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“You don’t need Bode’s permission,” I say. “I’m asking you, not him.”
Justin turns his eyes my direction and says, “I’d love to.”
Just as we’re finishing up our lunch, Bode leans in to me and says, “Junie, what the hell are you doing?”
I whisper back. “Making friends, Bo. You should try it.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Bode
Ikeep having to remeasuremy flour because I can’t stop watching Juno flirt with Justin. He’s a slimy guy. I don’t know what she sees in him. He’s being way too friendly, and he keeps checking out her ass.
And earlier – the comment about being virgins– gross. Who says things like that?
Patrizia holds up her microplaner and says, “Time to zest the lemon. Remember – keep a light touch. We want the yellow part not the white part. The white is very bitter.”
I nearly grate my thumb off because I’m watching Juno work. She keeps stopping to smell the zest and the lemon. It reminds me of the day we got gelato when she studied all the pastries and candies in the display case with such attention. I love that she stops and takes time to do things like that. She holds up the bowl of lemon zest to Justin’s face so he can smell it too. I can’t help myself. I lift my bowl and take a whiff.
Goddamn – that’s the best smell in the world. I smell it again. Wow. I could do this all day. Apparently, so could Juno because she’s stopped working and just smells the lemon zest for a full thirty seconds.
I mix a few more ingredients together and then look up to see Justin and Juno sharing some sort of joke about the sugar. He’s laughing really hard. There’s nothing about sugar that could possibly be that funny.
As we’re mixing our wet and dry ingredients together, Patrizia walks around the room inspecting our batters. She wrinkles her nose when she sees mine. It’s all wrong.
She leans forward to get a closer look. “Eggs. Did you add the eggs?”
Shit. No I did not.
I shake my head, and she frowns. “You can try now, but it may not work.”
I nod. It really won’t work if I leave out the eggs entirely. I crack the eggs into the bowl and start to stir. Patrizia tuts a few times as she walks away. She mutters as she goes, “Bode, Bode, Bode.”
I get the eggs stirred in and then add the batter to the pan. As the cakes bake, we clean our workspaces. Justin and Juno are laughing about something again. He keeps touching her. I hate him more and more as each minute passes.
When the timer goes off, I pull the cake out of the oven. It’s a mess – lumpy and flat. I think I left out more than the eggs. I steal a peek at Juno’s. It’s perfectly risen, a beautiful golden color on the top.
