Page 70 of Winging It with You

“Oh, my sweet, simple Asher,” Ellie mocks in her less-than-sweet tone. “If you hadn’t been passed out and excessively drooling on the train, you’d know that production handed out mandatory fact sheets to help us in this week’s challenge.”

Shit.Whipping my head toward Theo, he discreetly shakes his head.Ugh.As painfully annoying as Ellie is sometimes, I have to give it to her—that girl is razor-sharp and incredibly quick on her feet. I’m not usually in the company of someone who comes close to my signature level of snark, so I guess game recognizes game…orsomethingincredibly cliché like that.

“You little shit—”

“Ah, ah, ah,” she says, waving an outstretched finger in my direction. “If you’re going to get all snippy and difficult about something I’ve always wanted to do, you leave me no choice butto officially pull out the birthday card.” She sticks her hand in her pocket, retrieving an imaginary card and dramatically flailing it in front of my face.

“Uh, hold on, little one. Didn’t your mom sayjustlast night at dinner that your birthday isn’t until next week?”

“Irrelevant,” she says, pinning said invisible card to my chest. “Besides, if I have to spend my eighteenth birthday traversing the globe with a bunch of ancient strangers…”

Ouch.

“…the least you can do is slap on a happy face and give a young girl the only thing in the whole wide world that’ll make her happy. Pretty please?”

“Yeah, Ash,” Theo chimes in. “Pretty please with me on top?”

Well, that’s a fun visual.Yeesh, she’s really laying it on thick, but on some level, I think she’s being serious about wanting to do this.

“I mean, she playedthebirthday card, Asher,” Theo says, shrugging his shoulders. “We are contractually obligated as the…wait, what did she call us?”

“Hmm, that would be ‘ancient strangers,’ if I remember correctly.”

“Ah, yes, that’s right…Well, by the rules of all pulled birthday cards, we are officially bound to carry out whatever the card puller wishes. And in this case…”

“La Tomatina,” we all say in forced agreement. I, however, do it with a groan.

I hate that my natural inclination for adventures that other people—especially Theo—are excited about is total avoidance.

I know I’m capable of having fun—I’ve been told on numerous occasions how much others have enjoyed the brunchesClint and I held. That was all me! Always ensuring everyone was happy and fed and never had an empty glass in their hand, that events were paired with the perfect complementary soundtrack, and no matter how last-minute the notice was, I never turned once down the opportunity to host one of my infamous pool parties.

Oh God…I’m boring myself.

But deciding to go on this show and randomly choosing someone like Theo to be my partner, someone who is like fifty-two steps above “go with the flow,” I’ve been thinking about how many chances to step outside my comfort zone I’ve said no to…how much of my life Ihaven’tbeen living.That changes now.

Several things happen very quickly.

Water cannons erupt from their hidden locations, spewing gallon after gallon of water over the enthusiastic crowd.

Ellie shoves pairs of goggles in Theo’s and my direction, which we instinctively put on.

Quickly I grab a tomato, smash it in my hands, and throw it right at Theo’s chest.

La Tomatina has officially begun.

Theo appears stunned by my tomatoey sneak attack. “Oh, you’redead, Bennett,” he shouts over the chaos unfolding around us and lunges toward the nearest bucket of tomatoes, grabbing a fistful of fruity ammunition.

I dart between the swells of bodies, trying to see where Ellie took off to, in my attempt to avoid Theo’s impending retaliation.

Smack.

A large and disgustingly mushy tomato collides with the side of my face, exploding tomato bits in every direction, and Iwhisper a silent prayer of appreciation for Ellie, wherever she is, for having the foresight to bring goggles to this epic disaster.

Smack. Smack. Smack.

One after another after another, tomatoes fly through the air, exploding on impact with whichever target has had the misfortune of stepping into their path. Thankfully, people seem to be squishing them before they wildly aim.Smack.

Stopping only once, I stumble upon the smallest gap in the group and turn around. I half expect to see Theo right behind me, ready to deliver his payback. But he’s disappeared in the sea of extreme tomato lovers, nowhere to be found, which only adds to the terror of his future attack.Smack. Smack.The onslaught of tomato explosions seems never-ending, and I slip with each step.

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