She looked like the cat who ate the canary. “Love to. Apollo, truth or dare?”
“Dare.”
“Recite the alphabet backward.”
His jaw clenched, and I couldn't figure out why he suddenly looked so pissed off. But his glare was unmistakable and aimed at Marcus. “Seriously, man?”
Marcus shrugged mildly. “I didn't say shit.”
I asked, “What's going on?”
Chloe smiled, eyes wide and innocent. “What's wrong, Apollo? Did I say something out of line?”
“Man, fuck this,” he muttered under his breath. He stood and dove into the pool.
“All I did was ask a simple question. It's a game. Why is he taking it so personally?”
Marcus sighed. “Because he thinks I told you about his near DUI. Reciting the alphabet backwards is one of the roadside tests.”
“Well, that's hardly my fault, I didn't know.”
But none of it sat right with me. “Apollo got a DUI?”
“Almost. Given that he has friends in high places he was able to get it expunged, removed from his driver history. But he's embarrassed that it happened.”
“Why the fuck didn't he call someone for a ride?” I asked. “Hell, a ride share is a better idea than a freaking DUI. He's smarter than that.”
“And that's why he's embarrassed,” Marcus explained. “He was just slightly over the limit as it was. He didn't realize how hard the beer would still hit him after having a burger and fries at the bar with me.”
“We all make mistakes,” Maggie said. “Obviously, he's not gonna let that happen again.”
My cousin nodded. “Exactly. He had sworn me to secrecy about the whole thing, so I get why he would be mad if he thinks I blabbed. But seeing as he had a hissy fit just now, I figured I should give you guys context.” He noted to Chloe, “Especiallyyou, babe. He's not mad at you. I don't think he's even mad at me. He's mad at himself.”
“It's fine,” she said. “We all go through difficulties. Volunteering has really shown me that.”
“And how has volunteering at the historical society shown you that everyone goes through difficulties?” I couldn't keep the question to myself.
“History is filled with people going through difficulties, Julian. Open a textbook sometime. Or does Maggie still do your homework?”
“Maggie never did my homework.”
“That's not how it looked.”
Maggie sat up. “I didn't realize we were being so closely monitored.”
Chloe examined her manicure. “I didn't have to monitor anything closely. You two were so obvious about it.”
“Truth or dare, Chloe,” Marcus cut into our sniping.
“Truth.”
“If you could be invisible for a day, what would you do?”
I chuckled. Marcus was still the nerd I knew with the biggest comic book collection I had ever seen. It did not surprise me to hear him ask a superhero question.
“Invisible for a day? That sounds awful.”
He asked, “Awful? You could do anything. Rob a bank. Steal an armed truck full of money. Spy on your sexy neighbors. Anything.”