Page 32 of Just Joshing
I raised an eyebrow. "Why do you speak Spanish but Pete doesn't?"
Josh finished writing and placed the clipboard on the bar, snagging his bottle. He took a long drink, frowning as he considered my question.
"Did Sam ever tell you about school?"
I shook my head.
"Let's just say boarding school with a bunch of white rich kids sucked. Pete's blonde, blue eyed and slightly tan. He passes for a good old white boy any day of the week. Me? Not so much."
"Were you bullied?"
He barked out a harsh laugh. "Bullying would be a polite term. Rich white boys, bored and looking for trouble. There were three non-white kids in my class. Another Hispanic, one Black kid, and me." He took a pull of his beer. "They asked me back to talk this year. I looked up their stats. Forty-six percent are students of color." He offered me a wry smile. "Would have been nice to have that kind of inclusion back when I was there."
I reached out, giving his hand a squeeze. "I'm sorry."
He shrugged, squeezing back. "Pete watched what happened to me. It's no wonder he downplayed our Latino roots. I would have done the same." He tapped the beer bottle against his head. "But the dark and broody vibe played well with the girls."
I didn't laugh. "I'm really sorry that happened. I never knew."
He shrugged again, "don't worry, Pecas. I'm not traumatized by it." His lips quirked, "or at least not much."
My reply was drowned out by a fog horn. We both cringed, heads whirling to see Lolly, standing on a chair in the middle of the crowded bar.
"Welcome Speedy Singles!" She yelled, waving her hands. "We're about to get started. Those with green stickers on their name tags will be sitting at the tables, those with orange will be moving about the room." She pointed to tables off to the side. "Tonight is heterosexual focused, but we're equal opportunity lovers here at Speedy Singles. Just be polite, ask if your interest would be willing to chat. Who knows, maybe you'll find the love of your life." She winked for the umpteenth time. "We start in five minutes! If you haven't gotten your name tags come see me, otherwise when I hit the horn again, we'll get started! Have fun speeding!"
People started clapping.
I exchanged a wide-eyed look with Josh. "Is this happening?"
"Oh yeah." He sniggered. "Don't even think about escaping. This is going to be amazing."
I tilted my head, narrowing my eyes on him. "This is going in the rom-com isn't it?"
He lifted his beer bottle, grinning at me over the lip. "For sure."
"Damn."
We made our way over to Lolly and picked up our name tags. She winked again as we shuffled away. I was starting to suspect she was a serial killer or at the very least some kind of sociopath. They winked a lot, right?
"Looks like I'm a table holder." I said, tapping my name tag. Josh placed the orange tag over his heart.
The horn sounded, silencing the gathered group.
"Green's take your seats, oranges muster over here. Let's get speedy!"
Josh squeezed my shoulder before heading over to the mustering area. I settled at a table between a woman who looked a little like a librarian and a man with an eyepatch.
Looks like I'm last in line for the women.
"Hi, I'm Molly." I leaned across, holding out a hand to the woman. She looked down at my hand, then sniffed, turning back to the room.
"And I'm your competition."
I recoiled, hand curling back into my breast. "Oh, umm. Sorry. Good… hunting?"
She flicked her hair back, ignoring me.
"Ignore her, she's just salty that she's been attending every night for a year."
