Page 77 of All I Ask
It was nothing compared to the look on Mr. Mitchell’s face, though. He had tears in his eyes and kept shaking his head in disbelief.
“Okay, killer, let’s see what you’ve got.” Derek takes two steps back with hands raised.
I really question our friendship some days.
I take the nail, lining it up, and pull the hammer back.Please don’t let me hit my finger.
“Today, Tea.”
I turn and stick my tongue out at him before going back and hitting the nail.
Well, attempting to, because instead of it going into the wood frame, it falls to the floor.
“Crap.”
He laughs. “You have to hold it until you hit it. The nail doesn’t stay there because it knows it’s about to get hammered.”
“I knew that.”
He raises one brow. “Really?”
“Yes, really. I didn’t want to hit my finger.”
Derek takes the nail between his finger and thumb. “Then worry about hitting mine.”
My eyes widen because there’s no way I’m going to hammer his hand. It was bad enough worrying about hurting myself. “You’re nuts.”
“No, I trust you.”
Now he’s really crazy.
Our friendship has saved me in so many ways. I don’t worry anymore about Kelly and Lori, who have told me that my being friends with the animal-whispering nerd has officially left me out of the cool crowd. I told them that was perfectly fine with me and then reminded them that all of us have secrets.
I am not weak. I’m strong and have power as well.
Derek gave me that back.
Not by doing anything magical either, just by being my friend. While he may trust me, I’m not about to smash his finger.
I drop the hammer to my side. “I trust you too, but I don’t trust myself with blunt objects.”
“It’s not going to nail itself, Tea. If you don’t do it, I’ll be forced to stand here all day.”
He leans against the wood just to prove his point.
“Stop being an idiot.”
“Stop being a chicken.”
“Fine,” I huff. “You asked for it. When your finger needs to be amputated and you can’t work with animals, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
He rolls his eyes. “Don’t hit my finger and we won’t have that problem.”
“And will you forgive me if I hit you?”
“Depends.”
“On?”
