Page 22

Celeste sat on the sofa, sipping her glass of red wine as Rocco collapsed into an overstuffed armchair with a GoGo squeeZ .

She shook her head as he twisted the cap that looked like a helicopter rotor.

“How can you drink that stuff?” she asked as she sipped her Brunello.

Rocco threw his head back and squeezed the pouch, taking a big gulp.

“I like it. This one is Apple Pineapple Passion Fruit. How can you go wrong with that?”

“I’m too thirsty for red wine,” came Dario’s voice from the kitchen. “Do you mind if I have a GoGo squeeZ?”

“Go ahead.”

When Dario came out, Rocco nearly leapt out of his chair. “Wait a minute. What flavor is that?”

“Apple Strawberry Rhubarb,” Dario said, holding it up and about to twist off the cap.

“No!” Rocco shouted so loudly, Celeste spilled wine on her blouse.

“Damn it,” she huffed, going into the kitchen to rinse the stain.

Dario looked stunned. “What’s wrong with my having this one?”

“You can’t. I only have two left.”

“Okay, Dario,” Celeste shouted from the kitchen. “You have a choice between Pedal Peach, Boatin’ Banana, Happy TummieZ … How many of these do you have? … Oh, wait a minute, which of these can he have, Rocco?”

“I don’t care,” Rocco said, waving his arm. “He can have any of them. Just not Apple Strawberry Rhubarb.”

Celeste marched up to Dario, grabbed the pouch from him, and shoved another in his hand. “Here, have some Grippin’ Grape.”

She returned the Apple Strawberry Rhubarb to the refrigerator and then joined Dario on the sofa, picking up a magazine from the coffee table.

“What’s that?” Rocco asked.

Celeste flipped through the pages. “It’s the current issue with the photospread of you and Nico. They’re publishing a digital copy too, but I wanted to be sure Nico got one of these.”

“What about me?” Rocco asked. “Don’t I get one?”

“Can I have an Apple Strawberry Rhubarb GoGo squeeZ?”

“No.”

“Then no,” Celeste said as she flipped briskly through the pages. “And don’t pout.”

“I’m not pouting,” Rocco insisted.

“Yes, you are.”

“You’re not even looking at me.”

Celeste sighed as she turned another page. “I was only kidding. I’ll get you one. Here it is,” she said, swiftly stopping and slamming her hand on the page, a huge smile spreading her cheeks wide.

“Hmm,” Dario said, looking over her shoulder.

Rocco frowned. “What?”

Dario lifted his eyes but not his head. “Just hmm,” he said, his eyes darting back to the magazine.

“No, Dar, not hmm,” Celeste said, “more like mm-hmm.”

“What mm-hmm?” Rocco demanded.

Celeste grinned. “You know, mm-hmm, as in yummy. As in, hot!”

Rocco held out his hand. “Give it to me.”

“No,” Celeste said, holding the magazine to her chest. “It’s my magazine, and I’m not finished with it yet.”

Gritting his teeth, Rocco moved to the sofa, plunking himself down on the other side of her.

There was an uncomfortable silence while Rocco stared at the photo.

Had he been looking at Nico that way through the entire photoshoot? He knew what he was thinking when he looked at a woman in that way. Would anyone else looking at the photo know? Would she know?

“I didn’t think …” Dario ventured.

“What?” Rocco asked, looking over at him.

“I guess I didn’t think— I just wouldn’t have thought one like this …”

Celeste rolled her eyes. “What he means is, he didn’t think any of the photos would be any good because it looked as though—”

“As though what?” Rocco demanded. “Can’t one of you complete a sentence?”

He looked from Celeste to Dario. He couldn’t decide whose expression was more annoying—Celeste’s or Dario’s. She looked like a sly feline while his cousin looked like a laughing hyena.

“As though the two of you didn’t enjoy being photographed together,” Dario said diplomatically.

Celeste made a face. “‘Didn’t enjoy being photographed together’? It looked as though the two of them were having side-by-side colonoscopies.”

Rocco opened his mouth.

“Without any anesthetic,” Celeste added. “At least, when you two knew you were being photographed.”

“What about when I got up on the hood of that car?” Rocco demanded.

Celeste shrugged. “The mood between the two of you did improve after that. Look at that one, Dario, with him up on the hood.”

Dario pointed at another photo. “Yeah, but this one was taken before he did that.”

“You’re right. It was. But like I said, they didn’t know they were being photographed when that one was taken. It’s like the photo on social media.”

Dario lifted his gaze. Rocco knew his cousin well enough to know that look he was giving him now was a look of concern.

Celeste sighed. “Just goes to show you.”

Rocco frowned. “Show you what?”

“The camera catches what the eye can’t see,” she said. “Professional photographers will tell you it happens with their best work—revealing the truth people try so hard to hide. Guess people can succeed at hiding it from themselves and other people. But not the camera.”

Rocco’s shoulders twitched. There it was, that itchy feeling beneath his skin.

There must be too much sugar in this GoGo squeeZ.