b l o o d o n t h e b e a c h
23
“No one’s allergic to celery,” Chad blurted out. “Like,
I don’t think celery is even an allergy.”
“No shit,” Imogen said. “It’s a vegetable.”
I laughed out loud. Imogen might have her problems,
but she was also hilarious. So totally deadpan.
He stared at her like he had no idea what she meant.
After a pause, he shrugged. “Yeah, I guess. I don’t really eat
vegetables.”
“Come on, people.” Rahim looked around the circle.
“What do the rest of you think?”
“We already know she’s married to Warren,” the tall
skinny girl said, twisting her long hair in her fingers. “It’s in
the brochure.”
“Doesn’t mean it’s true,” Mandy pointed out. “Could
be they just thought that’d be good for the business. Maybe
they’re not actually a couple at all.”
Imogen snorted. “Yeah, you wish.”
Warren ran both hands over his bald head. “We’re
married. Been married for six years.”
I actually happened to know this was true. Mom didn’t
know him super well or anything, but their paths had
crossed a bunch of times before he met Claire and left the
police force to start
intro
. That was part of the reason my
mom had sent me here—she said he’d always seemed like
a good guy.
“She doesn’t like cats,” Jason said, sounding bored.
“That’s the lie.” He leaned back in his chair, letting his knees
fall apart and totally manspreading.
