Page 25 of Just the Tipsy
“A geography podcast?” She raises an eyebrow, genuinely curious. “Sorry if this sounds stupid as hell, but hasn’t everything been mapped already?”
“Sort of.” I lean down and turn off the water to the toilet. “It’s more about how geography shapes the cultures and economies of certain places.”
“That sounds pretty cool, actually.” She adjusts Sadie in her lap. “Way more interesting than the stuff I learned in school.”
“School was pretty boring for the most part.” I start adjusting a few components inside the toilet tank. “Learning stuff outside of school is much more interesting.”
“So you decided to go to college and then to even more school after?” She scratches Sadie under her chin. “You must have been good at it.”
“I was.” I dig around my bag for a tool. “But a lot of that was just liking the praise I got for getting good grades. I like to win.”
That was way more honest than I intended being, but as always, Bianca just nods, pensive, instead of judging.
“Do you think the pressure helped back then?” she asks. “Like you got good grades and had good study habits, which helped you in vet school?”
I sit back on my heels and think about it. “I guess so, yeah. Praise is a drug.”
“It’s true for most people,” she says. “I definitely wouldn’t have started modeling if it wasn’t for people telling me I should do it. I wish I’d ignored them.”
“You didn’t like modeling?” I ask, jiggling the toilet handle. “But you were really good at it.”
She snort-laughs. It’s not the prettiest sound, but I like it coming from her. “I’m so not but thank you. It’s just a lot of Photoshop.”
I study her face. She really is the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen in my life. I can’t find a single thing I don’t like about her, and I can’t think of anyone who wouldn’t agree.
“I mean, I’m looking at you now and I’ve seen some of your photos. You look the way you do in real life.”
“Don’t be so nice.” She waves her hand at me, hiding a little smile. “Seriously.”
“Is it nice if it’s true?” I shrug and stand up, pressing flush. Thankfully it works. I’ve only fixed a toilet once back in college.
“It’s stupid, but not a lot of guys who look as nice as you are truly nice,” she says with a sigh, studying me. She has the longest eyelashes I’ve ever seen, and they frame her eyes in a way that makes her gaze feel more intense.
“Toilet should be good,” I say, because I don’t know how to respond yet.
“Okay, for reference, I’ve had the misfortune of knowing a lot of ‘nice guys’ who turned out to be dicks,” she adds. “But you’re not.”
Her sincerity strikes a note. She’s basically always straightforward, but having her give such an earnest compliment feels really nice.
“Thanks,” I say.
I move onto the shower and we sit in comfortable silence. Not having to fill the air with inane chatter is a welcome change. I glance over my shoulder at her and find her looking at me. Maybe at my ass? She glances away, biting her bottom lip.
“What’s the deal with the Jepsen Festival?” she finally asks. “I should probably know since I have to get pics for social media from it.”
“It’s fun. It’s one of my favorite things around here.” I peer at her shower head to figure out how it pops off the wall. “It’s basically a carnival with a bunch of silly events — a baby pageant and race, a dog pageant, a?—”
“A human pageant?” She fills in with a slight smile.
“That too. Miss Teen Jepsen and Miss Jepsen are highly sought after titles.” I grin at her. “You get a ribbon and free pie for a year from Gladys.”
“Who is Gladys?”
“The pie lady. She usually sells them out of a little place downtown. They’re ridiculously good.”
“Oh, awesome.” She brightens, smiling with her eyes. “Sounds like some good stuff for the bucket lists.”
I’m glad my back is to her because my cock hardens at just the idea of her sex bucket list. But at least my memory of it isn’t a complete horny hallucination.
