“Gig got canceled,” Carina added.
“What are you doing?” Brianna asked both of them.
“Watching Miracle on 34th Street,” Carina said like this was all very normal.
“The most boring movie ever,” Tino added and then sucked on the bright red Popsicle he was eating. “I’d rather go back to the fucking soap operas.”
“That can be arranged,” Carina assured him as she sucked on her yellow Popsicle. “I got ’em all saved from last week. I’m a romantic.”
Tino snorted. “Stronzate.”
“No, no, it’s true.” Carina’s face was bright red because she was hanging upside down next to her brother, her feet draped over the top of the couch, her long hair an inky pool on the marble. “Watch.”
When Tino turned to look at her, his face also red because of hanging upside down, Carina deep throated her Popsicle so far it almost disappeared.
Tino shoved her, making her choke. “What the fuck is wrong with you?”
“What?” Carina cracked up, even though she was still coughing. “Paco told me it was romantic.”
“You do shit like that to gross me out,” Tino growled at her. “I’m ’bout to get tired of it, Carina Maria. One of these days I’m gonna retaliate.”
“Why are you upside down?” Brianna couldn’t help but ask.
“You know that thing where you eat your ice cream with your spoon upside down to keep from getting a brain freeze,” Carina said and sucked on her Popsicle again. “You can’t turn a Popsicle upside down, so we figured—”
“I don’t think it works like that,” Brianna mumbled, wondering why the strangest shit happened whenever Tino and Carina were alone together. “Does it work?”
“So far.” Tino sounded surprised too. He reached over and picked up the box. “Want one?”
Brianna was sort of curious despite the sugar. If Tino could eat brown rice for her, she could eat one Popsicle for him. So she set down her bag and got on the couch next to Tino. She put her feet up and dropped down next to him while he unwrapped a grape Popsicle for her. She took it and sucked on it, hard, trying to test the brain-freeze concept.
She frowned, concentrating on it, because in theory it shouldn’t be at all the same as eating ice cream with the spoon upside down. She did notice the sea of abandoned Popsicle wrappers on the floor now that she was upside down, making it obvious they’d been doing it for a while, so maybe there was merit to it.
“Nice,” Tino said with a hitch in his voice. Brianna turned to him with the Popsicle still in her mouth, seeing the hot look he gave her as he watched. “It is sorta romantic now that I think about it.”
Carina shoved Tino’s head, making him choke on his cherry Popsicle. Then he laughed so hard he put his other hand to his chest, but Carina was giving him a death glare, and Tino held up his hand in defeat.
“I’m kidding. Calm down,” Tino said in a soothing, passive voice. “That’s not my style. I’m a gentleman. It’s more like, um—” He licked the top of his Popsicle as if testing it and pushed his sister’s shoulder at the same time. “No, really, Carina, look. It’s totally innocent.” When she kept her head turned away, he started pushing at her shoulder over and over, chanting, “Rina. Rina. Rina.”
“What?” Carina shouted and turned back to him.
Tino licked the top of his Popsicle like he was licking something entirely different, moving the tip of his tongue so fast it was genuinely impressive.
At least to Brianna it was.
Carina made a gagging sound.
“What?” Tino laughed. “I thought it was romantic. You don’t think it’s romantic?” When Carina didn’t answer him, Tino shrugged. “That’s funny, ’cause your best friend told me it was romantic.”
“That better not be true,” Carina growled at both of them. She lifted her head, looking past Tino to Brianna. “Is that fucking true?”
Brianna sucked on her Popsicle, contemplating it, because a few days ago the most she could get out of Tino was the idea of keeping it a secret. This felt like a good thing, so she agreed, “Yes, it’s true,” and then gave Carina a devious smile. “I thought it was very romantic.”
Tino cracked up, like he couldn’t have planned it better. He sounded so genuinely happy. Brianna didn’t care about anything else in the world and just laughed with him.
Even if Carina was glowering at them.
Neither of them cared.
“That’s where you fucking went the other day!” Carina shouted at her. “Aaron’s dorm, my ass. You bitch! I can’t believe you lied to me!”
“You’ll be okay,” Tino said dismissively, still chuckling, and turned back to Brianna. “Anyway, what were you gonna yell at me about?”
“I was gonna yell at you?” she asked, because in that moment, with the amusement still dancing in his dark eyes, she couldn’t love him more if she tried.
“Sounded like it.” Tino gave one of those wide, heart-stopping grins of his. “Used my full name and everything.”