AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“No, either you tell each other everything, or he lies to you as much as he lies to me. Which is it?”
She didn’t say anything else. Not that I expected her to. She’d defend him until the death even though he treated her like shit, too. As long as she had a working credit card and a sympathetic therapist, she’d stick by him.
Shaking my head, I pushed the cup of nasty green water away from me and stood. “Thanks for the tea. Oh, and if you’re curious about how my senior showcase went, you should check out Dad’s computer. Yeah, my kidnappers got some excellent footage for you.”
That was three days ago. She’d been hitting the Magnificent Mile hard since then. I could picture Dad screaming as soon as he got the credit card bill. Hell, maybe I should ask her to pick up some stuff for me, just to prove a point.
“Earth to Roan!” Frankie yelled, beaning me in the head with a koosh ball.
Shaking the water out of my hair, I frowned at her. “What?”
“What do you want to drink? Beer or margos?”
Freddy pushed the floating tray toward me and eased himself into the pool. He’d brought a variety of fruit, chips, and my personal favorite — mini tacos.
“Beer,” I replied, snagging a taco.
“Me too,” Freddy added.
“Get your own,” Frankie snapped, digging around in the cooler. She popped the top on a Corona and stuffed a lime wedge into it while I paddled over to the side to take it from her.
“Thank you.”
“No, thankyou,” Freddy said, snatching it out of my hand and swimming away with it.
“Asshole!” Frankie grabbed a chunk of ice and lobbed it at his head. Luckily, he was halfway to the other side of the pool, so it sank harmlessly to the bottom.
“I think the day you two get along, Hell might actually freeze over,” I said with a laugh, taking the second beer from her.
“Not likely. Cheers.” She smirked and held her margarita aloft before downing half of it.
Freddy hauled himself out of the pool, muttering.
“What’s up?” I asked.
“Forgot the damn salsa verde in the car.”
“Consuela’s salsa verde?” I perked up, watching him swagger across the pool deck. The Starlings’ longtime cook made the best salsa verde known to man. I’d grown up eating so much of her food over the years that when I thought of comfort food, it was her cooking that usually came to mind. My parents, on the other hand, changed cooks as often as people changed their underwear. Between Mom’s crazy cleanses and Dad’s overall demeanor, I didn’t blame any of them for leaving.
Freddy grinned and waggled his brows.
“Wait, did she make tamales too?” I asked, practically salivating at the thought.
His paced quickened noticeably and I scrambled back to the edge of the pool.
“You guys,” Frankie groaned.
We both ignored her.
He was already to the patio door by the time I got out of the water. Freddy threw a glance over his shoulder and I walked forward casually, like I was headed to one of the lounge chairs. As soon as he turned his back, I sprinted after him.
“At least save me one!” Frankie yelled after us.
Freddy and I raced through the house, slipping and sliding on the tile as we went. As soon as I gained ground on him, he shoved me in the shoulder, sending me toward one of the couches.
I jumped up on the cushion and leapt over the back, happy my high school track skills were still sharp. Landing right behind him, I hip-checked him out of the way and into the wall.
He recovered quickly. We reached the front door at the same time, fighting each other as well as the handle with our wet hands. Freddy got it open, but I darted out first and hurried down the front steps toward his car.
