Page 10 of Test Me
“Pass,” I said, immediately. I had no desire for a hot athlete like him to judge my pitiful throwing skills, but I would gladly observe someone else pie him.
“He means, mission accepted!” Jesse crowed, then hissed out of the corner of his mouth at me, “Stay right there, you’re doing this.”
A handful of seconds later, he was pushing a pie pan of whipped cream into my hand. I gave in and grinned in spite of my reservations as I lofted it. “How about you tell me the formula for terminal velocity and if you’re right, I won’t nail you with this pie.”
“Awfully confident of you, Whizkid,” Josh teased. Why did my balls tingle at a mere tease from him? The universe was cruel. “But, sadly for me, I’d need a pencil and paper to figure that shit out, so take your best shot. I have my doubts.”
I lobbed the first pie and missed, whispering a curse. Louder, I said, “The wind shifted.”
“Uh-huh.” Josh cracked a cocky grin that just begged for a whipped cream flourish.
Jesse handed me another pie, and then another after I missed again, this time blaming faulty footing.
“Isn’t there, like, a pie limit or something?” Josh mock frowned.
“Not when it benefits charity,” I said archly, then hefted the third pie, squinted one eye just to be sure, and launched it at him. This time, the pie met its mark, slamming Josh right in the face in a spray of white and causing him to bark out a loud laugh of disbelief.
“Holy shit.” He laughed as he scooped the cream from his eyes. “That was pretty fucking good.”
“Remember that.”
“You invoked physics wizardry, didn’t you?” He narrowed his eyes. “Don’t lie.”
“Maybe.” I gave him an imperious smile. “We can put it on paper at our next session and see.”
Josh flipped me the bird and turned to wipe his face on the towel another brother extended him.
I glanced down at my watch and then over at Jesse. “I’m gonna head toward the bonfire. It’s getting close to eight.”
“All right, I’m gonna hang here. Too much eye candy to leave now.”
I sketched a wave in Josh’s direction and started off toward the end of the street, where the main bonfire’s flames licked high into the air.
“Hey!”
I glanced over my shoulder at Josh as he loped across the asphalt and fell in step beside me. “How was your Thanksgiving?”
God, he smelled delicious. Sweet, like sugar mixed with ripe clementines. The urge to lick him was way too strong after the spiked cider. “It was good. Yours?”
He shoved his hands in the pocket of a hoodie, its collar dark with what I guessed was whipped cream, and probably the source of the sweet scent. “It was cool.” He chewed on his lower lip. “I kinda missed our sessions actually.” He darted a look sidelong at me. “I worried maybe I’d forget everything.”
“Nah. You’re doing really well.” I was secretly thrilled that Josh had used the wordmissedin association with me. Well, adjacent association with me. He hadn’t actually said he’d missedmeafter all, and I totally understood worrying about forgetting stuff. “We’re still on for Tuesday?”
“Yup.” He nodded. “Definitely.”
“All right, well I guess I’ll see you then.”
Josh’s brow furrowed. “Are you leaving?”
“Oh, no, I just figured you were being polite and the polite part was done and you could move on.”
He chuckled. “You’re really funny sometimes.”
I wasn’t aware that I was being funny, but whatever.
“I’m trying to talk to you. Catch up with you. You know, make conversation?”
I eyed him dubiously. “Okay. Are you gonna ask me some questions, then?”