Page 68 of Jagged

"Doing good with my mom." She stood to return to her painting. "Our entire video chat was in Portuguese, and she did great. So glad I started her as a baby."

"Yeah. Beneficial. I learned Spanish super young, too. Probably couldn't learn a language now. Old brains." I smirked as I walked backward toward the bathroom.

"Ancient."

"Prehistoric."

Gratitude for Tatiana soared in these moments. I might know how to do my job, create street art, get along with coworkers and acquaintances, but intimate relationships weren't my forte. I left her with a minor increase in confidence, and a smile on my face while thinking about Clementine.

***

"Jagger!" shrieked Clementine when I sailed down the half pipe on my pad-covered knees.

Wyatt laughed at me as he rolled on by.

"I'm good!" I shouted over to her as I stood, slamming down on my board to kick it up in a firm catch. "Nothing happening here." I laughed on my way over to them.

"Oh my God. Are they always like this?" Clem turned to Tatiana as the two of them shared a giant plate of nachos.

"Yup. To love them is to witness the potential loss of their teeth. At least their brains stay intact in the helmets." Tatiana took a break from the crunchy food for a hotdog.

"I still have all my teeth and my brains." I straddled the bench beside Clem, and she turned to me, her plump lips pressed together accompanied her narrowed brow.

"Not funny," she said with a huff. "That scared me."

"I'm sorry." I held my hand to her. "It happens sometimes."

"Thank goodness you have all that padding." She accepted my gesture and gave my hand a squeeze.

"I do. Want to try riding the board?"

"No." She shook her head hard enough to whip her hair a little bit. "Absolutely not. I do not skateboard."

"We can stick to camping then." I smiled when I said it, and Clem's cheeks turned a faint shade of pink when she dropped her gaze. The glare she tossed me after nearly killed me, but I couldn't hide my chuckle.

"She's dangerous, this one, Jags. Behave yourself." Tati patted Clem's shoulder, before breaking out into a slew of Portuguese phrases.

Clem turned to her immediately, engaging in the animated dialogue like nothing else happened. I could understand, perhaps every third word if it was close to Spanish, but it wasn't enough.

"Okay, you two talk. I'm going to go take care of my teeth." I gave Clem's hand a squeeze and she smiled at me before releasing my hand.

I met Wyatt at the end of his grind, and he skidded to stop a few feet from me. We narrowly avoided a collision with a kid, but no one seemed fazed.

"She's hot," he said. "I mean, Tati is hottest, but just so you know, Clementine's hot."

"Shh. Be respectful. I know." I shoved him and we rolled off together to the far side of the park. "I need your help with something."

"Me?" He hopped off his board as we approached the stair sets.

"Yes, you." I drew in a deep breath. "Will you go with me somewhere?"

"Yeah, man. Where?"

"You don't even know where yet and you agreed."

He laughed and squeezed my shoulder. "C'mon, you know I'd do whatever with you. What's up?"

"I need to buy something and I'm more comfortable talking to you about it than Tati."

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