Senior Year Box Set

“I still can’t believe Eleanor is in the wedding party,” Liam said and turned to Harry. “Are you going to give her up once you get married?”

“You’re getting married, too?” I asked.

“He got himself in a pickle, and his parents arranged for his marriage,” Oliver explained.

“They still do that?” I asked.

“It’ll be okay. I’ll be able to keep my mistress on the side. All I have to do is get my wife pregnant with a male heir and the requisite one extra for just-in-case. Then we can live our separate lives,” Harry said.

It took me a moment to wrap my brain around that one.

“Have you even met her?” I asked.

“Oh, yes. The only problem is that for sporting, let’s just say she will be a proper English lady. If I want to have a bit of fun, I’ll have to look elsewhere,” Harry said, making me like him even less.

Our breakfasts came, and all conversation stopped because they needed to get something in their stomachs. Monaco is located on the French coast near Italy, so their cuisine had been heavily influenced by both countries. I ordered pain perdu, which we would call French toast.

I figured if it had a French name, it must be authentic. Unlike regular French toast, the batter cooked into a custardy, crispy coating that left the bread soft. They used house-baked egg bread, similar to the Hawaiian bread you could buy back home. I would have to try to steal the recipe to take back so we could serve this in our restaurant.

When the guys came up for air, I learned they were also going to the Red Cross fundraiser tonight. They asked if I wanted to go with them, but I told them I had already made other arrangements. There was more hope than fact in that last statement. I would have to ask Scarlet whether Chubby had arranged transportation. Even worse than hanging out with a lot of old people at a fundraiser would be to hang out with this group.

I thanked them for breakfast when Harry insisted he would pay. Then I beat a hasty retreat before they had a chance to rope me into spending more time with them.

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When I got back, I found Ashley in my bedroom, rushing around like she planned to go somewhere.

“I hope you don’t mind, but I wanted to let Megan get her sleep.”

“No, that’s fine. What are you up to?” I asked.

“There’s a qualifier poker tournament for the Super High Roller European Poker Tour event this weekend that I’m going to enter.”

“Two questions. First, why didn’t you tell me about it? Second, I didn’t know you played poker.”

“I told your mom I was planning to play. She said, and I quote, ‘even though the gambling age is 18 in Monaco, David is under no circumstances allowed to step foot into a casino,’” Ashley said. She actually did a credible imitation of my mother. “Oh, and ‘David is not allowed to go to any clubs while you’re on vacation.’”

“Even though I can legally drink here and in Greece,” I added.

“Evidently. You do realize she isn’t our mother, and we plan to do all that stuff,” Ashley added.

“You plan to leave me at home?” I asked indignantly.

“Please,” Ashley said as she dismissed the idea that I would stay at home. “You already have plans to go to some ball and then the opera. I have no doubt you’ll find something to do. You don’t need us old folks to entertain you.”

I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. Part of the reason I’d invited Ashley and Scarlet was so I would get a chance to get to know them better. It sounded like they planned to go off and do their own thing. While I was confident I’d be able to find stuff to do, it felt weird that the people I’d invited just assumed I wouldn’t be part of whatever they did. On top of that, I found it off-putting to realize I was the kid whose mama wouldn’t let him do the things the older kids got to do.

“You’re probably right,” I said and left her to get ready.

I decided I wasn’t going to sit around and worry about them. Instead, I would go my own way and explore the city. I had just reached the front door when someone knocked. They almost fell down the steps when I opened the door as soon as they stopped beating on it.

“That was fast,” a woman dressed for business said.

“What can I do for you?” I asked.

“Is your mom or dad home?”

That just hit me wrong. Only two minutes ago, I’d been reminded I was too young to hang with my travel-mates. Now, this lady wanted to talk to my parents.

“No, they’re out,” I said and didn’t offer to take her information.

The woman was flustered when I stepped out of the condo with the plan to act like a tourist. I had almost reached the sidewalk when she finally realized I wasn’t going to stop.

“Hang on, I need to talk to one of them.”

I just gave her a teenage shrug, put my earbuds in, and donned my sunglasses as I walked away. As I glanced back, the woman stood in the middle of the front walk, looking confused. I momentarily wondered why she needed to talk to my parents and then put it out of my mind.

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