don’t have to eat with them. Or I can just go to their room to eat. Whatever.”
“I’m showering,” Reese said. Then she looked at me. I was hopeful for a second. But then she said, “Make him smoke or something. Otherwise, he’ll be really annoying at dinner.”
“Okay.” What else was I going to do? Ask to shower with her and get denied? Ask if this meant we were back together and get denied? Ask her to marry me and get denied? Bad ideas. Might as well get stoned.
The bathroom door closed. Loudly.
“Dude. Oh my God. Like, dude,” Ryan said.
“For real.”
He tackled me. “I knew she wanted you.”
“Don’t get ahead of yourself. I think she just wanted to get laid,” I said.
“Dude.” He was scolding now. “She’s my sister.”
“Sorry.”
“Let’s smoke,” he said.
“All right. Hand me some clothes.”
He did. We got stoned. Reese got out of the shower and I got in. Showers are awesome when you’re high. Then we went to join their dads for dinner.
*
Dinner was awkward. Ryan was all giddy, but none of us wanted to explain why. I was spaced, but we didn’t want to explain that either. And Reese was just quiet. So we all sat in Breno and Christopher’s room and ate our takeout and tried to act normal.
“My friend will have the sculptures ready and shipped within a month,” Christopher said into the silence.
“Cool.” Me.
“Neat.” Reese.
“Totally.” Ryan.
“So we need to have somewhere to ship them,” Breno said.
“Okay,” I said. The twins nodded.
“Where would you like to go?” Christopher asked.
They were trying to keep this conversation going. It was sweet.
“I dunno,” Ryan said. I shrugged.
“Not the US,” Reese said.
“For real,” I said.
“All right. Let’s narrow it down,” Christopher said.
But we didn’t have any more contributions.
“Are you kids doing all right?” Breno asked. “You seem…tired.” What a nice way of saying it.
“Yep.”
“Fine.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Did something happen?” Christopher wanted to know.
“Nope.”
“Uh-uh.”
“Just tired.”
“Are you sure? Because all of you are acting oddly,” Breno said.
“What about Europe?” I asked. Better to talk about locations than feelings.
“Somewhere warm,” Ryan said.
“Yeah, Italy. Or Spain,” Reese said.
“Somewhere they speak English,” I amended.
“Coop is shit at languages,” Reese told them.
“You will be fine,” Breno assured me.
Reese laughed. Ryan tried not to.
“I’m really bad at not English,” I said.
“We will figure it out,” Christopher said.
“So do we like need to have a house or something?” Ryan asked.
“That would be best. Some place large enough that a shipment of sculptures won’t be odd,” Christopher said.
“How do you know this guy will come through?” I realized right then that we had blindly handed fifteen million to some dude we didn’t know in the hope that he would do as we nicely asked.
“We are paying him handsomely,” Breno said.
“I’m guessing it’s still less than fifteen million,” I said.
“Yeah, what’s with that?” Ryan asked.
“I trust him,” Christopher said. Breno laughed.
“What? What didn’t you guys tell us?” Reese looked pissed.
“Nothing. He is an old friend. He won’t rip us off,” Christopher said.
“That is true.” Breno was still smiling.
“Spill,” I demanded.
“We have evidence of his cocaine smuggling,” Breno said.
“Shut the fuck up.” Me.
“Seriously?” Reese.
“Not cool.” Ryan.
“Don’t worry about it,” Christopher said.
“You hired a dude who smuggles drugs?” Reese looked livid. “And you’re trusting him with all of our money? What if he is arrested in the next month? What if someone kills him? What if someone rips him off? Did you think of any of that?”
“Damn it, Reese. Yes, I did think it through. I’m not an idiot,” Christopher yelled.
Ryan laughed. “Sure.”
“He’s been running
“I’m showering,” Reese said. Then she looked at me. I was hopeful for a second. But then she said, “Make him smoke or something. Otherwise, he’ll be really annoying at dinner.”
“Okay.” What else was I going to do? Ask to shower with her and get denied? Ask if this meant we were back together and get denied? Ask her to marry me and get denied? Bad ideas. Might as well get stoned.
The bathroom door closed. Loudly.
“Dude. Oh my God. Like, dude,” Ryan said.
“For real.”
He tackled me. “I knew she wanted you.”
“Don’t get ahead of yourself. I think she just wanted to get laid,” I said.
“Dude.” He was scolding now. “She’s my sister.”
“Sorry.”
“Let’s smoke,” he said.
“All right. Hand me some clothes.”
He did. We got stoned. Reese got out of the shower and I got in. Showers are awesome when you’re high. Then we went to join their dads for dinner.
*
Dinner was awkward. Ryan was all giddy, but none of us wanted to explain why. I was spaced, but we didn’t want to explain that either. And Reese was just quiet. So we all sat in Breno and Christopher’s room and ate our takeout and tried to act normal.
“My friend will have the sculptures ready and shipped within a month,” Christopher said into the silence.
“Cool.” Me.
“Neat.” Reese.
“Totally.” Ryan.
“So we need to have somewhere to ship them,” Breno said.
“Okay,” I said. The twins nodded.
“Where would you like to go?” Christopher asked.
They were trying to keep this conversation going. It was sweet.
“I dunno,” Ryan said. I shrugged.
“Not the US,” Reese said.
“For real,” I said.
“All right. Let’s narrow it down,” Christopher said.
But we didn’t have any more contributions.
“Are you kids doing all right?” Breno asked. “You seem…tired.” What a nice way of saying it.
“Yep.”
“Fine.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Did something happen?” Christopher wanted to know.
“Nope.”
“Uh-uh.”
“Just tired.”
“Are you sure? Because all of you are acting oddly,” Breno said.
“What about Europe?” I asked. Better to talk about locations than feelings.
“Somewhere warm,” Ryan said.
“Yeah, Italy. Or Spain,” Reese said.
“Somewhere they speak English,” I amended.
“Coop is shit at languages,” Reese told them.
“You will be fine,” Breno assured me.
Reese laughed. Ryan tried not to.
“I’m really bad at not English,” I said.
“We will figure it out,” Christopher said.
“So do we like need to have a house or something?” Ryan asked.
“That would be best. Some place large enough that a shipment of sculptures won’t be odd,” Christopher said.
“How do you know this guy will come through?” I realized right then that we had blindly handed fifteen million to some dude we didn’t know in the hope that he would do as we nicely asked.
“We are paying him handsomely,” Breno said.
“I’m guessing it’s still less than fifteen million,” I said.
“Yeah, what’s with that?” Ryan asked.
“I trust him,” Christopher said. Breno laughed.
“What? What didn’t you guys tell us?” Reese looked pissed.
“Nothing. He is an old friend. He won’t rip us off,” Christopher said.
“That is true.” Breno was still smiling.
“Spill,” I demanded.
“We have evidence of his cocaine smuggling,” Breno said.
“Shut the fuck up.” Me.
“Seriously?” Reese.
“Not cool.” Ryan.
“Don’t worry about it,” Christopher said.
“You hired a dude who smuggles drugs?” Reese looked livid. “And you’re trusting him with all of our money? What if he is arrested in the next month? What if someone kills him? What if someone rips him off? Did you think of any of that?”
“Damn it, Reese. Yes, I did think it through. I’m not an idiot,” Christopher yelled.
Ryan laughed. “Sure.”
“He’s been running
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