Page 46 of Average Joe

“Bitch, put your feet in the water.” I laughed, giving Con a hard smack on his shoulder.

“That shit’s hotter than Hades,” he whined, his hairy toes dangling above the swirling blue liquid.

Frank shook his head, already adjusting the settings on his chair’s vibrating feature. Trudy watched, her eyes crinkled at the corners, a smile hidden behind her mask.

Ly slapped a hand on Connor’s knee with a huff and forced his foot into the basin. From her little chair on wheels, she chastised, “Don’t be a baby. You like this. I promise.”

Con lowered his other leg, his face turning a shade of red you only see in cartoons.

“You’ll thank him later. Trust me,” Frank assured him, then winked at Trudy and closed his eyes.

“Any more action at Dirty Dreamz?” I asked the ladies, strolling to the window to get a better view of that damn coffee stand.

Two cars sat side by side at the edge of the lot, neither belonging to Larry.

“I’m sorry, Joe. Nothing new,” Ly said, lifting Connor’s size fourteen and placing it on the toweled footrest.

“That silver Escalade come back?”

“No,” she replied. “Not since you ask last week. Trudy? You see that silver Escalade?”

Trudy shook her head in the negatory.

“Wait a minute.” Connor sat up straighter. “You’re doing this girly shit once a week?”

Frank twisted, yanking his cell from his back pocket. He snapped a pic of Con, and with a lazy grin, said, “You tell a soul, I’m plastering that photo all over your social media.”

“Prick.” Con white-knuckled the armrests and sucked in a sharp breath when the grooming tools came out.

Ly stood from her chair, shaking her head, and pulled the massage control from its perch to set the rollers in motion. Patting Con’s shoulder, she said, “You shush. I take good care of you,” then sat back down.

Con grumbled but did as told.

“Joe.” Ly turned my way while she scrubbed Con’s heel. “You no take Trudy on date. Frank no take Trudy on date. Maybe this one?” She lifted her chin toward Connor.

Trudy grumbled, shaking her head.

“I’m sorry, ladies.” Con cleared his throat, then let Trudy off the hook. “You’re beautiful, but I’m not dating material.”

“I’ve got a lovely woman at home.” Frank chuckled. “And one woman is all I can handle.”

“And Joe, here,” Con added. “He’s hopelessly in love with his neighbor.”

Jesus. These guys.

“How’s that going, by the way?” Frank asked, raising his head to shoot me a brow wiggle.

“It’s not.”

“She still mad you assaulted her outside the ladies’ room at the club?” came from Con.

“I didn’t assault her.”

Franked chuckled. “You kinda did.”

“Doesn’t matter. Marley looks at me and sees a criminal.” I rubbed at a twitch in my eye. “Wants nothing to do with my dirty life.”

Maybe the time had come to move on and give the dating scene a try. Most men would’ve thrown in the towel after the first rejection. Hell, after the third or fourth. What was my hang-up? Easy. I couldn’t get Marley out of my head, and I spent too many hours dreaming of ways to light her fire.

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