How to Take the Ex Out of Ex-Boyfriend by Janette Rallison

Author:Janette Rallison
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Group US

Chapter 11

Dante took hold of my arm to get my attention. “I’ll get Rich off the table. You take Skipper back upstairs.”

I didn’t answer him. I just hurried over to Skipper and picked her up. “C’mon Skip, it’s past your bedtime.”

Her lips scrunched into a pout. “But I wanna dance on the table too.”

I hurried to the stairs. “Mommy wouldn’t like that, so we’re not going to tell her we saw anyone doing it at Dante’s party, okay?”

I made it up three stairs before Gabby came down. She saw us, quickened her step, and held out her arms to Skipper. “What are you doing out of bed?”

The pout dropped from Skipper’s lips. She reached out her hands to Gabby and batted her lids tiredly. “I tried to sleep, but they were too loud.”

Gabby’s gaze switched to me. “Yes, I came downstairs to tell them the same thing.”

“Sorry,” I said. “Dante’s taking care of it.”

I waited for her to turn around and take Skipper back upstairs. She didn’t. Instead her gaze traveled past me to the crowd in the family room.

Luckily, no one was dancing on the coffee table, or had spilled large quantities of soda on the carpet. Rich stood with his friends in the middle of the room raising his plastic cup with a wobbly hand. In a voice much too loud to let a five-year-old sleep, he said, “I want to offer a toast to our next pres-i-Dante.”

Brett waved him off. “No more singing, man. You suck.”

Rich tried to push him away, but missed. “I’ll break your teeth out, and then we’ll see who sucks.”

Gabby let out disapproving huff and took a step downstairs. I didn’t move out of the way. “By the way, Gabby, I’ve been meaning to tell you I love your outfit.”

She pushed past me as though she hadn’t heard me, and I followed her to the foot of the stairs.

Rich raised his glass. “To Dante, you’re going to-quila Wilson on election day.” He let out a laugh and added, “’Cause Wilson don’t know Jack . . . Daniel’s.”

There was miscellaneous clapping and hoots of agreement, mostly from Brett and Shane.

“Is that boy drunk?” Gabby asked.

“Oh, him? No, that’s just Rich. Since his pole vaulting accident last year, he doesn’t make much sense anymore, but we all humor him anyway.”

Shane raised his glass. “No worms are good worms!”

More clapping. Gabby’s lips twisted into a disapproving frown.

“That’s Shane,” I told her. “He’s the one who fell off the pole vault onto Rich.”

Gabby put her hand on Skipper’s head and turned to me. “I’m going to put your sister to bed. When I come back down, I want those boys gone from my house. Do you understand?”

I nodded.

“Good.” She turned around and walked up the stairs. Over her shoulder Skipper gave me a wave good-bye and sang, “Worms, worms, worms.”

I trudged downstairs, trying to figure out how to get Rich, Shane, and Brett home. Dante couldn’t leave his own party, but if Daphne’s date drove them in Shane’s car, then I could follow behind him in mine.

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