Page 31 of Afterglow
“I’m so sorry, Fletcher. That was rude of me.”
“It’s fine,” I try to shrug it off with humor. “I’ve had opportunities, I’ll have you know, but I’ll only sit on a girl’s bed when I’m good and ready.”
There’s an awkward lull while Bea stares into the air above her head, wondering what the fuck I’m talking about.
“Are…you ready now?”
“Right, yes. I’m ready.” I lower to the mattress, folding one leg underneath the opposite knee, leaving one foot on the ground. “What’s the clue?”
“Four-letter word. Third letter, T. Feed the kitty.” She drops the pen and throws her arms up. “All the answers I have are dirty and don’t fit.”
That’d be me, too, but this one I actually know.
“Ante.”
“A-n-t-i?”
“E instead of i. It’s a poker term.”
“Kitty is a poker term?”
I lift my palms in surrender. “I don’t make the rules.”
“I trust you.” She fills out the squares and thinks about the word perpendicular to it. There are only a couple of letters missing. “Cafeteria shout, cafeteria shout.” The end of her pen taps against her lips. “Oh! Food fight!”
“Nicely done.”
She jumps to her knees, punching the air in victory. “Woo hoo! I did it, I did it.”
All the bouncing is doing horribly embarrassing things to my groin. I gotta get out of here. I scramble to my feet and head towards the open door.
“Hey, get back here. Where are your date ideas?”
I tap my temple with my finger. “All up here.”
“Nope, not good enough.” She slides off the bed. “Hold on.” Behraz steps into the walk-in closet and roots around in a box, then emerges with a handful of popsicle sticks and a glass Mason jar.
“What’s this?”
“To write down the ideas.” Each wooden stick gets numbered, and she hands me a few. “Then we put them in this jar, and whenever we need an idea, we’ll pick one and do it.”
“We’re going on more than one date?”
“I’ll treat you real nice,” she says through a Southern drawl, pumping her eyebrows.
I cover my mouth with a hand, but the blush spreads too far above my cheeks.
“Practice makes perfect, Fletcher. It’ll be fun.”
“Okay, but I have one condition.”
“Ooh, I live for a negotiation. Let’s hear it.”
“We only go on a date if you finish your material for the day.”
“Tough guy, eh?” She puts up fists and fakes boxing like Curly from the Three Stooges before breaking out into a spectacularly bright smile. “Deal.”
Chapter 12
