Chapter 27 #8
I throw the towel on my shoulder. "Bet you'd like a slap too, you freak."
"Depends," he says. "Open palm or leather belt?"
Before I can even think of a comeback, Jin groans, dramatic as hell. "Can I NOT be here for this conversation?!" Rava doesn't even look up from his glass. "You are here. Shut up and suffer."
Daisy is biting her lip, clearly trying not to laugh. "Honestly, I support it. Let Lorenzo be Gio's little watermelon bitch for once."
Lorenzo gasps and clutches his chest. "You sick woman."
I roll my eyes and head to the fridge. "Say one more thing and I'm feeding you the seeds first."
"Spit them in my mouth, daddy Gio."
Jin bangs the table.
"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE."
Lorenzo laughs, then stretches again and points at Rava. "All right, lover boy, since we are NOT eating that watermelon, come give us the full scoop on what went down yesterday after I left the meeting, while our humble servant Gio scrubs the dishes."
I don't even flinch. " I'll scrub the dishes with your face."
He grins and leans toward Rava's mom. "Don't get us wrong. I'm still his favorite cousin. I would take a bullet for this freak."
He then turns his head to Rava. "Come on. I wanna hear everything before we crash. Gotta rest up for tonight."
I flick water at him. "No crashing. We're doing abs in the afternoon."
He actually looks offended. "What?!"
"Yeah. Your abs are about to disappear, and then you're gonna cry to Daisy that she made you fat."
Rava laughs under his breath. Daisy just goes, "Facts."
Lorenzo points at all of us at once.
"I hate this house."
32) Cheers To That
Rava
I roll the sleeves of my white shirt up to my elbows and adjust the chain around my neck.
Swim shorts on, shirt unbuttoned, hair finally doing what I want.
I turn around to say something to Daisy and she is already on her third shot of Bacardi.
Her cheeks flushed, hands on her face, staring dreamily out the window.
"You're gonna be wasted before we even leave," I say. She ignores me. Her eyes are stuck on something outside. I follow her gaze. Gio's house. Daisy lets out a soft gasp. "Isn't he just perfect?"
I blink. "Uh, yeah? Why do you think I cried over him?" She shoots me a look. "I meant Lorenzo, you dumbass." I look through Gio's open window, and Lorenzo is there too. Shirtless. Putting on his rings. "Oh."
She grabs her drink and leans on the windowsill. "Look at him. He's a vision. I wanna bite him." I laugh. "Must be something in their blood. Genetics working overtime in that family."
She nods solemnly. "If I die tonight, let it be from being crushed under that man. By the way, I'm just so proud of my little baby brother who's gonna be a tiny sweet little schoolteacher," she says, voice cracking dramatically. "Come on. One shot for us."
She hands me one. I squint at her. "I'm only drinking this because that sentence almost made me cry."
We clink and down it. Right then, the door creaks open and mom steps inside. "Oh great," she says flatly. "Pour one for me too." I look at her, surprised. "What's going on with you?"
She walks in, pulls my chair back, and drops herself onto it like a queen sick of her kingdom. "I think I'm getting a divorce," she says, like she is announcing the weather. "I've had it."
Daisy and I freeze. Then look at each other like, okay?!?
Daisy reaches over and turns the speaker volume down, mid-Freek-A-Leek.
Because discussing our parents' potential divorce with Petey Pablo moaning in the background would be…inappropriate.
"Honestly, I'm very neutral on the subject. And just so you know, he keeps threatening to hurt Gio," I add. "Also, I'm not over that slap. I'm sorry, but he has completely lost my respect. He treats all of us so poorly. Especially me."
Daisy wraps her arms around her shoulders. "Look, between us? Rava's right. We all deserve better. You, us. I'm sorry dad doesn't see what a great woman he has. And how lucky he is with the kids he got. No offense." She leans back, staring her in the eye.
"I'm not gonna tell you 'don't divorce' or 'try harder.' I know you already have. Whatever you decide, you've got us. That's not changing."
Mom smiles. "You mean that? Or is that the Bacardi talking?" "I mean every damn word," Daisy says. Then she shoos her toward the door.
"Go do something distracting. We'll talk when the honorable Mr. Father decides to return to his home.
Jesus." As we are getting ready to walk out, mom looks at us over her glasses.
"Be careful where you're going," she warns.
"Don't drink anything you didn't see opened yourself.
Watch your stuff. And please go easy on the Fontanas. "
I snort. "Mom, you realize I'm not seventeen anymore, right? The fact that I've been gone for four years doesn't mean I stopped aging. As for Daisy, she's like a grandma now," I add, smirking as I grab my towel. Daisy spins around mid-bikini-adjustment. "BITCH, WE ARE BOTH STILL IN OUR TWENTIES."
"Not in my head," I mutter, dodging a flip-flop she launches at me. She lunges, and I swerve behind the chair. Mom rolls her eyes. "I swear to God, I will put you two on sale. I'll find some old lady who'll gladly take you as rescue cases. Calm the hell down!"
I laugh. "Alright, alright, we're going. Breathe." Daisy sprints ahead of me, grabbing the speaker, two bottles, and six random things we do not need. "For God's sake," I yell after her, "we're going out for one night, not relocating!"
Gio
At the beach
We step onto the beach and the party is already halfway to hell. There are people everywhere.
Loud music, lights from portable speakers flashing in pinks and reds. Bottles half-buried in the sand, smoke in the air, weed, probably. Or oregano, who knows with these kids.
Daisy is two steps ahead of us, dragging Lorenzo by the wrist and screaming something about body shots. The speakers are blasting reggaeton. Rava is walking next to me. His chain catches the moonlight.
He looks good. Too good to be walking next to someone like me. And he's mine. I almost wanna fight someone just to prove it. We make it past a circle of drunk college kids singing aggressively off-key.
Someone throws a glow stick at Lorenzo's head. He doesn't even blink, he's too busy doing a ridiculous dance move and yelling.
"TONIGHT WE CELEbrATE OUR ACADEMIC BITCH!" "Is this what it's like dating a celebrity?" I shout to Rava's ear. He shrugs, pretending to be modest. "Better get used to it!"
We finally find a spot under some crooked-ass tree near the edge of the party. Lorenzo is already unzipping his bag, kicks off his slippers and groans.
"I'm sweating in places I didn't even know I could sweat." Then he turns to a dude leaning against the tree, sipping something pink and probably deadly.
"I've known you for exactly two seconds," he says, pointing at him, "but you don't give off thief energy. Can you watch our stuff while we take a dive, right after a shot?"
The dude raises an eyebrow but smiles. "Only if we get a shot too. What are we celebrating?"
Daisy, already holding the bottle, raises it proudly.
"We're celebrating our genius over here!" She slaps Rava's chest and nearly spills half the liquor. "He got a full scholarship. He's gonna be a hot teacher." The guy lights up. "Yo, that's actually dope." He high-fives Rava, who's redder than the damn sunset.
I swear, it never gets old watching him shy like that. Lorenzo tosses plastic shot cups around like confetti. "Ravioli. When's your birthday?"
"January seventh, 2003," Rava says, still grinning. Lorenzo pauses.
Thinks.
"TO THE ONLY 22-YEAR-OLD I WOULD TRUST WITH MY CHILDREN!"
Everyone: "CHEERS TO THAT!" The cups go flying, the tree guy and his friends join the toast, Daisy is already pouring more. And Rava is standing in the middle of it all, glowing like a star that finally figured out how much it's worth.
I'm just trying to keep my damn heart from falling out of my chest. We barely finish the shots when Lorenzo starts stripping. "Let's hit the water, assholes! The lovely tree guy's got our backs!"
Before anyone can answer, Lorenzo slaps hands with our new bestie, then spins dramatically toward the sea. "Alright! Let's GO, YOU NASTY BITCHES!"
He takes off sprinting and launches himself into a front-flip. Rava runs in right behind him, arms spread like a martyr, flops on his back. He screams immediately. "FUCK, THAT IS COLD!"
I dive in like an idiot, headfirst into shallow water. Pretty sure I just kissed sand with my forehead. We're all wiping seawater out of our eyes. Lorenzo's shaking his hair.
Rava's shivering dramatically. Daisy is still dry, standing at the edge. Lorenzo waves at her.
"Come on, hot girlfriend, you're ruining the aesthetic. Don't make me drag you." Daisy points a threatening finger. "Touch me and you die in your sleep."
Rava swims up slowly. I can already tell he's scheming.
"Rava—" she warns. Too late.
He slaps the surface of the water hard, a beautiful, explosive splash hits her dead in the face.
"YOU PIECE OF SHIT!" she screams, chasing after Rava while he cackles and swims away, yelling. We are all bobbing in the water, half-drunk and freezing. "Bro, Italy is heaven, I swear to God, I'm gonna fucking die from how beautiful this is!"
Lorenzo shouts and then launches a wave of water directly at Daisy's face. She blinks, unimpressed. "Then die quieter."
I am laughing when I turn and catch Rava floating near me. I wrap my arms around his neck and pull him hard against me. He gasps. "You're gonna drown me, Gio! HELP—"
But I just laugh and hug him tighter. I have waited so long to do that. To grab him like that without checking who is looking, without fear, without shame.
Years.
And now I have him in my arms, soaking wet and yelling for help. I let him go and touch his chest, lean in until my mouth is near his ear.
"Did you call them?" I ask, "to confirm you're going?"