I love that he still calls us all kids, even though we’re fully grown and Tate has her own. I don’t think the older generation will see any of us as adults for a very long time. We’ll have to have gray hair and a smattering of wrinkles before they realize we’re grown up, but I’m not sure even that’ll be enough.
“Everything okay from the other day?” Vinnie asks Oliver.
Oliver grunts as he slices his eyes to me. “Zoey and Lulu took matters into their own hands.”
Vinnie’s gaze snaps in my direction, and I wish I could scurry under the table and hide.
“Tattletale,” I mutter to Oliver.
“What did you two do?” Vinnie asks.
“What are we talking about?” Zoey asks, obliviousto the conversation as she sets down two margaritas and Oliver’s beer.
“Your field trip,” Oliver says to her.
Zoey freezes before she has a chance to take a sip. “Um, what field trip?” she asks, pretending not to know anything.
I pull the margarita in front of me as my stomach rumbles but, this time, not from hunger. “We didn’t do anything any man in this family wouldn’t do if they were in our shoes,” I say with confidence because every word is the truth.
Men do whatever they want. They don’t ask for permission, and they sure as hell don’t worry about the consequences, especially when someone they love is in danger.
“Tell me I’m wrong,” I say, challenging my uncle and Oliver.
“Well, no,” Vinnie says, placing his hand on the back of my chair. “You’re not wrong, kiddo. But we have the strength when something goes wrong because it usually does.”
“She had pepper spray,” Oliver says.
I reach over and smack his arm. “Whose side are you on?”
“The side of you staying alive.”
I grunt, and my eyes go wide as I spot my dad walking our way.
“What’s going on?” Dad asks as his gaze moves around the table before landing on his brother.
“We’re talking about a field trip,” Vinnie tells him, ratting us out.
What is it with the men in my life not being able to keep their big mouths shut? It’s so annoying.
“What field trip?” Dad asks through gritted teeth and a clenched jaw, but this time, he’s staring only at me and Zoey, who’s next to me.
“The charges were dropped against Oliver,” Zoey says without answering his question and incriminating us in something we don’t need to be lectured about like we’re teenagers again.
“What are we talking about?” Mom asks as she comes next to Dad, sliding her arm into the crook of his to lock them together. “I’ve seen that look before, and it doesn’t mean anything good.”
“Your daughters took a field trip,” he says to her.
“This is my moment to dip,” Uncle Vinnie says, giving me a wink before he peels away from the table, leaving us with a mess to deal with.
Jerk.
“Did you go to the Mag Mile?” Mom asks, and I love her for not thinking anything bad immediately, unlike my father.
“Sweetheart,” Dad whispers as he pats her hand softly where it rests on his forearm. “I don’t think it was that type of field trip.”
“Oh.” Mom’s eyebrows rise. “Let’s sit.”
Shit.
