Page 19 of Strangely Normal

“No, that I learned on my own. Although, it’s easier to pop a wrist back into place than a head, so I think I’ll keep using my hand.”

I floated onto my back. “Back at school, I was dating a football player, and he had a constant string of injuries. Didn’t seem worth it to me. I mean the guy is going to have major arthritis pain before he hits forty.”

“Ah ha, I thought you looked like the type of girl who hung out with the jocks,” Cole said.

I pushed my feet down and smiled at him. “Sorry, but you’re wrong. I’ve always been much more interested in the chess club guys than the jocks.”

“As long as the chess players are hot,” Finley interjected.

“Well, hotness does help,” I admitted.

Cole swam over to the small island in the center of the pool and pulled himself up onto it. Jude had had the band logo, a pair of black wings, tattooed across his shoulders, but Cole had the words Black Thunder across his. He spun around and sat down with his long legs hanging in the water. “You’re the one that said you were dating a football player. Don’t tell me the guy played chess too.”

“I guess that would be a rarity. No, he was your typical jock, and he was one of my biggest high school regrets.”

Finley joined Cole on the island. “Aside from walking into my aunt’s office with a joint on your backpack.”

“Yeah, I guess that was also quite regrettable.”

“Wait a minute—” Sunlight radiated off of Cole’s white smile. “You walked into Aunt Julie’s office with a joint on your backpack?” He laughed. “That is classic.”

I swam over to them but had no intention of rising out of the water in my unsightly bathing suit. I grasped the cement edge. “It’s funny now, but I definitely didn’t think so at the time. And your aunt wasn’t exactly chortling with mirth either.”

Finley burst out laughing, and I was glad to see that the earlier issue was seemingly forgotten.

Voices floated up the pathway, and I glanced back over my shoulder. Jude was walking toward the pool house with a woman, but it was definitely not the same woman as the day before. Apparently, he liked variety. And, for some reason, that thought angered me. Our brief but harsh conversation had replayed in my mind throughout the night, but I wasn’t completely sure what’d bothered me most— the fact that he didn’t think I would be able to handle this job or the fact that he thought I was just a shallow, mooching valley girl looking for easy summer money.

The lady at his side kept talking, but it became clear that Jude had lost interest in the conversation. Even from the distance, his pale, unflinching gaze was riveted to the scene in the pool. And, as usual, he did not look pleased.

He vanished inside with the woman. Finley and Cole hadn’t seemed to notice his disapproving scowl, or maybe they were just so used to seeing it, they didn’t care.

“So, Fin, I’m having a little party here tomorrow night, and I definitely think you and your extraordinarily hot friend should attend.”

“I don’t know, Cole. I think we’ll be busy painting our toenails or something. And by the way—” Finley nodded toward the pool house, “does the emperor know about this party?”

“I haven’t told him yet. And so what if he gets pissed? I cleared it with Dad. You know Jude is just waiting until his time is up and then he’s out of here. I asked him if he was going to come back to work with me, but he doesn’t want to. Says he has better things to do.”

“He’s been cooped up for a long time. Can’t really blame him,” Finley said with her usual habit of coming to Jude’s rescue.

“What kind of work do you do?” I asked.

“My dad owns a construction company and I’m the foreman.”

And that’s when it struck me. His smile was familiar because I’d been on the receiving end of it. “Kingston Construction?”

“Yeah, how’d you know?”

I shrugged. “Just a guess. I’ve seen the sign before and thought because of the name, it might be your father’s company.” There was no way I was going to mention that the shabby, rundown apartment building next to his work site was my humble home.

“Good guess. Kingston is our real name. Anyhow, you need to convince my sister to bring you down to the party tomorrow night.”

Finley leaned back on her hands and turned her face to the sky. “His friends are all jerks.”

Cole looked back at her over his shoulder. “Oh, I guess I forgot to mention that Max is back from New York.”

Finley sat up quickly. “When did he get back?” She made a pathetic attempt to sound nonchalant. It didn’t take a genius to see that she had a thing for this guy, Max.

“Last week. And he’ll be here tomorrow night.”

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