Page 696 of Filthy Elites

“Uh huh.”

“Don’t you have some work to do?”

“I saw you watching me.” Adrian didn’t know why he was pushing her, but her flushed cheeks and flustered manner made him want to do it even more.

“Get back to work.”

Adrian smirked as he walked back to where he left the poop shovel. The lever that controlled the scoop kept sticking so he was trying to be extra careful with it. He didn’t want to end up making a bigger mess than the one he was cleaning up.

Kelsey went back to studying, or at least trying to. After the excitement with the dog getting loose and the shock of seeing Adrian’s natural ability with Aster, she was not hopeful that she would retain too much information.

A few minutes later, she glanced up just as Adrian was bending over to pick something up. She tried not to notice how the denim stretched over his tight ass or how the muscles rippled along his back when his T-shirt pulled up. She was not mesmerized by his shoulders and thick biceps as they flexed under the sleeves of his blue shirt.

He turned his head toward her picnic table and grinned, having caught her staring at his butt. He winked and suppressed a chuckle when she turned away quickly. He had focused on Kelsey’s irritation instead of what he was doing so he forgot to keep his thumb on the lever. The shovel opened and dog shit dumped onto his sneakers. “Dammit! Aww, man!”

Kelsey couldn’t help the giggle that escaped. She knew the poop scoop she gave him was broken and it was only a matter of time before Adrian learned that. Seeing it happen was funnier than she thought it would be.

Adrian glared at Kelsey. “You did that on purpose, didn’t you?”

Kelsey tried to adopt a serene expression, but she couldn’t stop laughing. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Dr. Hogan walked outside. “How are things… Oh my. Adrian, I’m so sorry that happened. You must have grabbed the broken shovel scoop. We need to get rid of that thing. There are other scoops that work much better.”

Adrian shot Kelsey another dark look. “Of course, there are.”

Dr. Katherine moved closer. “There’s a hose on the side of the building. You can wash up and then come inside to dry off. I’ll get a few towels for your shoes.”

Adrian headed around the side of the building and out of sight.

Dr. Hogan stopped next to Kelsey. “You must have forgotten which was the broken one.”

“Oh, uh, yeah.” Kelsey kept her eyes on her book.

“I used to hide behind my books and a shield of indifference when I was your age, so I didn’t have to deal with people and the possibility of getting hurt. It took me years to figure out that I was missing out on life.” She turned and walked back into the shelter.

Kelsey turned the page even though she hadn’t read the section. Dr. Hogan’s words made her feel a little uneasy.Am I hiding behind my books and not letting anyone in? Maybe I shouldn’t have given Adrian the broken shovel scoop.

She stood from the bench to look for him just as a stream of frigid water blasted her. She screeched and tried to get away from the flow of pressurized water.

Adrian laughed as he soaked her with the hose. “Oh whoops. Didn’t realize the nozzle was turned to the strong stream.” He turned off the water and dragged the hose back to the rack.

Kelsey stood next to the table dripping wet, stunned Adrian did that. She was torn between laughter and annoyance as she begun to twist the water from her clothes and hair.

Adrian returned from the side of the building with a huge smile on his face. “A little wet there, Kels?" He stopped next to her, and his face dropped. “Oh, crap.”

Kelsey followed his gaze. “No! What am I going to do? You ruined my book!” Kelsey lifted her soggy Ethics book and water sloshed off it. “Dammit, Adrian. I have a test tomorrow.”

She ran her hands through her wet hair. “What am I going to do? I have to get an A on this, and I haven’t even read the whole chapter.”

“Kelsey. I didn’t mean to get your book wet.” He took the book from her hand to look at the cover. The whole book was waterlogged. “I’ll be right back.”

Kelsey flopped down on the bench, dejected. She was going to fail the test which would lower her grade. Veterinary School was highly competitive, so she needed to get all As to keep her GPA up.

She glanced at her backpack. Luckily, the rest of her books were still in her bag at the end of the table, which had escaped most of the water.

Adrian ran to his car, which was parked around the corner. He had the same Senior Ethics textbook, so he would give her his. He had wanted to douse her with the hose, but he hadn’t meant to get her book wet. It was a spur of the moment impulse that he hadn’t thought through.

He opened his car door and rummaged through his stuff until he found his backpack. His trunk and backseat were both filled with his stuff from his room, so his vehicle was more messy than usual, but surprisingly, he knew where everything was.

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