Page 68 of Flirt
It took about two seconds for Asher to analyze the conversation, and once he did, he shook his head. He’d never carved a pumpkin, and while he could create entire worlds from his imagination, that was where his artistic capabilities ended.
“No need to break up the dynamic duo. I’ll just watch.”
Cameron’s hand found his under the table, and he laced their fingers together. “Are you sure?”
“Really,” Nico assured him, “it’s not a big deal.”
“I have lots of talents.” Catching Cameron’s eye, Asher winked at him. “Carving pumpkins into something legible isn’t one of them.”
“Actually,” Kimmy interrupted as she sashayed up to their table, “Mr. Bingman had a family emergency out of town, and the panel is looking for a replacement judge. My mom heads the panel,” she added when Asher frowned. “She’d love to have a celebrity judge.”
“I’m not a celebrity,” Asher muttered at the same time Cameron said, “That’s a great idea.”
Sarah nodded firmly. “Then it’s decided.”
“Great! I’ll call mom in just a minute.” Popping a hip out to the side, Kimmy surveyed the table and grinned. “So, who’s paying?”
All eyes turned to Asher. From the gleam in their eyes and the smiles on their faces, he knew they didn’t honestly expect him to pay, but he didn’t mind. They’d welcomed him like family, and it was the least he could do to repay them.
Reaching into his back pocket, he pulled out his wallet, squeezing Cameron’s hand under the table when he opened his mouth to protest. “I am.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
After dropping Asher offat the Chamber of Commerce so he could meet Linda Picklesimer and go over his duties as a judge, Cameron headed back to his place with Nico to work on design ideas for their pumpkin. Now that Asher would be judging the competition, he wanted to do something extra impressive.
“Calm down.” Bent over a piece of paper at the table in Cameron’s breakfast nook, Nico didn’t even glance up from his sketch. “We always win.”
“I know, but I don’t want to just win. I want to wow.”
Nico did look at him then, but only to roll his eyes. “We always wow.”
The guy just didn’t get it. “Fine,” he relented. “What haven’t we done before?”
With sixteen wins under their belt since high school, they’d pretty much run the gamut of everything from creepy to funny. The year they’d turned their entire pumpkin into a zombie head with a detached eyeball had been a personal favorite.
Slipping his pencil behind his ear, Nico leaned back in the chair and crossed his arms over his chest. “You know Asher probably isn’t going to vote for us, right? He wouldn’t want to show favoritism.”
Cameron thought that over for a minute, then shook his head. “He’ll vote for the best. It doesn’t matter if it’s us or not.”
Nico looked skeptical, but he didn’t comment. “Okay, whatever. So, I guess first we need to decide if we want to go scary or funny this year.”
“Scary,” Cameron said without hesitation. “We did funny last year.”
Most of the pumpkin had been carved to resemble a realistic sonogram of a baby in utero, complete with umbilical cord. It had been Cameron’s idea to have the top of the baby’s “head” protrude from the bottom of the pumpkin as if the image had been captured at the beginning of delivery. Nico had been the one to make it all come together, though.
“That wasn’t funny. It was just weird.”
Maybe the carving itself hadn’t been humorous but seeing everyone’s reaction to it had cracked him the hell up. Still, they’d brought home the win, and that was all that really mattered.
“Okay,” Nico continued, “what’s the scariest thing you’ve seen lately?”
Cameron actually flinched. “My mother digging in her purse for condoms.”
His friend just chuckled. “Priceless.”
Before he could respond caustically, his cell phone vibrated on the kitchen counter. Once he saw the name onhis screen, he couldn’t have stopped the smile on his face if he tried.
Asher: Save me.
