Try Me (Extracurricular Activities #2)

by Neve Wilder

“Look at that ass. Sweet baby nutcrackers, I’ll bet there’s hardly any give when you squeeze it. I’ll bet he could keep a sheet of paper trapped between those cheeks.” Amanda made a noise like she was sucking saliva back into her mouth. “Oh my God, okay, definitely adding that to my CEO fantasy: underlings who deliver files to my office clenched between their asscheeks. I can see it perfectly.” She made a frame with her hands. “Me kicked back in my chair in front of a huge oak desk. A line of naked asses to my right, each clenching a color-coded file folder.”

“Looks like it might rain. I mean, just in case you need an excuse again.” The sky was perfectly blue, and I added a nice bird to it, cranking my middle finger up in front of Chet’s face.

“You know what?” I snapped my fingers, then lowered my voice when the guy across the way glared at me. “We should have an actual pissing contest. Right here. Right now. Whip it out.”

Chet: I want to take you out. Mark: Mafia style? Or like to dinner and a movie. Chet: Idiot.

All my life, hope had been made out to be this aspirational thing. A good quality. Something to grasp onto. But there was a dark underbelly to a hope held too long. At some point instead of lifting you up, it dragged you down.

I could’ve said any number of things in response. Scoffed, made a swift, vehement denial, but I didn’t. I kept quiet because that was one thing he’d taught me. Wait. Wait and see what someone else had before you showed your own hand. And if you could get away with it, never show your hand at all.

I exhaled a long breath and nodded. Dad pushed off the couch and gave my shoulder one of those impersonal squeezes he handed out frequently, meant to make a person feel like they were part of the team. “You’ve got a good head on your shoulders, son, I know it.” What I actually heard was “fall in line.”