Free Lex and Lu by J. Santiago Page B

to you, didn’t he?”
    “Stop it, Will!” Lu demanded.
    “Tell me, please. It’s been a while since I’ve gotten laid.”
    “Seriously, now you’re encouraging this?”
    “Absolutely not. Don’t you dare sleep with him! It would be the stupidest thing you could do. But might as well enjoy the flirting. Now tell me what he said.”
    “Have you been drinking?”
    “Not yet. But I will be. Come on, Lu. If you were me, watching you from across the room, you would so want to know what he said. Come on, Louisa May,” Willa continued to cajole.
    “I can’t, Will. I’d be embarrassed to say it.” She hated to admit that to her sister.
    “Ugh. It must have been good.”
    Lu glanced at her watch. “Is Dad back yet?”
    “Yup. Just got back from the liquor store. Are you done avoiding him?”
    Lu smiled ruefully. “Not yet. I just can’t have the conversation that he and mom want to have.”
    “Can you and I have it?”
    “Yes.”
    “What’s your plan?”
    “Sky is bringing Nina tomorrow. She’ll be here about one o’clock. Since the service is at ten, I figure that will give everyone enough time to get out of the house.”
    “So she’s just going to knock on the door and say, ‘Hi, I’m Nina Pellitteri Knight. You can probably tell from looking at me that I’m your daughter!’”
    “Ha ha, Willa. No. I’m going to ask Lex if we can talk after the house clears out. I’ll explain to him what happened and introduce him to Nina. And then I’ll duck.”
    “Are you actually developing a sense of humor about this?” Willa asked, sounding impressed.
    Lu smiled a weary smile. “No, not really. I’m just accepting the inevitable.”
    Willa reached over to give her hand a squeeze. “Are you telling Dr. J.?”
    “I want to let her fucking suffer,” Lu said with no malice, “but since I’ll be destroying her son, I think I owe her a heads-up.” Lu didn’t tell her what else she had planned. No one needed to know that. It was between her and Lex, and it was the only way she could think of to save the man she loved some hurt.
    Willa stood. “Let’s go,” she said. As they started to walk to the door, she added, “Is it OK if I strip Pete down and fuck his brains out?”
    “Did you just admit that you want Pete Pellitteri?” Lu asked, not hiding her shock.
    “Yes. I did. Are you surprised?”
    “That you want him—absolutely not. That you are finally admitting it? Hell yes.”
    “So,” Willa calculated, “will you tell me what Lex said?”
    “Ugh, Will. You’re relentless,” Lu said, laughing, following her sister out of the funeral home. “Let’s go find those pesky Pellitteri boys.”
    “Yes, lets!” Willa agreed. “Let’s do that.”

    The Village had changed a lot since Lu’s younger days. Since she left at seventeen, she’d never really hung out at the bars in the small commercial district on Siesta Key. She did recognize that it had been infused with some upscale boutiques, a couple of bars and restaurants. They chose the Daiquiri Deck because of its open-air venue. The beautiful night was clear, humidity free and cool enough to lure people to sit outside. They left the house to the adults and drove to the bar as quickly as they could exit. Willa and Lu were happy with the choice because it meant they could walk home. It wasn’t like they could get too crazy, with the memorial service at ten o’clock in the morning.
    Willa, Pete, Lex, Lu, Caroline, and Miguel were all that was left of the crowd. The talk of the table turned to soccer when Willa and Pete went to get drinks. Lu excused herself and headed to the bar to join them. Walking up to Pete, she grabbed his hand, squeezed it, and leaned in to him. “You doing OK?” she asked.
    “Yup, Harvard, I’m doing OK,” he said with a sad smile.
    “So many people were there today. Must have made your mother feel good.”
    “More humbling than anything,” Pete responded. “But, yeah, I think it made a