The cold water actually felt good in this heat, but I scowled and told him he was dead. Cheers of approval rang out as I charged after him so I could wrestle the hose away and spray him back. The girls waiting for their cars to be washed urged us on. In moments, the line on our side of the lot had doubled.
Soaking wet, we eventually returned to business. When we were at our busiest, Noel’s cell phone rang. He checked the screen and moved off, saying it was from home.
As he stepped to the side to answer it, Ten called for more help at our car. So another player on the team, K.C. Jennings, stepped over.
“So either of you know who the new chick is over there?” He picked up a sponge and started scrubbing. “That blonde? The sweet tall drink of water?”
Ten gave a low whistle. “You better not be talking about Gamble’s little sister or he’ll skin you bald, man. And I’m not talking about the hair on your head.”
K.C. shuttered and pointed. “No shit. That’s Noel’s little sister? Damn, she’s hot.”
Ten glanced over as well before his eyebrows shot up. He sent me a mischievous grin before patting K.C. on the shoulder. “Actually, no, not that one, but apparently you need Ham’s approval before even looking at her.”
My gut tightened when I realized they were referring to Zoey. I refused to respond, or look, or even acknowledge that I heard them, but K.C. whirled toward me, lifting his eyebrows up into his hairline. “No shit. You already traded Cora in for a newer model? Sweet, man.”
As Ten burst out laughing, I scowled and straightened. “What! No. I didn’t. That’s Cora’s new roommate.”
“Cora’s new roommate whom you warned me to stay away from,” Ten was a little too gleeful to add.
I sent him a murderous scowl. “Only because she’s not like that.”
A grin spread over K.C.’s face. “Well, hell. I can make her ‘like that’ if you need her broken in.”
I just stared at him with the sudden urge to break in his face. How dare he speak about Zoey that way? How dare he even look at her? She’d done nothing to garner that kind of talk. She hadn’t even dressed provocatively. All she was doing was innocently cleaning cars, and the horny guys were panting after her like freaking dogs in heat. Couldn’t they look at all the other girls over there, with their boobs hanging out and butt cheeks on display? Those ladies actually wanted guys ogling them. Not Zoey.
“Just look at those perky tits,” K.C. went on, staring some more. “I bet they’d fill a palm to perfection.”
I cracked my knuckles without meaning to, imagining how they’d feel against his jaw.
Ten took notice and bumped his elbow into K.C.’s. “Dude, if you value your life, you might want to shut up right about now.”
“What? Why? Oh, fuck yeah. Looks like she’s headed to the storage shed for fresh water. I think I’ll go accidentally bump into her and...introduce myself.” When he went to reach for Ten and my soap water bucket, I went to reach for him.
Over my dead body would he be introducing himself to Zoey.
But Ten intervened.
“Hey, sorry, Jennings, but Ham already volunteered to do that job.” Ten snagged the bucket from K.C. and shoved it into my chest. My mouth opened to argue with him. I didn’t want K.C. to trap her alone anywhere for any reason, but I didn’t want to get caught alone with her either. The feelings she’d made me experience last night were still too fresh in my head.
“I don’t mind doing it for you,” K.C. offered, reaching to retrieve the bucket from me. But I held it away.
Like hell, buddy.
I’d rather suffer through another encounter alone with her than let K.C. get anywhere near her. I was half tempted to send Ten. Except, God, I didn’t trust him around her either. I gritted my teeth.
I guess I was stuck heading toward the shed where I knew Zoey was inside. Alone.
As soon as we arrived at the car wash, Cora was immediately surrounded by a horde of other girls. I hung back, not sure what to do. In high school, we’d been loners together, outcasts who’d made a club of two and become inseparable because her parents had been almost as strict with her as my father had been with me.
Watching her now, I guessed she hadn’t been quite as lonely without me this past year as I’d been without her. Cora had moved on. Realizing that made my heart ache, made me feel abandoned and pathetic for hanging on to the only friendship I’d ever had. But then I reminded myself she hadn’t told anyone else about her kidneys. She only trusted me with that information.
I knew it was a selfish thought, but it still made me feel better.
The gossiping commenced around her, each girl more eager to dish the most recent events with my best friend. They treated her like the queen bee of the group. It took her a minute of gasping about so-and-so being caught cheating on what’s-her-face before she remembered me.
As our gazes clashed, her eyes widened. “Oh, you guys totally have to meet Zoey.” Peeling herself away from her friends, she grinned at me and hooked her arm through mine. Tugging me forward, she beamed proudly. “This is my new roomie. Isn’t she just the sweetest thing ever?”