Gimme Everything You Got - Iva-Marie Palmer Page 0,51
that I needed a good car wash,” she said to Bobby.
Meanwhile, the traffic on Central had stopped as a woman in a Firebird swung out to make a U-turn and entered the parking lot from the other direction.
“Hey, two customers,” Bobby said, looking from the brunette who’d emerged from the Chevelle to the redhead scrambling out of her Firebird. He flashed them both a radiant smile.
Franchesa started to hose off the Chevelle, but Bobby stepped in. “No, no, I showed up late. I’ll do them both.”
“I’ll bet he will,” Franchesa mumbled.
He started to hose off the Chevelle, and the Firebird woman gave the Chevelle lady the evil eye. My teammates and I looked at each other, not in astonishment, but maybe confirmation. We’d talked here and there, theorizing whether Bobby knew how hot he was. But now it was clear.
He knew. And he was going to make it work for him. Or, really, the team.
The girls had finished with Joe’s car and Joanie asked me, “Where’d the cute weird guy go? I’ve got his keys.”
I looked over to where we’d been talking and didn’t see him. “He’s at the pay phones,” Lizzy told me. She still hadn’t taken her eyes off Bobby.
I brought the keys to Joe as he hung up the phone. “Hey, champ, I called some of the guys in my band and told them to get out here.” He pointed toward the line of fresh cars, all driven by women, that were causing a jam at each entrance to the car wash. “Although I don’t know if you need it now.”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to disappear on you,” I said. Had he really been calling his friends for me? “All these customers showed at once.”
The wry smile again. “Eh, I get it,” he said as we walked back toward his car, where Lizzy was waiting in the passenger seat. Joe glanced at Bobby again, who had no less than five women thrusting money at him so they could go first. “Hey, do you have Columbus Day off? Maybe we can practice?”
“I do.” I paused. “But I have to get a dress for my dad’s wedding in the morning.”
“That’s okay—we can do it in the afternoon,” he said. “I think you should come to my house. I have a lesson plan.”
“Sure,” I said. I peeked at Lizzy, but her bored expression indicated she wasn’t threatened by Joe and me hanging out. Good.
“Nice wash, ladies,” he called to my team. He handed me a twenty.
“I’ll get your change,” I said.
He shook his head. “No, keep it.” He smirked. “Told you I tip.” I watched him put his arm around Lizzy as he pulled away.
Tina tapped me on the shoulder. “So you’ve been talking to the guy from Dan’s party? And didn’t tell me?”
I looked at my feet. “He’s been helping me with soccer,” I said.
“So you’re getting private lessons and you didn’t tell me?” Tina repeated. She flicked me above the elbow.
“Ow,” I said, not flicking her back, because she was right, it had been kind of shitty to keep it a secret. “I was going to. He’s just a friend. So it didn’t seem important.”
“A guy doesn’t have to be your boyfriend to be important,” Tina said. “That’s cool, he’s helping you.”
“So you agree, a guy showing you how to play a sport is a friendly thing?” It seemed weird that it hadn’t even crossed Joe’s mind that our friendship might put Lizzy off. I had zero interest in Joe, but was I really so lacking in the sexiness department that I didn’t make her nervous at all? Or that Joe wasn’t worried I would?
“If that’s what you say it is, then why wouldn’t it be?” Tina said. I’d been expecting to have to list the reasons why Joe wasn’t right for me—too much of a flirt, a little cocky, a never-ending stream of sexy punk rock girlfriends, overpays for subpar car washes—but apparently it wasn’t necessary. “Besides, if he saw the way you just ate up Bobby with your eyeballs, he knows he doesn’t have a chance.”
Now I flicked her.
“So that fancy footwork shit that you pulled on Marie the other day—that was him?”
“You mean the chop?” I grinned. I was getting really good at that.
Tina flicked me again. “That’s for keeping your secret weapon a secret. Show me how to do that and we’re even.”
“Deal,” I said, then pointed to a guy in a pickup truck who’d just pulled in. I grabbed a fresh rag and