Stories Beneath Our Skin Read Online Free PDF Page A

said you were a sucker for sad stories."
    " Did she?" Ace snorted. "Man, save one stupid cat from the gutter and everyone thinks you're a pushover."
    " You saved a cat?"
    " Kitten," Goose shouted out. "Sad, pathetic Siamese kitten with big eyes and pathetic little mew. Now an angry old cat."
    " He's not angry," Ace yelled back, then turned back to Liam with a half-smile. "Maybe grumpy. Probably learned that from me."
    " What's his name?"
    " George."
    " You named a cat George?"
    " Sure. St. George. Dragon slayer. Eater of mice and scratcher of annoying assholes named Goose."
    " Huh. I like it." Liam closed the sketchpad.
    " What do you want on your pizza, kid?" Deb popped her head around.
    " Oh, I don't need any, thanks. Not hungry."
    " Like hell. You came in five hours ago and haven't had so much as a cracker. I know Ace and Goose run on vodka fumes and beef jerky, but some of us require real food." She narrowed her eyes. "You're too skinny."
    " I have a fast metabolism," he muttered, fighting the urge to fold himself away from her gaze.
    " We always get two pies on Friday, so you might as well just tell her what you want," Ace put in. "Half-Hawaiian for me, half-jalapeno for Goose, and a plain for Deb and whoever else is around."
    " I like Hawaiian." He couldn't remember the last time he'd actually had a decent slice of pizza. Cafeteria food usually sustained him at college, and the few times he did get takeout, it was more exotic fare.
    " No one likes Hawaiian." Deb wrinkled her nose. "Not even Ace. He just orders it 'cause it makes the rest of us gag."
    " You don't appreciate sweet and savory, it's not my fault." Ace pushed off from the doorway, back to his room. "Glad I got someone on my side now."
    " Whatever." Deb shot Liam a small smile. "Hey. What you said to that girl, that was kind of decent of you."
    " The walls really are thin in here, aren't they?"
    " The thinnest," she said wryly. "At first, I was gonna jump down your throat about trying to play white knight to a girl that could clearly defend herself. But then I got the feeling you would've done it even if it was a huge burly dude. Right?"
    " I don't like anyone getting pressured into doing something they don't want," he told the sketchpad. June smiled up at him, lips cherry red. "Especially something that's gonna last the rest of their lives."
    " Yeah. I hear you. We've all got a few regrets to wear." She gave him a tight smile. "Okay, so one nasty-ass Hawaiian pizza."
    The waiting room apparently doubled as a dining room, pizza boxes open on Deb 's desk and paper towels deployed as plates. Goose stretched out on the couch while Ace tucked one leg under himself in a chair and Deb stayed behind her desk. Liam slouched into the chair across from Ace's and picked off the pineapple to eat first.
    " I'm telling you, I'm totally against this dash thing." Goose started up, dripping hot sauce over his pepper-studded slice. "Deb won't hear me out."
    " She's probably right." Ace folded his slice in half and bit into it like he hadn't seen food in a week. "Customer wants a dash, you give 'em a dash. We're not the grammar police."
    " Man, why do you always take her side?"
    " Because I'm usually right," Deb chimed in.
    " So what have you been doing the last four years?" Ace asked after he'd managed to swallow.
    " Uh, I've been here, man." Goose craned his neck back. "You going senile?"
    " I meant the kid, G."
    " College." Liam started on the ham next. There weren't any forks, so he'd have to eat the cheese with the bread. Couldn't be helped.
    " No tattoo parlors where you go to school?"
    " I needed a break." He tried to make it sound casual. "Anyway, I have to keep my GPA up for my scholarship. Takes a lot of study time."
    " Let me guess." Goose pointed a finger at him. "You're a total liberal arts type, right? Not gonna do art as your major though, too careful for that, I bet. Probably something general, flexible. English major."
    " How'd you know?" He frowned. It hadn't