“Its just one of the many mysteries of life, kid.”
“Girls are dopey.” He clapped for the dog, who was blindly joining in the female ecstasy, and hunkered down for some wrestling.
Flynn looked past the women to Jordan. “Beer?” he asked. “Beer,” Jordan agreed, and skirted the madness to seek the relative sanity of the kitchen.
“I cant believe it!”Zoe gripped both Malorys and Danas hands and bounced on her toes. “Engaged! Youre both engaged. At the same time. Its like magic. The rings. Theyre so beautiful. Oh, boy.” She dug into her pocket for a tissue.
“Sheesh. Mom, get a grip.”Zoe sent her son a glare. “Ill give you a grip.” He snorted, rolled with a delighted Moe. “Are we getting pizza, or what?”
“Why dont you go back in the kitchen and ask Flynn? Politely,” she added as he scrambled up. “Ive got to show you the kitchen,” Malory remembered. “But first.” She grabbed Danas hand again to admire the ruby. “Its gorgeous. So perfect for you.”
“Soshe. Wait until I tell you how he asked me.” , “I can top it,” Malory claimed. “Were you naked?”
“No.”
Dana licked a finger, swiped it down an imaginary Scoreboard. “I win.”
“Mom!” Simon shouted from the kitchen door. “The guys say if you all want pizza you have to say what kind, or else you have to take what you get.”
“Tell you what.”Zoe draped an arm around her friends shoulders. “When we dont have a bunch of guys cluttering things up, you can tell me, and each other, every detail. Well have a little celebration at Indulgence in the morning.”
“Works for me,” Dana agreed. “Im starved, and I dont want a bunch of onions and mushrooms messing up my pie.”
AN hour later, Dana was polishing off her third piece. She stretched out on the floor beside Simon and Moe and said, “Ugh.”
“On that note,” Flynn began, “lets talk about finding this key.”
“Simon, why dont you take your book upstairs? Thats all right, isnt it?”Zoe asked Flynn.
“Sure. He knows the way.”
“You and Moe can hang out. Ill call you when its time to go.”
“How come we cant hang out here while you talk about the magic stuff?”
“Where do you get that?”Zoe demanded. “Simon, have you been eavesdropping?”
“Jeez, Mom.” He sent her an insulted, sulky frown. “I dont have to go sneaking around, I just have to have ears.” He pinched them between his fingers, wiggled them. “Hey, look! Ive got two of them.”
“Well talk about your ears later. Upstairs, to that horrible prison with a TV and a dog. You can write a letter of complaint to your congressman tomorrow.”
“Man.” Though his lips twitched, he rolled his eyes for form, then they widened and focused on what Brad held in his hand. “Holy Cow! WWFSmackdown !”
“Maybe you want to borrow it, take it for a few rounds.” “Yeah?Smackdown ! It really kicks—”He caught himself, swallowed back the word that would get him in serious hot water with his mother. “Really kicks,” he amended. “Thanks.”
“No problem. This way when we gomano amano and I humiliate you, you wont be able to whine that you didnt get to practice.”
“Yeah, sure, right.” Simon took the video disk. “This is so way cool. Thanks.”
He streaked off, hooking his book bag under one arm and calling for Moe.
Zoefolded her hands in her lap. “That was very nice of you.”
“He may not think so when I trounce him in the upcoming match.”
“I dont want you to feel obligated to—”
“I dont.” Brad cut her off, coolly, firmly, then deliberately looked at Dana. “You want to get this rolling?”