Page 10

Billy

“I’ve got an idea,” Jesse whispers excitedly when I look at him.

I swallow the nervous lump in my throat. None of his ideas have ever been anything short of crazy, but at the very least, they’ve always been kind of fun.

“Okay,” I reply cautiously with a shrug. “What is it?”

“We should build a snowman with Calla,” he says, his voice riddled with enthusiasm.

My eyes narrow in confusion as my brow dips, mimicking the sentiment. I know that Jesse isn’t exactly the most level-headed out of all of us, but that seems a little too childish. There has to be a catch.

He blows out his breath impatiently, then nods at me to look down.

“ Ohhh, ” I say a little louder than I mean to. His gesture explains his entire plot without him having to say another word.

“ Shh, ” he snaps at me through grit teeth. I cast a quick glance around the table and find the others watching us curiously, then smile nervously as I look back at Jesse.

“What makes you think she’ll go for it?” I ask him in a hushed tone. “Or any of them, for that matter?”

“Because everyone at this damn table thinks with their dick,” he replies smugly. “Except for her. She thinks with ours, ” he finishes with a sly smile.

I shake my head as I chuckle, then steal a quick glance at Calla. She’s completely enthralled by whatever it is that Clyde is saying to her, and Doc is starting to get annoyed.

He is such an attention hog, I think as I look back at Jesse.

“Okay, I’m in.”

***

I wrinkle my nose when the pretty, punkish looking girl brings our meals. I don’t know what the hell smells the way it does, but when she sets it down in front of Clyde, I lower my face to hide a smile.

He’s going to end up smelling rank, and it’s going to make him feel self-conscious. I sigh as I sit back and let her place my plate down in front of me.

For Jesse ’s plan to work, we all have to be in on it. Not that Clyde will pass this up.

With as much as I hate to admit it, Jesse came through with another wild idea that I know everyone—maybe even Calla—will be enthusiastic about.

It’s dirty, devious, and a little gross, though I have a feeling that my latter opinion will change once we start building our snowman.

I do my best to put the thought out of my head while I enjoy my breakfast. I don’t know what they’ve done to my eggs, but they taste better than anything I could have cooked up at home myself.

As I ’m ready to shove another forkful into my mouth, Jesse loudly clears his throat, and I look over at him with my mouth open and fork stopped mid-flight to its destination.

He does his best to jerk his head imperceptibly toward Doc, who’s sitting on the other side of me. I shake my head briefly in confusion and arch an eyebrow.

He rolls his eyes before mouthing, tell him.

All things considering, I think his idea is really creative and cool, but I’m not entirely sure that’s a message to pass on when people are trying to eat breakfast. But, when Jesse’s eyes harden and his mouth becomes a tight line, I know I don’t have much of a choice.

Placing my fork down, I take a deep breath, then lean over and tap Doc on the arm. He glances at me curiously as he takes a bite out of his huge, fancy breakfast sandwich and raises an eyebrow.

Leaning over, I quickly whisper Jesse’s idea to him.