disturbing you today," I said.
    "I don't have any dates lined up, so you're off the hook." She gave me a half-smile. "Unless you're planning on asking me, in which case, I'll have to graciously decline. Regulations strictly forbid relationships between mentors and their students."
    "I'm not really interested in any sort of date tonight," I said. She raised an eyebrow at me. "Too many bad memories from last year."
    "Ah. The accident." Her tone turned slightly frosty. "It's good you remember that. You've grown in terms of control, but I suspect your temper is still dangerous."
    "I have a question regarding what happened. You said that there was possible brain damage for Nikki."
    Absynthe's eyes narrowed and the red decor faded. "I did say that."
    "Was there?"
    She sat down on the couch and patted the seat next to her. "I will hold you to secrecy on this. Understand? Not a word to her."
    I sat down and nodded. "Not a word."
    Absynthe's eyes were dark enough normally, but as she looked at me, they seemed infinitely deep. "There was damage," she said quietly. "Nothing immediately noticeable. We found it months later. There was a small aneurysm building in her head. We didn't find it in time."
    "She had a stroke?" I asked.
    "Not