When my phone finally jingled Jack’s ring tone, my heart skipped a beat and I jumped at it, but Milo just rolled his eyes.

When do you wanna hang out? Jack texted me.

As soon as possible.

You know what I think would be fun? Why don’t you bring Milo with? Jack messaged back, and I felt a wave of conflicting emotions run over me.

Bringing him along would definitely satiate my guilt, but it would also mean even less alone time with Jack where I could drill him for answers. Plus, I still hadn’t figured out what they wanted with me, let alone what they could possibly want with Milo. But he would like them, especially Mae.

Finally, I decided that there was only one way to make a decision.

“Milo, do you wanna come with me to Jack’s tonight?” I tried hard not to sound reluctant about asking him, and I even smiled when I turned to look at him, trying to make the offer sound somewhat enticing.

“What do you mean?” His eyes lit up and his voice raised an octave, but he wanted to make sure he understood what was transpiring before he agreed to it.

“Just go over to Jack’s house and hang out. He has Guitar Hero and stuff .” That would be an added bonus for Jack. He’d have someone to play video games with him that didn’t get irritated by it or totally suck at it.

“Do you really want me to?” Milo hesitated, and I smiled reassuringly at him.

“Yeah, of course I do.” I wanted to be around him, but I wasn’t sure that this was the best idea.

But it was the best idea I could come up with, and nothing bad had happened to me when I’d been with Jack. In fact, he’d saved my life twice. There shouldn’t be anything to worry about. So why was I worried?

“Then okay. Yeah. That’d be great.” Milo jumped up and ran into his room to change his clothes. He still had that crush on Jack to contend with, and I’m sure he’d forget all about it once he met Peter and Ezra.

He’s in. When are you picking us up? I replied to Jack.

Five minutes. I’m already on my way. That was Jack for you, not being psychic.

“You better hurry!” I shouted at Milo and went into the bathroom to fix my makeup. The clothes I was wearing would have to do, but at least I wouldn’t go there with smudged eyeliner. “He’s gonna be here in five minutes!”

“Ready!” Milo responded a second later. I peeked out the bathroom door to see him wearing almost the exact same outfit he was before – a long sleeved white shirt with a green polo over it and a pair of jeans.

“You’re sure you want to come with?” I asked him, once I had finished getting ready.

We walked out of the apartment, and Milo doubled check to make sure the door was locked and that he had his house keys in his pocket, something that I never did.

“Yeah, why wouldn’t I?” Then Milo shot a nervous look at me. “Do you not want me to?”

“No, that’s not what I meant!” I said quickly and smiled at him. “Of course I want you to come with.” I pushed the call button for the elevator and turned back to him. “There’s just a few things you have to know before we go.”

“Okay?” Milo raised an eyebrow at me, but I thought it’d be best if he were prepared. The elevator doors sprung open and we stepped inside. Thankfully, we were alone, because I would feel silly saying this stuff in front of complete strangers.

“First, his brothers are really hot. I mean, like movie star hot, except even hotter. I know that you think Jack is amazing, but his brothers blow him out of the water.” I looked over to gauge his response, but for the most part, he just looked skeptical.

“Second, his family is super rich. One of their cars easily costs twice as much as Mom makes in a year, and they have five of them and this super fancy house. It’s really intimidating.”

“Like how rich?” Milo started to look nervous, so my point was getting through. “Like Bill Gates rich?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t ask.” I hadn’t asked Jack about that one thing. Their wealth was inconsequential to me.

“Well what do they do for money then?” Naturally, Milo wanted to know all the practical reasons for everything. I had always meant to ask Jack what they did, but something else always sidetracked me.

“I didn’t ask that either,” I sighed, and the elevators opened to the lobby.

“Is there anything else I should know about them?” Milo asked as we walked out.

“Um, Jack drives super fast, but he’s perfectly safe.” I pushed open the glass doors that led outside.

“Really?” Milo wrinkled his nose. “Like how fast?”

“You’ll probably see,” I told him offhandedly, and then hurried over to Jack’s Jeep and jumped inside before Milo could ask anything more about it.

As soon as I realized what I’d done, it dawned on me why Jack had invited Milo along; he knew I wouldn’t say anything in front of Milo. Jack was trying to get off the hook about last night.

Someday, I’d probably have to tell Milo everything, but that day definitely wasn’t today. Maybe when I had the answers myself, and I could actually explain everything. Until then, I didn’t feel like letting that much out in the open.

“Hey,” Jack smiled at me, then turned back to Milo. “Hey, Milo. It’s good seeing you again.”

“Yeah, you too,” Milo replied. He stared at Jack for a moment, but he was much better at controlling his crush on Jack than most people. I wondered if it had to do with the fact that he was gay. Or maybe he just had really amazing self control.

“So what did you have planned for tonight?” I asked as Jack sped off down the highway towards his house.

“I don’t know,” Jack shrugged. “I just thought it was time that your family met my family.”

“Why?”

“Why not?” Jack countered.

“I don’t know. We haven’t known each other that long, and it’s not like we’re getting married or something.” That would be the logical time for families to mingle, not when two people have known each other for a couple weeks and are just friends.

“No, it’s definitely not like that.” Jack breathed deeply, and then turned up the stereo, blasting out the Violent Femmes.

We were silent on the short car ride, but when we pulled up in front of his house, I heard Milo gasp in the back seat and whisper, “It's like a castle.”