Page 53 of Crashing Waves

Ricky nodded. “Yeah, me too.” Then he glanced at me and asked, “You wanna hang around for a little longer? I can drive them home.”

I hesitated, looking between my sisters and then at Sid, and I realized that, yeah, I did want to stay. I didn’t want this time to end just yet. I wanted to hang out and shoot the shit with my friend and enjoy myself without the pressure of a regimented schedule getting in the way.

So, I glanced across at Lucy, then at Grace, and asked, “Do you guys mind?”

They shook their heads almost immediately.

“Of course not!” Grace said, wrapping both of her arms around mine. “We’ll have plenty of time to hang out over the next few days. You guys have fun.”

“All right,” I conceded, nodding, swinging my gaze to Ricky’s. “Make sure they get home safe.”

He huffed a chuckle, already sliding out of the booth with Lucy close behind. “Dude, you act like this is my first rodeo. Keeping an eye on them might as well be my second job.”

Lucy playfully swatted at his shoulder. “You make it sound like a chore to be around us.”

“I would never,” he insisted sardonically, pretending to scowl before grinning. “Come on, ladies. Your chariot awaits. Max, you still have your key to the apartment?”

“You know it,” I said, patting my pants pocket to make my keys jingle inside, knowing that at least one of them would unlock some place I was welcome.

“All right, let’s roll.”

He slung both arms around my sisters’ shoulders and steered them in the direction of the door. Beside me, Sid took a pull from his bottle of beer, watching as the trio left. Then, once they were through the door and out of earshot, he turned to me.

“So, uh, don’t take this the wrong way or anything, but what the fuck is up with that?”

“What do you mean?” I asked while knowing exactly what he meant.

“Is Rick dating one of them?” He tipped his head with consideration, then added, “Or … I dunno … both of them? I mean, who am I to judge? The more, the merrier, right?”

“The hell are you talking about?” I scoffed, but hadn’t I been suspicious too?

“Hmm,” Sid answered, shrugging one shoulder. “Just a vibe I got. Especially between him and Lucy.” He chuckled, bringing his beer to his lips once again. “Man, I wanted to tell them to get a freakin’ room.”

A gruff laugh scraped through my throat. “Yeah, I don’t really know about all that …”

Hell, come to think of it, what did I know about anything? I knew that my sisters had dated a bit here andthere over the years. Nothing serious—my father wouldn’t have allowed it—but they had interest in guys. I’d never known who though. I’d never gotten names. And if that was because they hadn’t seen a point or they were protecting their boyfriends from the protective older brother, I couldn’t be sure.

Is Ricky one of them?

No.

I cleared my throat and took a sip of beer, choosing not to think about it as Sid got up to take residence in the seat across from me. I made up my mind to enjoy this time with my friend and ordered another beer for each of us.

Then, with a cold beer in hand, Sid asked, “So, whatcha got planned with your family?”

“Ah, you know”—I lifted a dismissive hand—"the usual.”

The usual actually consisted of bumming around Ricky’s apartment, visiting with his mom for dinners, and hanging out with my sisters outside of the house in between moments of making out with Laura. Truthfully, my time outside of the Army was boring and barely worth living. But I needed to see my sisters every now and then, so I made the time when I was able.

“Yeah,” Sid huffed, nodding and looking off toward nothing. “I hear ya, man. Honestly, I’d rather not be staying at my uncle’s place. The dude’s cool—I love him—but he’s a little … off, you know? He has eleven cats and this bizarre collection of taxidermy art.”

I eyed him over my bottle of beer as I knocked it back. “Like, deer heads and shit?”

“Man, I wish. That’d be sorta normal at least. No, it’s more like …” He scrunched his face up, gesturing with his hand as he put the words together. “Like, okay, for example, he’s got this one. It’s a stuffed squirrel, dressed in a little tuxedo, and it’s posed to look like it’s dancing with a chipmunk in a wedding dress.”

I froze while lowering the bottle back to the table. “Where the hell do you even find something like that?”

“Oh, he didn’t find it, dude. Hemadeit. And the real kicker? He sells this shit too. He goes down to the craft fairs and shit and sells these things for a couple hundred bucks a pop.”

---