Three's a Crowd by Sophie McKenzie Read Free Book Online

boobs look bigger. Though they’re definitely fake.”
    “Oh, no,” Eve whimpered.
    Jonno was standing on the other side of the woman’s lounger. He had put on a pair of sunglasses and was grinning. The woman laughed. She was clearly enjoying all the attention she was getting. Jonno reached over and stroked a strand of long, black hair off her cheek.
    Eve hid her face in her hands. “How can he do this to me,” she wailed. “It’s so embarrassing.”
    “D’you think that’s . . . whatsername?” Ryan said. “Your dad’s girlfriend ?”
    Eve nodded. “Lola,” she said, bitterly. “’S gotta be. She’s even younger than his last one. And those . . . those. . .”
    We all knew what she was referring to.
    I put my hand on her shoulder. Her skin felt warm and soft. She wriggled away. “For God’s sake, Luke.”
    Jonno looked up at us. I whipped my arm down by my side. Did he have some kind of Eve-touching radar?
    He started walking towards us. The smile on his face was gone.
    “D’you think he saw me?” I said nervously.
    Jonno pulled off his shades as he moved into the shadow of the hotel building.
    “He’s definitely looking at you, man.” Ryan backed away.
    It was true. Jonno’s eyes were fixed on me.
    “God, I put my hand on your shoulder for, like, two seconds,” I hissed.
    I could feel Eve shuffling nervously beside me. But my eyes were locked on Jonno’s. I was trying to make out his expression. He looked so serious. Not angry, though. But then I remembered his number one rule. There was no way he would do anything in front of the guests.
    Crap. Crap. Crap.
    He strode up, running his large, ring-heavy hand through his hair. Now he was here, standing in front of us. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed that Ryan and Chloe had vanished.
    “Forgot to show you where the computer is, Lance,” Jonno said.
    I gulped. Was this a trick? A way of getting me somewhere private so he could beat me up?
    “Computer?”
    Jonno frowned. “Yeah. For the daily homework your mum told me you’d got to do.”
    The homework. Jesus. I’d forgotten all about it.
    Jonno pointed me towards the door.
    “Wait here, Eve,” he said. “When I come back I want to introduce you to Lola.”
    As Jonno pulled open the door, Eve and I exchanged mutually pitying glances.
    Then I followed Jonno inside the hotel.

 
7
Catalina
    It took me three hours to get Mum’s stupid homework done. I had to write an essay, a review of a fictional sporting event, then do twenty questions off a sample maths paper.
    It was impossible to concentrate. Jonno had set me to work in an unairconditioned broom cupboard near his office. Well, maybe it wasn’t an actual broom cupboard. But that’s what it felt like. There was just room for the desk, the computer and me. Oh. And a small window which gave tantalising views of the far corner of the pool and the trees beyond.
    The screaming of the kids in the pool was distracting enough, but every so often I’d also catch a glimpse of Eve, wandering about on the grass in her bikini.
    I thought about ringing her mobile and asking her to come and talk to me through the window, but decided against it. If I did that I wouldn’t be finished until midnight.
    After about an hour I was starving, but I didn’t dare stop working. Mum had said she expected an email every day by two p.m. or she’d make Jonno send me home. And, having met Jonno now, I was sure he’d have no qualms about getting rid of me.
    Sweating and grumbling under my breath I worked my way through both exercises, stopping only to email Mum to ask for an extension to the deadline.
    At about quarter to two there was a knock at the door. Marco poked his head round. “ Hola .” He grinned. “Eva give me this for you.” He produced a large ham and cheese sandwich.
    I fell on it, thanking him gratefully.
    “She come herself, but she goes to the crèche now,” Marco added.
    Great. Just as I’m finishing up, Eve has to work.
    I turned back