Faster (The University of Gatica #2) Read Online Free PDF Page A

to say. It did look kind of cool but what would their coach think if he ever stopped by? “I’m not sure it would fit in the house.”
    “I measured it last time I was here! It totally will!”
    “It looks heavy.” Aileen scratched her neck and glanced at Brad, wondering if he was going to help her out.
    “It’s awesome!” Brad went to stand beside Jani to check out the back part. “It’s a tiki bar.”
    Thanks for the help, brother. Aileen tilted her head and tried to imagine it in the house. If they did have a party and Tyler came, it would be a cool conversation piece. “How much is it?”
    “It was a hundred and fifty but there’s a fifty percent off tag on it now.” Jani bounced up and down on her feet, flying abnormally high into the air.  “Seventy-five bucks! I’m so buying it.”
    Brad looked under the counter. “It comes apart so it’ll fit through your front door. If someone here can help me get it apart, I think between the three of us, we can get it into the house and back together. I’ll just need to borrow your brute strength.” He looked Jani’s skinny frame up and down. “Maybe Aileen and I can do it together.”
    Jani grabbed him and hugged him. “Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.”
    Brad’s face turned a light shade of pink. “I haven’t done anything yet.”
    “You brought your sister here. If you hadn’t have come, there would be no VD or surround or a wicked cool tiki bar for our house!!” She kissed him on the cheek.
    He grinned. “It’s not a VD , trust me on that one. It’s a VGC.”
    Aileen burst out laughing. “Better get that right before you start texting people and asking them to come over to sign up for some VDs.”
    All three of them sobered when a salesperson from the store came over to ask if they needed help.

Chapter 4
     
    Monday morning rolled into afternoon at a slow pace. Brad had left early the day before, and his absence made Aileen lonely. Even though he drove her crazy, he couldn’t be a better brother. She loved him for all his annoying and endearing ways. She didn’t cry when he drove off, but her stomach felt heavy and the dull ache hadn’t left after a restless night’s sleep.
    At least she had practice today to distract her. Which meant she would be seeing Tyler today. First official practice, there was no way anyone would be missing it. She had jumped out of bed, showered, then shaved in the shower and spent way too much time straightening her hair.  It didn’t matter. She had nothing else to do. Jani had warned her the night before that she liked to sleep and not to be alarmed if she didn’t appear from her room till after lunchtime.
    She sat in the newly arranged living room with the tiki bar set diagonally in one corner, and speakers placed strategically throughout the room. She had to admit that the large wooden buffet looked fantastic. They had bought different colored plastic wine glasses and martini glasses at the dollar store and set them on the top shelves. The more she looked at it, the more she liked it.
    Practice started at two-thirty. Coach Anderson had sent out an email to everyone to let them know about a team meeting scheduled after practice, around four o’clock. Some athletes would be arriving later throughout the week, but those, who were ready to work out, had to be at the track by two-thirty.
    She checked her watch. Lunch was an hour ago, and Jani still had not appeared from her room. Aileen wondered if she should knock on Jani’s door to make sure she was all right.
    As if on cue, the door swung open and an appalling bed-headed Jani came out. “Hey!” she said as she yawned. “I feel like a bear waking up from hibernating. That’s the best sleep I’ve had in forever.” She headed for the bathroom. “What time—holy cow! I gotta get ready!” She popped her head around from the kitchen. “Give me ten minutes to shower. We can jog over to the track.”
    “Sounds good.” Aileen couldn’t resist teasing