Page 16

E ndy and Maria walked into the Stout House, a busy sports bar with fifty-one different beers on tap and dozens of screens mounted above the bar, each showing a different sport.

They stopped just inside the door, letting their eyes adjust to the dimness.

The Friday evening crowd packed in, with every table full and people standing two or three deep at the bar.

“There they are,” Maria said, standing on a step. She tugged on Endy’s sleeve, and they made their way to the booth in the back corner where Joel, Sebastian, and Collin Park sat.

“Hey guys,” greeted Maria as she slid in next to Collin.

Endy took the open seat next to Joel, then leaned past him. “Sebastian, this is my friend Maria.”

Sebastian reached across the table to shake Maria’s hand, the muscles in his arms rippling. With a wicked grin, Maria shook his hand and kicked Endy under the table.

“Ow!” Endy exclaimed, clapping a hand across her mouth.

A waitress arrived and set down two glasses of white wine, one in front of Maria, the other in front of Endy, then rushed away to tend to the booth next to them. Endy raised her eyebrows. “We haven’t ord—”

“I hope it’s okay that I put in an order for you guys,” said Sebastian. “It’s so busy in here that it’s been hard to get our server’s attention. And I didn’t want you to have to wait.”

Endy and Maria looked at each other and smiled. Maria took a sip of the chilled wine and said, “Oh, this is nice.”

Sebastian nodded and looked at Endy. “It’s the same wine we had the other night.”

Endy took a sip. “Very thoughtful of you, Sebastian.” She slid a glance at Joel, whose eyes were slightly darkened, and he was chewing the inside of his cheek.

A TV monitor on the opposite wall played highlights of the recent Australian Open tennis tournament. Watching the last point, Collin lifted his arms from under the table and pumped them in the air. “Oh my god, that shot was incredible,” he said.

Maria stared at Collin’s raised arms. Bandages wrapped him from the tips of his fingers to his elbows.

“Dude,” she exclaimed. “What in the hell happened to you?”

Collin clasped his pint glass with both of his wrapped hands and took a long sip of beer.

“I was playing pickleball with my cousins and went running for the ball that they hit over the fence.” A roaring cheer came from across the bar where a sizable crowd was watching a live golf tournament being played.

Endy winced. “And that happened when you fell on the court?”

“No.” Collin rolled his eyes. “Actually, I tripped when I reached for the ball and fell into a bunch of cacti.”

“?Ayyy!” Maria’s hands flew to her mouth. “One time I stepped on a pile of bougainvillea trimmings, and a two-inch thorn nailed my flip-flop to my foot.”

Collin laughed. “In the summers during college, I worked on a gardening crew to earn money for tuition. Stuff like that happened to us all the time.” He and Maria touched their glasses together in a kind of toast.

“I taught kids tennis lessons during my summers,” said Joel, sipping his beer. “Wasn’t cheap going to USC.”

Sebastian gave a wry smile and said, “Fight on, Joel.”

“Fuck you, Sebastian,” snapped Joel. “The only person at this table who didn’t have to help pay their own way through college is you. You’ve never had to pay for anything for yourself.” Joel downed the last of the beer in his glass. “You don’t even have a job right now.”

The table went quiet at Joel’s rant. Endy looked from Joel to Sebastian, then shot her arm up, signaling to their waitress to bring another round of drinks.

Sebastian twirled his empty glass in his hands. “You know that I had a full-ride tennis scholarship at UCLA,” he said quietly. “And now I live off the interest from my investments. I haven’t taken money from my parents since I was a kid.”

“Maybe not, but the rest of us at this table probably aren’t in line for their family inheritance,” scoffed Joel. He pushed away his empty glass without meeting Sebastian’s gaze.

Sebastian shot Joel an irritated glance. “What is this? Some kind of competition, like a weird trust fund contest?”

“No. But even if it were and you won, it’d only be by default.”

Sebastian rolled his eyes and leaned back in his seat.

An uncomfortable silence descended on the booth, and each of them pretended to watch a game playing on the overhead televisions. Endy gnawed at her thumbnail, and Maria pulled out her phone and started scrolling.

The waitress arrived and placed a tray full of drinks on the table. “Everyone doing okay?” she asked.

“We are now,” replied Endy as she pushed a full glass of beer toward Joel. She looked around the table. “Anybody want to share a pizza?”

They put in their order for pizza, and then Endy and Maria excused themselves to go to the restroom.

Sitting in the stall next to Endy, Maria said, “Man, Joel really went there with Sebastian.”

“I know,” agreed Endy. “I mean, sometimes Joel can be a jerk, but I’ve never really seen him go after somebody like that.”

They both flushed and opened the stall doors at the same time. Grinning at each other, they went to wash their hands and studied their reflections in the mirror.

“That’s what I’m saying, Endy,” said Maria, fluffing up her glossy curls. “Joel still has a thing for you. He’s super jealous.”

“Joel has nothing to be jealous about,” Endy responded.

“That’s very thoughtful of you, Sebastian, ” Maria said in a breathy voice. “Are you always so thoughtful, Sebastian? Like in bed, Sebastian?”

Endy burst out laughing and shoved Maria away from the sinks. She pulled open the restroom door and stepped out. “Two glasses of wine and you turn into a comic.”

Maria pulled Endy into a hug and kissed her cheek. “I’m funny when I drink wine. You don’t want to hear me when I drink tequila.”

Endy returned Maria’s hug. “Oh, believe me, I know … I know .”

Two stunning waitresses were at their table, obviously capturing Joel’s and Collin’s attention.

All four of them, having fun flirting. Across the restaurant, the dozens of televisions blasted coverage of different sports, interrupted only by ads.

Bartenders moved behind the bar, pulling yards of draft beer and salting rims of margarita glasses.

Sebastian limped up behind Endy and placed his hand on the small of her back.

He leaned in, his mouth near her ear. “I could hear you two screaming with laughter while I was in the men’s room.”

“You couldn’t!” Endy felt her face getting hot and turning red. “What did you hear?” She pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to play it cool, and slid into the booth next to Joel. Maria took her seat next to Collin, and Sebastian slid in next to Endy.

He leaned in again and whispered, “Nothing.” He chuckled. “I didn’t hear anything except you girls cackling.”

“Thank god,” replied Endy, blowing out a deep breath, and shaking her head.

A slow grin played across Sebastian’s lips. “But now I definitely need to know what you were talking about.”