Page 69 of Moonshine Kiss
“Yeah, well he’s the one in the position of power and I’m the one at the bottom of the totem pole.”
“Hang in there,” Dad advised. “He’s tryin’ to scare you off. Be professional. Do your duties. It’ll drive him nuts.”
I puffed out a breath and nodded. “Fine.”
“What’s the order of your Top Three right now?” Dad asked.
“Top Three?”
“Which one of us are you most mad at?”
“It’s a three-way tie at this point.”
34
Bowie
“You’re trying too hard,” Jonah observed as I scrolled through another page on the website. He was steaming broccoli while I searched for exactly the right set of pajamas.
“Cassidy loves these things,” I said, remembering the matching Strawberry Shortcake pajamas Nadine Tucker had given Cassidy and Scarlett for Christmas one year. Every time Cassidy slept over, she had on a different set of pajamas.
I imagined a cozy pair of pajamas would be a smart start to worming my way back into her good graces. I could see her lounging around in soft purple thermals while we curled up on the couch to watch one of those eighties movies she was obsessed with.
I was in this for the long haul. Cassidy Tucker was meant for me, and I wasn’t letting her slip away a second time.
“She didn’t seem to be wearing any pajamas the other night,” Jonah noted.
“Don’t make me drown you in boiling broccoli water,” I said mildly.
He grinned, checking the chicken breasts roasting in the oven.
Having Jonah as a roommate was all right in my book. He did most of the cooking, slapped baked goods out of my hand, and was, in general, the easiest Bodine brother to talk to.
“How are things going for you?” I asked him, adding a red satin short and cami set to my shopping cart.
He shut the oven door with his hip and reached for his water bottle. “Good,” he said with a roll of his shoulders. “Business is pretty steady for the off-season.” He’d started some group exercise classes during the week that had a huge and primarily female following. But Jonah didn’t seem to notice the adoring attention.
“How about everything else? It’s gotta be weird to share not just DNA but a name with our dad.”
It was the vice principal in me, checking in, testing the waters.
“Everything’s weird as far as I’m concerned. I try not to worry about it much,” he said.
“I noticed reporters are trickling back into town,” I said. “Any of them giving you any trouble?”
“They’re a bit more respectful than the last bunch.”
The school was only fielding about six or seven calls a day from journalists looking for a story. There hadn’t been any more newsworthy breaks in the case since the sweater, and interest seemed to be tapering off.
Jonah looked like he wanted to say something else.
“What?” I asked.
“What was he like? Your father. To you, I mean. Scarlett’s told me some. Jameson, too. But it seems like you all had different relationships.”
“First of all, it’s y’all.”
“I’m not an official Bootlegger yet. I don’t think I can appropriate your language.”
