She yawned, burying her cold nose against my chest. "It's the least I can do. For putting you in this position in the first place."
I shook off my dreamy emotions and smiled wryly. "Oh? Which position? Do you have a favorite, or do you prefer missionar—ooph." She punched me lightly in the gut.
"I'm just getting warm again. Don't make me leave you."
"Yeah, about that. I'll move into your bed, and I'll keep you warm so you aren't freezing every night. Deal? Deal."
She stiffened, but not enough to pull away from me. "How did you arrive at that conclusion?"
"It makes perfect sense," I mumbled, already feeling drowsy with the flower-scented, soft marshmallow in my arms. "You're too cold up there. I'm too hot down here. Plus, I caneducateyou more easily, don't you think? How else will you know what position I'm in if I don't show you?"
Her fingers tapped against my bare chest. "I'm not sure I'm clear on what that means, either."
I yawned, patting her head. "You'll see. Go to sleep."
She shimmied again, getting comfortable and going pliant. "Alright."
I smiled to myself, already daydreaming about a lesson plan neither one of us would be able to resist. If we had to be in mortal peril, then the least we could do was have a little fun in the meantime.
"You haven't watched my goat tricks yet."
I raised my head from the book I was reading, lowering my shades. Tessa stood in front of me, her arms folded over a puffy, pink dress and one eye squinted. She had Band-Aids and scrapes all the way down her tan legs, and her sneakers looked like they were on their last legs. She also had a worn-out baseball cap on, and she pulled it down, deepening her squint. I peered at her. "Did I say I would?"
"It was implied," she glowered. A goat emerged from behind her, its bug eyes half-lidded as it chewed on something.
My lip curled. "Do I have to?"
"Yes." Tessa stepped aside, gesturing grandly to her black and white animal. "She practiced."
I sighed, sitting up straighter and putting my book down. I was under the shade again while Evie checked on the glass platesthat had hopefully collected bee venom all morning. Although I wasn't sure sitting under the tree was necessary, as a thick blanket of clouds had rolled in, casting the open field in a gray tint. I gave Tessa my attention. "Fine. Show me the goat tricks."
"Okay." Tessa adjusted her ballcap again and then unzipped a neon green fanny pack. She held out her fist and waved it around. "Merriweather, touch."
The goat sniffed the air and shuffled over to Tessa's fist. After the goat touched her nose to Tessa's fist, Tessa cheered, opened her fingers, and fed the goat a treat. "Ta da!"
I blinked slowly. "You had food in your hand."
"And?" Tessa demanded, hands on her hips.
I bobbed a look around, like someone might save me from accidentally offending this child and her goat tricks. "And," I replied slowly, "it's… great."
"Okay, next one. Merriweather, sit." Tessa pointed to the goat's nose. The goat sniffed around for more treats. Tessa fished one out of her fanny pack and held it in the air. "Sit." The goat lowered its head and started eating grass. Tessa shrugged. "Close enough." She looked at me for my reaction. I looked around again uncertainly before clapping slowly. Satisfied, Tessa tossed her treat to the goat, and after the creature sloppily crunched it, she gestured to me. "Okay, the grand finale."
"Why are you pointing to me?" I asked warily.
Tessa came to stand behind me, waving another treat in her hand. "Just hold still."
"Why?" I demanded, sitting up.
Tessa suddenly shouted, "Rise, my demon!" She raised her hands above my head, and before I could comprehend what the fuck was happening, the goat was on me. It lifted itself onto its hind legs, propped its front hooves on my shoulders, and bleated loudly, reaching for the treat Tessa held above my head.
I let out a strangled "Agh!" flinching away from the smelly animal. This turned out to be a mistake, because I pitched us both off balance, and in a tumble of dirt-smudged hooves and coarse goat fur, we both toppled backwards over the chair. I landed in a heap with the animal, which bleated again, this time in distress, and I got a firm kick to the thigh before it scampered off me.
Tessa stared down at me, arms still upraised and mouth hanging open. I glared from the ground, pushing myself up onto my elbows. Then she cracked a grin and hooted, "Epic!"
"Epic," I muttered, sitting up and brushing clods of dirt off my Italian, cotton-silk blend. This polo hadjustreleased last month, dammit. "You could have killed me."
"Death by goat," Tessa cackled. "Did you like it? She's so smart, huh?"
