Page 51 of Stabby Little

"The lemonade's secret ingredient is rum, asshole." Sparrow smacks my arm. "That's why it's yellow. You need to get your mind out of the gutter."

"It's delicious." Finn steals a sip of Sparrow's drink. "I died and went to heaven—the good heaven."

"Which one is that?" I prod.

"One where the Ten Commandments involve making love to hot Daddies."

"So hell," Sparrow deadpans.

"Very funny." Finn sticks his nose in the air. "I'd prefer not to burn in flames for eternity, so I'll stick with heaven."

"Quit projecting." Callum issues Sparrow a look. "We all know hell's where you're going. Especially after the shit you helped Ollie do to break me out of the warehouse."

Rusty smacks his knee. "Of course. You're the badasses who helped Callum escape."

Arlo shakes his head in disbelief. "I've never been surrounded by such badass guys in my life. Well, okay, the handsome fathers who take their kids to the Alien Museum on weekdays are pretty badass, but you're better."

"Sparrow, Finn, and Ollie kill people." Callum can't help but brag. "Ollie slit two guards' throats."

"Two?" I roll my eyes. "Give me more credit than that."

"Technically, he slit one's throat and stabbed the other with a needle, but I'll let that slide." Sparrow takes another sip of his drink. "He killed both. That's what counts."

Arlo pats Sparrow's shoulder. "It's an honor to meet you. I can't even imagine what you went through."

"Too much." Sparrow can't help but be frank. "We've seen some dark ass shit."

"Emphasis on the ass," I drawl, opting for sass.

Finn shoots me a death glare. "You already used that one last week. You can't double dip on the cutting remarks."

"That wasn't cutting." I cross my arms over my chest. Like hell am I going to let my friends take me down a notch in front of Callum, Arlo, and Rusty. "That was the truth. Lots of the sick things our captors made us do involved our asses."

Rusty lets out a whistle. "Well, I'm glad you don't need to return to that shithole."

Arlo nods. "You can say that again. We were only in the basement for a tiny bit, but it was more than enough. The sight of those cages made me want to throw up."

Arlo and Rusty accompanied Callum and the Ferrari brothers when they broke into the Diavolos' warehouse. They donned lab coats and pretended to work there while their Daddies rescued us.

Rusty was a garbage boy at the warehouse so he was familiar with the upstairs. But he didn't know the warehouse contained a human trafficking basement where my friends and I were suffering incomprehensible torture in darkness.

Sparrow eyes me. "Try a sip. It won't kill you."

I sniff it and tug it away from my nose. “I'm on a diet. This is probably packed with calories."

"It's lemonade." Callum issues me a fierce glare. "My Daddy slaved away in his kitchen preparing it. You need to take a sip or he'll be upset."

Rusty nods in agreement. "Benedetto is sensitive when it comes to his kitchen creations. If you don't taste it, he'll be offended."

The yellow liquid splashes around the glass as I hold it up. It reflects the sun, sending bolts of light coursing to the ground.

I shake my head. "Tell Benedetto it's not personal. I'll stick with milk when he brings out his cookies."

"You won't get any cookies if you don't try the lemonade." Finn taps his bare foot on the grass. "I'll tell Benedetto you hate his drinks and he'll give me your cookies."

"You wouldn't."

"I would."

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