Yes, Daddy by Jonathan Parks-Ramage

Author:Jonathan Parks-Ramage [Parks-Ramage, Jonathan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: fiction
ISBN: 9780358447917
Google: bobsDwAAQBAJ
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Published: 2021-05-18T04:00:00+00:00

* * *

“Jonah?”

I wheeled around, sweating from my attempt to plant our beach umbrella.

It was Rashad, his presence an impossible mirage. Skintight beach trunks gripped his thighs. He approached with a tall, beefy redhead. They were holding hands. Unexpected jealousy constricted my gut.

“Rashad!” I rushed up to him and gave him a warm hug. His smell—that sweet, heavy scent of coconut oil and shea butter and sweat—filled me with longing. I was glad to see him.

“This is Chad,” he said, motioning to his companion.

“What’s up, dude?” Chad offered an affected, masculine fist bump. There was an 85 percent chance that Chad took steroids and an even greater likelihood that he pretended to enjoy football. Rashad and I used to spend hours at the restaurant ridiculing the Chads of the world. Maybe he’s born with it; maybe it’s anabolic steroids, we’d sing to the tune of the Maybelline jingle. Yet here Rashad was, sleeping with the enemy.

“Hi, I’m Jonah,” I said, then returned my attention to Rashad. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Um, don’t pretend you don’t know,” Rashad huffed.

“But I don’t . . .” I trailed off, confused.

“Bitch, come on. I texted you, like, fifty times.”

“I lost my phone.”

“You really expect me to believe that?”

“It’s true!”

“Whatever. I’ll forgive your sketchy ass if you come to our barbecue tomorrow.”

“You’re staying up here?”

“Yeah, a bunch of Chad’s friends rented a share in Montauk. We’re here for the weekend. Seriously, you should come. I wanna hear all about your fancy new life.”

“Yes! I’ll totally come.”

“Great, we’ll pick up some extra meat.”

“Wait.” I winced. “I mean, I have to ask Richard first.” I motioned to my boyfriend. Richard lumbered our way wearing an awkward green bucket hat, carrying the cooler from the car. “Ask me what?” Richard said breathlessly as he set down the cooler.

“Rashad, Chad—this is Richard,” I said.

“Nice to meet you finally,” Rashad teased. “I work—sorry, worked—with Jonah before you stole him from us. Jonah told me all about you.”

“Only terrible things, I hope,” Richard joked dryly.

“The worst.”

“Rashad and Chad are having a barbecue at their place in Montauk tomorrow night, and they invited us,” I interjected.

“Oh, how lovely,” Richard said politely. “But we have reservations at Nick and Toni’s.”

“We do?” I asked.

“Well, it was going to be a surprise. Until Rashad here ruined it,” Richard replied with mock outrage.

“Sabotaging surprises is my favorite pastime,” Rashad quipped.

“We should get back, babe,” Chad grunted.

“Let me at least give you my number again, Jonah,” Rashad offered. “Maybe we can hang some other time this weekend.”

“I don’t have a phone . . .” I trailed off. Richard claimed he’d ordered a new one for me online, though it still hadn’t arrived. It will, I told myself. It will.

“Oh, duh. And I, unfortunately, forgot to stick a pen and notepad in my Speedo.”

“Here, you can put your number in my phone,” Richard said, offering his cell to Rashad. “We’ll call if things free up.”

Rashad put in the number, gave the phone back to Richard. “Take care of yourself, Jonah,” Rashad said, sweeping me into a concerned hug.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.