Read Beyond Definition for Free Online Page B

family was used to the way my friendship was with Bo. It wasn’t unheard of for Bo and me to spend days at a time basically living at each other’s place, especially now that we were out of high school and he didn’t live with his parents anymore.
    We both kept multiple changes of clothes in the other one’s closets, and between the two of us, we had four toothbrushes. Which, now that I thought about it, would probably be a sore spot for any potential serious girlfriend for Bo. I can’t imagine walking into my boyfriend’s bathroom and seeing another woman’s toothbrush next to his in the holder. But in all honesty, I kind of liked having that sense of possession in his apartment.
    “Hey, Sue,” Bo said as he walked into the kitchen and kissed the top of her head. He had changed into jeans and a plain black T-shirt. “Sorry about waking you up last night.”
    “No worries, Bo. I’m just glad you’re looking out for our girl,” my aunt said, causing me to smile.
    “Ivy, I’m sorry but Destiny called me. There’s a problem at the shop. I gotta go check it out.”
    “Oh no. What’s wrong?”
    “Something with the computers. No big deal, I don’t think, but I have to skip breakfast.”
    “Well, here,” I said, opening a cupboard and handing him a couple granola bars. “Take these so at least you have something to eat.”
    “Not as good as pancakes, but I’ll take them,” he said with a smile. “We still on for the movie tonight?”
    “Yes, I’ll still go with you to your lame-ass zombie movie.” I rolled my eyes with a smile.
    Bo said good-bye to Aunt Suzy, kissed me, and left to tackle his computer problem. I was sad to see him go, especially considering his lack of sleep.
    I was debating what to do with the now-unwanted bowl of pancake batter when I heard my aunt sigh, and I looked up to see her shaking her head at me.
    I cocked an eyebrow at her. “What’s that look for?”
    “You two,” she said still shaking her head.
    “Us two what?”
    “Ivy, your uncle and I have been together for thirty-three years. I know love when I see it, and I see it in Bo when he looks at you and I think you know that.”
    “Then you need your eyes checked. We’re just friends, Auntie.”
    “Mm-hmm. When’s the last time you had another friend sleep over like Bo does? How many of your other friends hold you up on a pedestal like Bo does? Neither one of you has ever really dated anyone else. Whether you admit it or not, that boy is in love with you.”
    I jabbed the whisk into the bowl of batter. “You’re wrong. Yes, we have a… peculiar friendship, but it works for us. You know that.”
    My aunt reached across the counter and patted my hand. “I do know that, sweetheart and that’s fine. But I just don’t want you to miss out on something spectacular because you’re comfortable with what you have now.”
    “What’s wrong with what I have now?”
    “Nothing, dear. If you are both happy with what you have now, then that’s fine. But I don’t think Bo is happy.”
    “He seems happy to me,” I argued but then remembered the way he desperately clung to me earlier. He had a primal need to hold me, and I still didn’t really understand what that was about.
    “You don’t see how he looks at you when he thinks no one is looking.”
    “You are overanalyzing. There’s never been anything but friendship between us.” I scraped the pancake batter into the garbage with a little more force than necessary and turned to wash the bowl out.
    “Oookay… if you say so.”
    “I do say so. Now,” I said changing the subject. “Why didn’t anyone tell me Uncle Paul hired Axel?”
    My aunt shrugged. “He couldn’t find anywhere decent to work.”
    “So we just up and let him work for us?”
    Aunt Suzy look at me confused. “Why wouldn’t we?”
    “Because he’s a lowlife drug dealer who almost put your son in jail!” I exclaimed.
    “Ivy, we have to give people second chances. Sometimes that’s