Total pages in book: 42
Estimated words: 43759 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 219(@200wpm)___ 175(@250wpm)___ 146(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 43759 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 219(@200wpm)___ 175(@250wpm)___ 146(@300wpm)
guy either. He’d never wanted to before, but now he found him self
thinking about it all the tim e, and not only when they were j erking each
other off, but whenever Mac sm iled at him in a certain way, or m ade
him laugh, or caught his ey e across the living room when the others were
around.
Mac was in Jez’s room one evening, sitting on Jez’s bed, working on
their latest assignm ent, when Jez’s phone rang. He looked at the screen.
“It’s m y parents.”
“Want m e to go?”
“No, it’s fine. I’ll try and be quick.” They had all their work spread
out in here and it would be a hassle for Mac to m ove room s.
Jez pressed the button to take the call, wondering which parent it
would be. “Hi.”
“Hi, darling.” It was his m um . “I thought I’d call as we haven’t
heard from y ou for a week or so. How are y ou?”
“Okay, thanks.”
They chatted for a few m inutes. Jez didn’t have m uch news, but he
reassured her that he was m anaging to keep up with his study ing despite
his part-tim e j ob. “I only do two shifts a week, one at the weekend and
one evening. It’s not interfering with uni at all.”
“And are y ou eating okay ?” she pressed. “I don’t want y ou starving
y ourself to save m oney for going out.”
“Mum , I’m fine. I’m m anaging m y m oney better this y ear, and I’m
hardly going out at all. I’m eating fine.” He caught Mac looking at him .
Mac grinned, and Jez rolled his ey es.
“I wish y our father hadn’t insisted.” She lowered her voice. “You
know I thought we should pay off the overdraft for y ou, y ou could
alway s pay us back once y ou’re working. But y ou know what he’s like—”
“It’s fine, Mum .” Jez cut her off. They ’d been through this enough in
the sum m er; he didn’t need to hear it again. “Any way, y ou caught m e in
the m iddle of an assignm ent, so I should probably get back to it.”
“Hang on, y our dad wants to talk to y ou too. Let m e get him .” There
was a rustle, and her voice was distant and m uffled as she called,
“Martin!” Then, back to norm al, she said, “Okay, here he is. Now take
care, darling, and stay in touch, please. You can alway s em ail m e if y ou
don’t want to phone. By e for now.”
Jez’s shoulders stiffened instinctively as he waited for his dad to
com e on the line. He should get into the habit of em ailing them m ore
often, and m ay be then he wouldn’t have to put up with the awkward
phone calls. He didn’t m ind talking to his m um , but his dad alway s got his
back up.
“Hello, Jerem y.” His father’s voice boom ed down the line. “How
are y our grades this term ?”
Jez gritted his teeth. Would it kill his dad to ask him in a m ore general
way how he was before quizzing him about his perform ance? But he
schooled his voice into politeness as he answered his dad’s questions about
his course and then, inevitably, about his finances. He was very aware of
Mac listening in, even though Mac wasn’t watching him —he had a
notebook open and a pen in his hand, but he was doodling rather than
writing.
Once his dad was reassured that Jez was working hard and not
pissing all his m oney away on beer, he finally said in a m ore congenial
tone, “And y ou’re okay ? Every thing all right generally ?”
“Yeah. I’m fine, Dad, thanks. But I have to go now. I have an
assignm ent to finish.” Those were the m agic words. No way would his
dad keep him from study ing.
“Oh, okay. I won’t keep y ou, then. Take care.”
“By e, Dad.”
“By e.”
Jez disconnected the call with a sigh. “Ugh.” He dropped his head
back against the wall with a thud.
“Your dad’s pretty hard on y ou, huh?” Mac said.
“Yeah. He was livid with m e last y ear for getting into debt.”
Mac frowned. “If y ou don’t m ind m e asking… they only give y ou a
very basic allowance, y eah? I was wondering why. I m ean… y our dad’s
a doctor, isn’t he? And y our m um …. What does she do again?”
“Solicitor.”
“They can’t be short of m oney. So how com e they don’t help y ou
out m ore?”
Jez shrugged. “It’s j ust the way m y dad is. He say s I need to be
independent and learn to m anage m y m oney. He com es from a working
class background, and he had to work bloody hard to get where he is
today. Dad doesn’t want m e to be one of those entitled kids who expects a