Page 81 of Rules, Roses, and Rivals
I straightened my shoulders and kept walking. The only way out was through. We moved past the lounge chairs and toward the drinks table, and I couldfeelthe energy shift around me.
Like air pressure.
Like everyone was holding their breath and waiting for me to explode.
“Mitch,” Rachel muttered under her breath. “Three o’clock.”
I turned slightly, and there he was. Mitch, linebacker, too tan for someone who claimed to hate the sun, wearing sunglassesat nightand sipping from a red Solo cup like it made him cool instead of cliché.
He grinned when he saw me.
Nope.
“Frankie,” he drawled, too loud, too pleased with himself. “Lookingrealgood tonight.”
Rachel slowed beside me. “Oh my god,” she muttered. “Did your girlfriend fall down a well, Mitch?”
I flinched. “He’s dating Cheryl.”
“Exactly,” Rachel said. “Which makes this extra gross.”
Mitch gave us both a cocky little shrug like this was all some inside joke we weren’t smart enough to get. “Can’t a guy give a compliment?”
Rachel turned to him, one hand on her hip. “Sure. If the guy’s single, and the compliment doesn’t come with a side ofregret sex fantasy. Try again, wide receiver.”
“I’m a linebacker,” he muttered.
“Not in themoralsense.”
I nearly choked on a laugh.
Mitch looked like he wanted to say something else but thought better of it, especially as Rachel stared him down like she’d be happy to turn his ego into a lawn dart. He slunk away, muttering something under his breath, probably about feminists or sharks or whatever scared him less.
I blew out a breath. “Okay. That wasn’t normal.”
“Nope,” Rachel agreed. “Which means the falloutdefinitelyhappened.”
I glanced across the yard, scanning for Jake. Coop. Bubba. Even Archie. But none of them were where we left them.
Instead, I saw Sharon, Patty, and Maria sitting near the shallow end, legs dangling in the water. Sharon caught my eye, smiled faintly, then leaned toward Patty and whispered something that made her smirk widen.
But it was Maria who looked up and didn’t look away.
She didn’t smile.
She didn’t smirk.
She looked…sad.
My stomach turned. “I think they know.”
“Oh yeah,” Rachel said. “The jungle drums are beating, and guess whose name is in the lyrics?”
I pressed a hand to my temple. “I need a drink.”
“You need tobreathe.”
“Iwasbreathing. Then I came back here.”
