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I thought I was your escort. I wasn t offended. It made my
night a hell of a lot easier.
You re a slouch. And I believe that you will be keeping Weston
company. Will you not? Was it that obvious?
I m not sure I want a slouch hanging around me. Oh, now
Wes was going to be funny.
Too bad. You re stuck with me, I shot back. That s what
Delma wants. Wes just shook her head and took my hand.
You better give me the tour then.
If that s what you want.
Oh, no, it s what Delma wants. Hilarious.
" 69 "
" 70 "
SEX AND SKATEBOARDS
CHAPTER EIGHT
was running the kitchen. It was my job, after all. The
Inight was coming to a close finally. We were finishing the
preparations for dessert when Wes and Theo came down the stairs
loudly.
Weessss. I don t wanna.
Sit. Wes pointed to a chair and Theo slumped into it.
I don t like em, Theo said to his sneakers.
I know. But if you want dessert you have to. I knew this talk.
It was a nightly occurrence with my niece.
They re gross.
I signaled Cliff and got him to take over for me. Wes was
kneeling in front of Theo.
Hey, guys. What s up?
I m not doing it. Theo had his hands curled around the edge
of his seat.
Vegetables, Wes offered in explanation.
I figured. Hey, Theo. He looked up at me. You like pizza?
He nodded slowly. If I made you one where you couldn t taste the
vegetables would you try it?
What kind?
What do you like on pizza?
Pepperoni and sausage.
All right then, pepperoni and sausage.
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ASHLEY BARTLETT
I ll try it. He was banking on try, no commitments.
Cool. You wanna watch me make it? I indicated the tall
chairs at the counter facing into the kitchen.
Yeah. That brought out a bit of excitement. He scrambled up
a chair forcing Wes to jump forward to make sure he didn t fall. She
looked back at me and mouthed thank you.
All right, Theo. You can park it on the counter, but don t lean
into the kitchen. He sat on the counter. See the stove here? At his
nod I continued. When I m cooking, it can be dangerous because
of the fire.
Cool. Yep, I was impressive.
So you want to know what I m doing?
Yeah.
All right. I m pouring olive oil in this pan. I grabbed the
bottle and poured it from about a foot above the pan then pulled it
up while tapering off the stream. I was showing off a little. Now
garlic. I tossed in minced garlic. And this is rocket. I held up a
handful of greens.
Rocket? Like a spaceship?
Exactly. He didn t need the other names. Arugula sounded so
boring. And some spinach and basil. I added a few more leaves
to my cutting board and started chopping. When my oil was ready, I
threw in the chopped green stuff. Now sit back.
Why? He was already leaning way too close.
Because I m going to toss it. Wes pulled him back by his
waistband. Tossing shit in the air is one of those things that looks
fucking cool, is easy to do, and never smart if you don t know what
you re doing. Whatever. With a twitch of my wrist, I threw the pan
forward then up, forcing the contents to do a perfect little twist out
of the pan then back in. A couple more times and I got decent height.
I knew what I was doing.
Cool. Theo s eyes got wide.
Now we need sauce. I turned off the heat and disappeared
into the fridge. I returned with a ball of dough and small bowl of
sauce. I left the oil in the pan and stirred the wilted greens into the
sauce. If I added them on top of the pizza the way it was supposed
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SEX AND SKATEBOARDS
to be done, Theo would be able to pick them off. In the sauce, he d
never notice. I m tricky.
I kneaded the dough then started stretching it over the backs
of my fingers. I gave the round a couple tosses in the air for good
measure.
What s that? he asked as I set what looked like a wooden
paddle on the counter.
A pizza peel. You make the pizza on it then use this handle to
put it in the oven.
I glanced up and realized Wes was studying every movement.
That was weird. It made my stomach do somersaults. My hands
started to shake slightly as I spread sauce over the dough. I got it
under control for the toppings. Concentrate. I just had to focus on
what I was doing. Spreading chunks of salami, crumbed linguica,
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