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“No.” Rip pointed at me and gave me the same stern expression his dad made.
His dad smiled at my shocked expression before handing me the clipboard and said, “I’m probably going to bring her home for the next family dinner.”
“I’m going to see your brothers.” She shook her head. Clearly not happy with him.
“Yeah?” he asked. “Which one? I want to be sure to text the other so they know who you chose first.”
He smiled, and she frowned at him and asked, “Why would you do that?”
He put Rip on the floor and said, “Look who it is!”
“Pop!” Rip ran to Tituss, who picked him up and threw him into the air. I gasped, reached.
I heard the jerk next to me say low to his mother, “You know why.” Then to me. “Seriously?”
I looked over at him and scowled. She said, “Hm. Well. It was nice to meet you, Harpy.”
She did not like my name if the way she said it, like it was an ache to make the sounds, was any indication. “You, my darling boy. Stop being such a jerk to your mother.”
He shrugged. She stepped forward, they embraced stiffly. He hugged her the way I would hug my mother if someone paid me a million dollars to do it. And they would have to because that was the only way that would happen these days.
She left as Rip came running back to his dad, who scooped him up and turned toward me. “You’ll be nice to Harpy, right? While Dad plays ball tomorrow?”
Rip nodded. “Hi, Hoppy.”
Tituss snickered, and the jerk holding the sweetest little boy laughed too. I ignored them. I was not in early childhood education. I didn’t even know they had that program here. I was not an idiot, though, and I did think this kid was sweet. “You want to go to the pool, or do you need lunch?”
His eyes went wide, and he said, “Pool!”
“Pool it is.” I was walking with Rip as a slow build of some commotion began. I didn’t know what was happening, so I picked him up as the handful of guys that were at the pool was getting out of it and…running.
I turned and saw Dane and Tituss both looking at their phones. Dane said, “Pool. We’ll be back. Just…stay here.”
Tituss said, “Stay with them.”
Squeak, the adorable guy from the horrible interrogation night, held up a shy hand and smiled at me. He said, “Hi. Thank you for the vegan snacks.”
I winked at him. “You’re welcome.”
He walked with us to the pool and took a seat in the shade. He was of India Indian descent, but unlike us, he was not prepared for the pool. Rip was in swim shorts, and I had this on the agenda, so I pulled my t-shirt off, shorts down, and—“Rip, wait!”
That kid was in his trunks, no floaties, and way ahead of me as he tore off and cannonballed into the pool. I dove in after him, clipping the toe on my right foot on the side since I was in complete panic mode.
Under the water, he was looking at me, smiling, then kicking his way back to the surface. I was within reach of him as I emerged but totally aware he could swim. Did not realize he could swim like a fish. I just thought he could swim like a normal kid with floaties, which is why I had those on the table next to the chair our clothes were on.
Rip laughed and said, “That was not a good dive.”
“No.” I smiled at him. “I suppose not.” He went to the side of the pool and put his hand on it.
“Want to race me?” he asked. I nodded. “Put your hand up here. Feet—”
“I got it.” I put my hand up, and he looked at my bicep. I wished I had switched sides.
“Dane? They call my dad Dane because he’s like our dogs.” He laughed.
“Hmm.” I looked at the arm. It was almost gone. The word and the bruise. He would see Popsicle and Property of xlx, too, thanks to their use of a permanent marker rather than a body marker, which I did buy for them because while I was pissed they had done it, another part of me was oddly turned on by it. “I can see why.”
Rip was over it. He didn’t really care. “On the count of three, okay?”
