Rebound by Michael Cain Read Free Book Online Page B

and joking to miserable.
Obviously her sudden change of mood was easy to see.
    As if on cue, Kevin’s
cellphone rang. He grabbed for it, but it fell to the floor--he
really was drunk already. He fished it from the floor and looked at
the readout.
    “Liz,” he said,
answering it with a “Hello.”
    He listened for a few
beats before saying, “Ah, nothing really. Just some midnight
margaritas.”
    Susan looked around
the room for a clock. She was surprised it was so late already.
Seemed like she’d just woken up.
    He said, “Not
really.”
    Susan could all too
well imagine what question he was answering for Liz.
    “Sure,” he said, and
held out the phone to her.
    She hesitated. She
didn’t remember much, but she knew Liz had been with her through
the wedding fiasco. And somehow she knew Cancun was all her idea
too. Kevin shook the phone at her impatiently. Obviously, he still
didn’t love talking with Liz.
    Susan took the phone,
and for a moment she just held it, pondering if she should just
hang up. Liz would just call back, and even if Susan smashed the
cellphone against the wall, she would find some way of getting a
phone to her.
    “Hey,” Susan said
tentatively into the phone.
    “ Suze, you’re
out of the coma! Tell me, was it a deeply spiritual experience or
did you just watch reruns of I Love Lucy all
day?”
    Susan smiled
wryly. “There was Leave It to Beaver and Happy
Days too.”
    “Leave it to you to
turn a coma into your usual weekend on the couch.”
    Susan felt weird
lying to her, but she was sure Liz didn’t need to know about the
real life reruns plaguing her mind.
    “So have you even
left the room yet?” Liz’s voice broke through Susan’s momentary
reverie. “Will I have to pry you out of there with a crowbar when I
arrive?”
    “No, Liz, Kevin
dragged me out this afternoon. We went paragliding.”
    “Para what?” Liz’s
laugh was a little uneasy. “Tell me it wasn’t some stupid sex
thing! ’Cause I’ll rip Kevin’s--”
    “No, silly. It was
like hang gliding, except with a parachute, and you get towed
around by a speedboat.”
    “Oh.” She sounded
even more worried, and she got sarcastic. “How did that go, Little
Miss Scared of Heights? I remember someone freaking out in line for
a ferris wheel once.”
    Kevin was gulping
down the last of his margarita, and smiled as Susan said, “No, I
didn’t have a panic attack this time.”
    The eyebrow he raised
fit perfectly with the “Yeah, right,” Liz muttered over the
phone.
    “I mean it, Liz. I
did great.”
    Kevin threw his
head back and chuckled, mouthing the words, Big, fat liar !
    Susan stuck out her
tongue at him, and he laughed even harder.
    “Well, however it
happened, at least you’re getting out of the room.”
    “So when are you
coming down?” Susan wanted her other best friend with her, needed
her there.
    “Two, three days,
tops. I’ve got an important showing to get through--busy,
busy--then I’m all yours.”
    Susan bit her lip,
feeling that warm, wet feeling behind her eyes.
    Kevin saw it, and
shook his head. “Sorry, babe, but I’m too drunk for chicks crying
right now.” He stood up and teetered back on his heels. “I’m gonna
leave you two alone and say good night.”
    Susan sniffled and
tried to smile.
    “Pussy!” Liz chided
in her ear.
    Kevin walked
unsteadily to the back of the suite and took a right into the
common bathroom. A couple of seconds later, Susan heard the shower
running.
    “Hey, he’s done
really well with me crying. You’ve got to give him credit for
that.”
    “Sure, sure. He’s a
freaking saint...Saint Kevin of the crying woman! I hear the Pope
will be inducting him into the Martyr Hall of Fame.”
    “You’re terrible!”
Susan said. “I thought you two had a truce going or something?”
    “Or something.” Liz
clucked her tongue. “Thank God he finally grew into a stud. Soon
he’ll find some nice girl, and they’ll get married and have nice
babies, and leave us