The pool-house door opened, and Boa came out dressed in a black bathing suit and sandals with little cherries on the toes. ‘Time out,’ she called. ‘I don’t want to get hit by any flying basketballs.’

‘Wimp,’ Sehun teased, and she made a face at him as she crossed the court. ‘I have to warn you,’ he added, lowering his voice, ‘that Luna’s going to spend the whole day trying to convince you to talk Mom into letting her go to the party.’

‘I’m afraid she’ll be disappointed, then.’ Boa sighed. ‘I’ve never been able to talk your mother into anything.’

‘I can’t believe you guys have a pool house,’ Baekhyun commented as Boa made her way across the grass toward Luna. ‘Hell, I can’t even believe you have a pool!’

‘It’s pretty weird,’ Sehun agreed. ‘Almost as weird as being able to sit around in a bathing suit in November.’

Baekhyun was watching Boa get herself settled on one of the chaises. ‘Dude, your aunt is hot,’ he said, dropping his voice to a whisper.

Sehun rolled his eyes. ‘She’s my aunt, loser,’ he replied. ‘You can’t call her hot in front of me.’

‘I’m just saying.’ Baekhyun grinned. ‘She’s not my aunt.’

Sehun tossed the ball at him – hard. ‘She’s, like, thirty-eight,’ he said. ‘I think you’re a little too young for her.’

‘Thirty-eight?’ Baekhyun repeated. ‘Are you serious? She looks amazing. I would’ve guessed twenty-seven, tops.’

Sehun glanced over at Boa. She did look pretty good for her age, now that he thought of it.

‘Plastic surgery?’ Baekhyun asked.

‘I don’t know,’ Sehun admitted. ‘I guess, maybe. People out here seem to think it’s normal to get all kinds of lifts and tucks and liposuction. And she does work in Hollywood. It’s all about the image.’

‘Huh.’ Baekhyun took a lazy shot at the basket and missed. From inside the pool house came a loud crash. ‘What was that?’ Baekhyun cried.

‘Probably just the pool guy,’ Sehun said. ‘Dad asked him to come by today. He wanted to give him a tip for Thanksgiving.’ He crossed over to the pool-house door and pulled it open.

L.Joe, the pool guy, was trying to maneuver the skimmer out of the crowded supplies closet next to the bathroom.

‘Need some help?’ Sehun asked.

‘No, I got it,’ L.Joe replied. ‘Sorry about the noise, I just knocked over the vacuum hoses. I’m really out of it today.’

‘No problem,’ Sehun said. ‘You don’t need to clean the pool on Thanksgiving, though. My dad just wanted to say thanks.’

‘I know,’ L.Joe said. ‘But I figured while I’m here I might as well skim out the leaves. It’ll only take a second.’

‘You’re a perfectionist,’ Sehun joked as the guy headed out with the skimmer. He knocked into a palm tree with the long handle and laughed, shaking his head.

‘I think he’s had a few Turkey Day beers,’ Baekhyun murmured.

Sehun chuckled. ‘Game on,’ he said, grabbing the ball from Baekhyun. He shot and scored, but Baekhyun was close behind, immediately making another basket. Sehun played harder, really working up a sweat, and for a while the only sounds were from the ball hitting the ground or the wall.

When Luna and Boa appeared nearby, Sehun jumped. He’d been concentrating so hard that he hadn’t even seen them get up from the lounge chairs.

‘Mind if we walk through?’ Luna asked, nodding toward the pool-house door. ‘We need dry towels.’

Baekhyun held up his hands. ‘I need a breather, anyway,’ he said.

‘What’s wrong with your towels?’ Sehun asked.

Luna grinned, glanced over her shoulder and lowered her voice. ‘L.Joe dropped the skimmer in the water and totally splashed them,’ she said, amused. ‘He was so busy staring at Aunt Boa that he almost fell in the pool himself!’

Boa nudged her toward the pool house. ‘Quiet, he’ll hear you! And you’re the one he was looking at, young lady.’

They disappeared inside, still talking.

‘Shouldn’t we be helping your mother with dinner?’ Baekhyun asked. ‘She’s been cooking all day.’

‘Go ahead and try to set foot in the kitchen. I dare you,’ Sehun said. ‘It’s a Thanksgiving tradition: Mom cooks about twenty different things at once while Dad spends the whole day on the turkey. Every year they almost burn the house down, but they love it.’

‘Sounds romantic,’ Baekhyun said flatly.

Sehun grimaced. He’d forgotten about the animosity between Baekhyun’s parents. His friend probably didn’t want to hear cute stories about happily married couples. ‘You want to play anymore?’ he asked, trying to change the subject.

‘I think I’m done. This sun is too strong.’ Baekhyun pulled off his T-shirt and mopped his sweaty face with it. ‘Besides, I’m winning,’ he added with a grin.

‘No wonder you want to stop,’ Sehun joked.

Luna pushed open the door and stepped out with a new towel wrapped around her waist. Boa followed, wearing shorts and a gauzy top. ‘I’m going to head inside for a bit,’ she said. ‘I’ve got some calls to make for work.’ She left them with a little wave.

‘Still want that job?’ Sehun asked his sister. ‘Working on Thanksgiving?’

But Luna ignored him. She was staring at Baekhyun’s chest. ‘What happened to you?’ she asked. ‘You’re covered in bruises.’

Sehun glanced at his friend in surprise. Luna was right. The entire left side of Baekhyun’s rib cage was covered in the sickly yellowish marks of bruises that were starting to heal.

‘Oh. It’s… uh… it’s nothing.’ Baekhyun replied, quickly pulling his T-shirt back on to cover the bruising.

‘Did you get mugged or something while you were hitching here?’ Sehun asked, thinking that it would explain Bakehyun’s lack of clothes and belongings.

‘Are you kidding?’ Baekhyun put on one of his patented mega-watt grins. ‘Who would mug someone as sweet as me?’ He jumped up and grabbed the ball, passing it to Sehun energetically. ‘Let’s go, man, game on!’

He’s trying to distract us from the bruises, Sehun thought. What’s up with him? ‘I thought you were done,’ he said aloud.

‘I have a few more spectacular shots in me,’ Baekhyun replied. ‘Unless I’ve hurt your pride too much already.’

‘No more hoops,’ Mrs Oh called from the French doors that led into the living room. ‘Dinner’s in an hour. Everyone get ready.’

‘Get ready?’ Baekhyun repeated. ‘Is this a dress-up thing?’ He took a dubious sniff at his sweat-covered T-shirt.

‘I don’t know about dress-up, but it’s definitely not a smelly T-shirt affair,’ Luna replied, laughing.

Baekhyun looked dismayed, and Sehun grinned. ‘Don’t worry, I can spot you some threads.’

‘Thanks.’ Baekhyun followed Sehun into the house. ‘We never do the whole big Thanksgiving thing. My dad’s version of giving thanks is eating turkey in front of the tube so he doesn’t miss any football games.’

‘How is your dad?’ Sehun asked tentatively. After the divorce, Baekhyun hadn’t wanted to talk about his parents at all. Maybe he was starting to deal with it a little now.

‘Who knows? I barely see the guy,’ Baekhyun replied. ‘I spend as little time at home as I can. I can’t wait for graduation so I can get out of there.’

Sehun didn’t know what to say. It seemed like things for Baekhyun were worse at home than they’d ever been. He noticed Luna shooting Baekhyun a sympathetic look as they climbed the stairs to the second floor. He never understood why, but girls seemed to like troubled guys.

‘I’m thinking green and orange striped polo shirt for you,’ Sehun said, ‘with maybe a pair of plaid golf pants.’

‘You wish,’ Baekhyun replied, seeming relieved at the change of subject.

‘Hey, you have no clothes. You’re at my mercy,’ Sehun warned. When they reached the upstairs hallway, he turned towards his bedroom. ‘Let me just grab some stuff.’

Baekhyun and Luna headed down the hall toward their rooms while Sehun pulled a pair of khakis and a blue button-down shirt from his closet. He snagged a pair of jeans and a few T-shirts, too. If Baekhyun was going to be here all weekend, he’d need more than just one change of clothes. He took them down to the guest room where Baekhyun was staying.

The door was open, so Sehun went in. Baekhyun was over by the window, cell phone to his ear. Probably listening to a voicemail message, Sehun figured. He dumped the clothes on the bed and turned to leave. His sneaker tangled in Baekhyun’s hoodie, which was lying on the floor near the foot of the bed, and Sehun nearly tripped. He bent to pick up the sweatshirt and a prescription pill bottle tumbled out of the pocket, so he swooped back down to grab that, too. ‘Sorry, man,’ he said, tossing the hoddie on top of the other clothes on the bed.

He reached out to put the pills on the dresser so they wouldn’t get lost. But as Sehun glanced down at the bottle in his hand, he hesitated. Something was wrong.

The name on the label wasn’t Baekhyun’s.