Page 74 of Late Bloomer

---

She likes me.

I’m a sucker.

I pluck off another petal.

She likes me not…

An absolute fool.

She likes me…

I pluck three more…

She likes me not…

“What are you doing?”

“Nothing!” I shout, shoving my hands behind my back like a child caught at the cookie jar, Pepper looming over me.

She looks at me skeptically. I grimace back from my spot in the dirt, face beet red and green hair curling with sweat at my temples. “What’d you get?” I say, nodding at her full hands.

A tiny burst of color spreads across Pepper’s sharp cheekbones. Instead of answering, she plops a navy bucket hat on my head and deposits a pair of yellow Crocs in front of me.

“What’s this?” I ask, rolling my head until I can see her under the large bill.

“A hat.” She moves back to her spot in the plot.

“Why’d you give it to me?”

“You… Your cheeks are getting red,” she grumbles, picking up her shears and getting to work. My heart balloons.

“And these lovely things?” I say, grabbing the Crocs by the heels and waving them around.

“Like I said, you can’t be working out here without some sort of foot protection.”

I notice her own pink pair.

“They’re clean,” she adds, eyes fixed on the flowers. “I’ve never worn them. They sent me a size too small. So you can, er, have them. I guess. If they fit. Or whatever.”

I slip them on. They’re at least two sizes too big. “They’re perfect,” I say, clacking my toes together.

Pepper glances at them, color darkening on her cheeks, then shoots her gaze back to the flowers.

“Do you wear these during sex?” I ask, poking her for the thrill of seeing more emotion flood her beautiful face.

At this point, she’s pure scarlet. “Only with the utility strap activated.”

I burst out laughing, watching the resonating twitch at the corner of Pepper’s lips. “You’re very funny,” I say, focusing back on my area of flowers.

Pepper’s head whips to me. “You think so?”

I stare at her. “Well, yeah.”

“I, um… I’m glad. That you think so.” She turns back to the flowers, taking a shuddering breath while a smile blooms across her lips. At this point, I can’t tell if she’s still blushing or if she’s just sunburned, but those cheeks are glowing. The effect is minorly devastating, shattering my heart with the surge of emotions.

I look back at the flower clutched in my hand.

There’s one petal left.

---