Page 43 of Nerdelicious
Fred, it’s just sandwiches! Calm your titties!
“Right,” I say again. “Let’s do it together.”
Fitz snorts out a laugh.
Shit. My face is burning and it isn’t from the bright ball of yellow fire in the sky.
“I mean, let’s make them together.”
It’s all going to be fine. I just won’t talk or look at Beast for the rest of the afternoon. Maybe the rest of my life.
Chapter Twelve
You’re a genuinely good man.There aren’t many of you left.
–Cyrano de Bergerac
“It’s time for extra crispy chicken.” Jude claps his hands together with a loud snap.
The sharp sound lulls me out of the after-lunch doze I was enjoying, stretched out on my towel in the warmth of the sun.
Annabel wrinkles her nose at him. “We just had sandwiches.”
“Not the food, the game.”
“I should have known.” She flops back on her towel.
“How do we play?” Fitz sits up on his elbows.
“Y’all know how to play chicken, right?”
I tilt my head. “I assume we aren’t talking about the model of conflict in game theory?”
Reese laughs. Everyone else: crickets.
I sigh. “You mean the game in the water, two teams, people sitting on each other’s shoulders, fighting until someone falls?”
“Exactly right, Fred.” Jude points at me. “The fun version. And this particular variation is extra crispy chicken because the players,” he pauses for dramatic effect, “are blindfolded.”
Annabel groans.
Fitz nudges Reese with his shoulder. “Let’s go first.”
“Fine. Let’s lose fast, though. I want to read.” She puts said book facedown on the towel before standing.
But if Fitz is upset about her threat to fail, he doesn’t show it. In fact he smirks and winks at us as Jude hands out the blindfolds. I glance over at Beast, who’s sitting on my other side. He shrugs and one side of his mouth tilts up.
“You two can fight the winners of this round.” Fitz jerks a thumb in our direction.
I refuse to look over at Beast. “Maybe Grace will want to play.”
She’s still floating about thirty yards down the shore. She came up to eat the sandwich Beast made her, then she went right back to her floating.
Jude and Fitz splash into the water first. Jude hands handkerchiefs to Annabel and Reese as they join in, chest-deep in the shallow waves. The guys have to duck down to help the ladies get on their shoulders.
“This is sort of terrifying. I can’t see,” Annabel says after she’s tied the fabric around her head, clutching at Jude’s head, her hands covering his eyes.
Jude holds on to both of her legs with an arm wrapped over his chest, his other hand prying her fingers from his eyes. “That’s the point.”
