Never Ever by Sara Saedi Page A

didn’t know. Don’t sweat it,” Tinka intervened.
    The whole room seemed surprised by Tinka’s gentle tone. Until now, Wylie didn’t think she was capable of being kind.
    â€œLook, why don’t we each share a little bit about ourselves,” Maz said, softening his tone. “I’ll start.”
    He told the Daltons he was born in New Jersey to an Iranian mother and an American father, but remembered very little of the Farsi he’d learned as a kid.
    When Wylie asked how long Maz and Lola had been dating, they shared a knowing look and said too long to keep track.
    Bandit had grown up in Brooklyn, but came to the island two years before. He’d been living at a youth shelter when he met Phinn and took him up on his offer to move here.
    â€œIt was the best decision I’ve ever made in my life,” Bandit told them.
    Phinn smiled at the sentiment as he entered the room, looking freshly showered and shaved. He kept his eyes focused on Wylie as he walked across the room and sat next to her.
    â€œI’m starving!” Phinn declared. “Why isn’t anyone eating? I hope you didn’t wait on my account.”
    Phinn slurped down an oyster, then grabbed a beer from a nearby cooler, popped the cap off using the side of the table, and poured it into a chilled pint glass. Everyone else eagerly stocked their plates with the smorgasbord ofseafood and filled their wine glasses to the brim, except Wylie, who opted for a glass of coconut milk, straight from the shell. Phinn held his pint glass up for a toast, and everyone followed suit.
    â€œSplash!” he declared.
    â€œSplash!” everyone echoed loudly. The Daltons smiled politely and wordlessly clinked their glasses.
    â€œYou say ‘cheers’ on the mainland. Splash is the term we use around these parts,” Phinn translated.
    â€œOh, got it. Splash, everyone!” Wylie replied, awkwardly lifting her glass again.
    For a few minutes, no one spoke as they devoured their dinner. Wylie doused her shrimp with the green dip and took a bite. The sauce tasted like lime and avocado, and the shrimp was so fresh, she could barely stop herself from moaning in delight. She washed it down with a sip of coconut milk that tasted sweeter than the canned kind she cooked with back home. How could Phinn ever crave fast food when he had farm-to-table dining at his disposal every night?
    â€œWhat did you season the fish with?” Wylie asked Lola, unable to isolate the ingredients as she normally could.
    â€œA chef never reveals her secrets,” Lola replied with a smile.
    â€œLola, just tell her,” Phinn ordered.
    â€œFine. Woodmeg and pame with a dash of salt. When you grind them up together, they turn lavender.”
    â€œWe don’t have those herbs on the mainland,” Wylie said.
    â€œSpeaking of the mainland,” Phinn said, “why don’t we get straight to the point. Wylie, how old are you?”
    Wylie, mouth full, swallowed her food quickly and nearly choked on it. “I turned seventeen yesterday, actually,” she answered.
    â€œHappy birthday,” Lola said.
    â€œAnd Joshua, what about you?”
    â€œSixteen,” Joshua answered. Phinn gestured to Micah to answer.
    â€œFifteen,” he said, and then with a glance to Tinka, “but people think I’m a lot older.”
    Phinn replied, “The people in this room tonight are members of what I like to call my inner circle. They’re the people I trust most in the world.” Wylie felt her stomach flip. It shouldn’t have mattered, but she hated the idea of Tinka being that important to Phinn.
    â€œHow old are you guys?” Phinn asked the rest of the party. They answered in unison:
    â€œSeventeen.”
    â€œAnd when will each of you turn eighteen?”
    Again, they responded at the same time:
    â€œNever.”
    Wylie could feel Joshua kick her under the table. She couldn’t look at him,