Read Beautiful Entourage for Free Online

then acting like everything was totally normal, turned on the TV. “Want to watch the game?”
    I held back any irritation I had, knowing his sickness was real. “Sure.”
    “There’s beer in the refrigerator.”
    I grabbed two then sat beside him. He had the hookups for a washer and dryer in the apartment but I purposely didn’t buy him the appliances so he would be forced to join the rest of society downstairs. I brought him groceries but made him do some errands on his own. After sunset, he went out, but it was always with an anxious heart. The times I could get him out in the daylight were times when I talked him into it and promised the shadows wouldn’t get him. I even lied and said I had a Shadow Sword that would defeat them instantly if they tried to harm us. That usually did the trick.
    Chase was normal in every other way. He loved sports, movies, and music. He played guitar and loved women. Somehow, he got dates, usually finding them online. When they came to his apartment, they thought he was just extremely eccentric. He never mentioned his fear of shadows, and if he did, they would probably find it endearing because he was so charismatic. He was a good-looking guy and had a weight room in the apartment. I was always afraid he would get hurt lifting weights in limited light but it never happened.
    “Seriously, where do they find these refs?” he asked. “On Craig’s list?”
    I laughed then drank my beer.
    My brother was a computer programmer and he was very gifted at it, so he didn’t have to leave the apartment. But he didn’t make much money because no one wanted to hire someone who refused to ever come into the office. So, I supported him. I didn’t resent him for it. It was better than us living together. I refused to let that happen. I couldn’t live in the dark.
    “I think I’m going to get you a washer and dryer,” I said.
    “You don’t have to do that,” he said immediately. “I’ll just go in the middle of the night when everyone is asleep.”
    That wasn’t a way to live. “I don’t mind.”
    “You do enough for me as it is.” He drank his beer then set it on his thigh.
    “Well, I’m going to do it anyway.”
    He stared at the TV for a while before he turned to me. “Thanks, man.”
    “Yeah.”
    “What’s new with you?”
    “Nothing, really.”
    “How’d that date go?” he asked.
    “It didn’t work out,” I said vaguely. “How about you?”
    “Liz and I stopped seeing each other last week.”
    His relationships never worked out, but I suspected Chase wasn’t looking for something serious. He seemed content with his life as a single guy, but like everyone else, he had needs. “You okay?”
    “I’m fine,” he said. “It ran its course. She comes over once in a while for sex then leaves.”
    “Well, that’s convenient,” I said with a chuckle.
    “Works out for me,” he said with a grin.
    We watched the game for the next hour, and the beers were depleted. After a while, I got used to the odd lighting in the apartment. In a weird way, it was comfortable. But I couldn’t do it for more than a few hours at a time. “I should go. I got to get this laundry done.”
    Chase walked me to the door. “Thanks. I’ll come by tomorrow night and grab it.”
    “I’ll drop it off,” I said. “Don’t worry about it.” I grabbed the basket on the counter but he stopped me.
    He pulled me into a hug and patted me on the back. “Thanks, brother. I really don’t know what I’d do without you.”
    I returned the embrace then held him close. Other people might see Chase as a freak but he wasn’t. He was just someone who was different. He was still the same person underneath, fun, loyal, and funny. “No problem.”
    “I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said. “You want to watch the game?”
    “Sure. I’ll bring a pizza.”
    “You’re bringing the laundry,” he said. “I’ll order the pizza. It’s the least I can do.”
    I nodded. “That sounds good.”
    He