Not Your Average Joe (Shower & Shelter Artist Collective Book 2)

by Brooke St. James

  "Total and complete recklessness going on in my pocket right now," I said. "It's probably already lost or broken by now."

  "Well, your time would've been more wisely spent getting a bag for your souvenir than it was dancing with that guy."

  I pulled back and stared at him with a face that reflected my curiosity. I wanted to say he sounded jealous, but I didn't.

  "I thought, of all people, you'd be proud of me for dancing," I said. "Since you're the seize the moment type and all."

  "I'm not proud of you dancing with that blasted Irishman," he said.

  I giggled and shook my head. "Grant's a nice guy," I said. "I danced with him like twenty times at the wedding."

  Joe tilted his head, staring at me. "Well, that was a waste of time, too, I guess."

  I laughed and squinted at him. "Who says?"

  "Me."

  "It's not really your place to say whether or not my time with Mr. McEwen was wasted, though, now is it?"

  "Mr. McEwen?" Joe asked with a face of distaste and disbelief that made me smile. "You know his last name?"

  I shifted my eyes from corner to corner like I was missing something. "I pretty much hung out with him all afternoon," I said.

  Joe and I swayed back and forth for a few steps without speaking. I wondered if he had even heard me. When he finally spoke, he said, "I think we might have both wasted our time today, Lu."

  The song was just drawing to a close when he said that, and the crowd applauded, spurring me to let go of Joe and do the same. I could see out of the corner of my eye that Joe was clapping at about half the speed I was.

  I turned to smile at him. I had a whole chain of thoughts about his name as I took him in. I never thought I'd be so smitten with a man named Joe. I had heard my father use the term average Joe a few times during my childhood, so that was what I always thought of when I heard that name—average. There was nothing average about this Joe. He was the most unaverage thing I had ever laid eyes on.

  "Hello?" he said, seeing that I was lost in thought.

  I motioned to the band and continued to clap with the crowd. "I like this," I said, since I wasn't about to tell him what I had been thinking. I felt like Emily might walk up at any second, so I turned to glance in her direction before looking at Joe again. "I thought you were going to dance with Emily." I said, feeling nervous.

  He smiled patiently at me. The bandleader made some joke I didn't even hear before leading into the next song. "I'm not here with anybody named Emily," Joe said, leaning in to speak near my ear. He stood up straight and regarded me with a serious expression, waiting to hear what I'd say.

  I smiled. "Yeah, but she was waiting on you to dance."

  "And we danced," he said. "I danced with her right before I danced with you. I did it while you were getting along with Mr. McElroy."

  "McEwen."

  "McWayoverthere while I'm standing next to you."

  "You're funny."

  "You're Lu."

  I smiled. "We sound like Dr. Seuss."

  He shrugged like there were worst things we could sound like, and I giggled at the thought of our dialogue.

  "Did you say McWayoverthere?"

  "Yes I did," he said, cracking a little smile as he grabbed my hand and started moving me to the rhythm of the song the band was playing.

  "You're trying to dance with me," I said, stating the obvious as he grabbed my hands and drew me near.

  "I'm succeeding," he said, spinning me around in his arms. I laughed at the noisy, colorful blur that happened as a result of being twirled around, and the next thing I knew, I landed in Joe's arms. He smiled down at me, causing my blood to run warm. I was so glad he was holding me, because I really don't think my knees would've worked if I had tried to stand on my own.

  Joe made sure I was steady before beginning to move me around, leading me by the shoulders in perfect time with the music. Joe and I danced for the next four or five songs. Maybe it was more like eight—we danced for quite a while. We talked some, and sometimes we were quiet. He set the tone; he set the pace. He danced with me, and not the other way around. At first, I just tried to play it cool, not step on his toes, and answer questions when he asked them, but as the evening went on, I got more and more comfortable.

  Something had definitely shifted between us. We were in the middle of one of those moments when it seemed like we were both recognizing that change when Rebecca tapped me on the shoulder. She said we were leaving soon since she and Eli were tired. Joe and I finished the song before heading back to the table to meet everyone else.

  Somewhere in the very recesses of my mind, I thought Joe and I might just start holding hands and being boyfriend and girlfriend after dancing to all those songs in a row, but that didn’t happen. I walked next to Joe, and he walked next to me, but we kept our hands to ourselves. I knew that's what we would do, but it felt good to dream that he might sweep me into his arms and declare his love for me to everyone at the pub.

  I was smiling at myself for even imagining such a thing as we made our way to the table. "Pretty happy for someone who just went through surgery," Eli said, teasing me about my smile.

  "At least I had a doctor in the house," I said, patting him on the shoulder.

  It took us about fifteen minutes to say goodbye to everyone and make our way to the SUV. It crossed my mind to worry about Emily or Grant and what they might have thought about Joe and me dancing the whole time, but our departure happened so quickly that I didn't really have time to consider it.

  I climbed into the very back again, and this time, Drake got back there with me. We had only been in the vehicle for a few minutes when he turned on his little hand-held camera and began looking at the pictures on the digital screen. I leaned over to take a look, and Drake adjusted, scooting toward me so that I could see.

  Joe was in the front, giving his brother directions, but he had turned and was talking to Rebecca and Emily who were in the middle row. I could hear them discussing an old church that we were driving past, but I wanted to see the pictures Drake had on his camera, so I leaned in to share the view of the camera with him instead of paying attention to sightseeing.

  We both propped against each other, focusing on the small camera that he held in front of us. Drake clicked through a ton of photos at a quick pace until he reached some from my splinter extraction. We both peered down at the camera, giggling and cringing at the picture of the huge piece of wood being removed.

  "I kept it!" I said, turning to stare at him with wide eyes.

  We were sitting so close that he had to pull back to focus on me. "You have it?"

  I nodded. "I think so. I tried to keep it in my pocket. I assume it's still there."

  "Well, reach in there and find out," Drake said. I leaned over even further in front of Drake so that I could dig in my left pocket.

  I was concentrating on feeling around for it when I heard Joe from the front seat. "Don't you guys want to see the river?"

  Drake and I both looked out of the window and saw a body of water. "That's cool," I said.

  "Here, Lu-Lu, let me help you find it," Drake said, having no interest at all in commenting about the river.

  He leaned in front of me. He put his arm in the right trajectory like he might be digging in my pants pocket, but he kept his hand on the seat near my leg. "That guy is so jealous right now." Drake whispered so quietly that absolutely no one else in the vehicle could hear. "I have no idea where that thing is!" Drake added in a louder voice, wiggling around like he was still vigorously digging. I found it difficult not to laugh.

  "What exactly are you trying to find?" Joe asked, turning around from the front seat. I hid behind Drake because I was smiling at how annoyed Joe sounded.

  "Her splinter," Drake said. "She put it in her pocket." His eyes widened as he leaned in front of me even more, still pretending to help me look.

  "She doesn't need you digging in her pocket," Joe said. "She can do that herself."

  Drake'
s jaw dropped, which made me want to laugh. I pinched him in an effort to make him stop, but it didn't work because I giggled in spite of my best efforts not to.

  "I got it," I said to Drake and anyone else who was paying attention. I pushed Drake away even though he hadn't really been helping me in the first place.

  Eli asked Joe something about directions, and Joe turned his attention to helping his brother. I looked at Drake as I carefully pulled my hand out of my pocket. "I'm just gonna find it when we get back," I whispered, shaking my head. "I'll find it later. I don't want to put my hand in there and get poked again."

  Drake held the camera in front of us, but he made a funny, wide-eyed expression at me when I glanced at him. "He is seriously jealous," he said. "He likes you."

  "Nu-uh," I whispered.

  Drake clicked to the next picture. It was one of me with my head buried in Joe's chest while Eli worked on removing my splinter. I took the camera out of Drake's hand, staring down at it.

  "I got a few like this," he whispered.

  He clicked to the next one, and I inched closer to inspect it. Joe had his hand on my head, holding me close while I squeezed my eyes shut tight. My stomach flipped at the sight of him holding me like that. I wished I hadn't been so preoccupied with the splinter to fully enjoy the moment when it was happening.

  "I guess you guys don't care about all this stuff we're passing," Joe said. He spoke loudly enough that I knew he was talking to Drake and me. He had no idea what we were doing, only that we were huddled in close toward the middle of the backseat.

  "They're looking at pictures on his camera," Rebecca said, glancing over her shoulder at us.

  I looked at Drake, who widened his eyes just slightly at me.

  "He was just showing me the pictures from getting my splinter out," I said. Sure, I didn't owe Joe an explanation, but I loved that he cared enough to want one.

  Chapter 8

  It only took us about thirty minutes to get back to the house after we left the pub. Drake and I looked through all of the photos he had on his point-and-shoot camera. He said he had at least a thousand more from the wedding and promised to print some of his favorites on a portable printer he brought with him so that we could have some paper photographs to look through on the plane.

  Before I knew it, the six of us were pulling up at the Steiners' stone mansion. Joe was sitting in the passenger's seat, and I watched from my place in the back as he climbed out of the vehicle and turned to hold the door behind him.

  Rebecca and Emily climbed out of the middle row, and since I was stuck in the back till they got out, I just sat there and watched them. Joe waited for them to get out, at which point he stepped closer, pressing the button to make the seat slide forward even though Drake was perfectly capable of doing that from his place in the back.

  Joe stepped to the side to let Drake out. I was relatively sure they were making some appraising eye contact at each other, but I paid attention to climbing out of the seat instead of their male dynamics. Joe's hand came out to take mine, and I gave it to him so he could steady me as I got out. I gained my balance and ran a hand through my hair as he closed the door. We all walked in at the same time, but I couldn’t help but notice that Joe stuck relatively close to me.

  "I'm going straight to my room to start downloading photos," Drake announced as we made our way into the foyer. We could hear the sound of voices coming from the great room, and before we even went in there, Eli and Rebecca announced that they were also going straight to bed.

  Once we rounded the corner, we saw three couples. Sarah's parents, along with the Steiners and Collin's parents were sitting by the huge fireplace on the other side of the room. Joe and I headed in that direction and so did Emily (who, apparently, wasn't going to bed like the others).

  There was plenty of open seating, near "the parents", so the three of us went over there to recount the events of our evening. Joe referred to my splinter as a thorn in my flesh when he brought up that aspect of our story, and this caused Mr. Steiner to perk up and stare at me with a curious expression. I told the whole story of the splinter, digging it out of my pocket and holding it up for all of them to see.

  I was convinced it was a little bit shorter after the ride in my pocket and all the dancing, but I didn't mention that. It was still an impressive size, and everyone ooed and ahhed when I displayed it. I was surprised I could find it at all, and I was happy I had something visual to go with the story.

  We spoke to them for about twenty minutes before Collin's parents mentioned going to bed. The Spicers and Steiners agreed, so we all stood up to follow their lead.

  "Where can Lu and I find a baggie for her little souvenir," Joe asked as we began walking.

  "You keepin' your splinter?" Saul asked.

  "I thought about it," I said. "But I was just gonna keep it in my pocket and hope for the best."

  "I can get ya somethin' to put it in, darlin'," Mrs. Steiner said.

  Her husband agreed to walk with me, and so did Joe, but Emily and the others continued to their rooms. The four of us broke away from the pack and headed toward the kitchen. Mrs. Steiner had everything you could think of, so it was with very little effort that she located a tiny plastic baggie with a zip closure. It was perfect. It looked like it was made to carry my splinter.

  Mr. Steiner kept glancing at me with curiosity at the fact that Joe was sticking so close to me. I'm sure it only added to his curiosity that I got an actual thorn in my flesh, but I didn't have anything to tell him. I, myself, didn't know why Joe was acting the way he was or why I got the splinter.

  "Do you two know how to get back to your rooms?" Mr. Steiner asked.

  Joe nodded, and we thanked them for everything before he and I broke away from them, headed toward our end of the house.

  "I'll walk you to your room before I go up," Joe said as we crossed the living room.

  "I moved upstairs," I said.

  "You did?"

  I knew my new room was close to his, and I was glad that I had to walk up the stairs with him since it meant we could hang out an extra minute or two.

  "Somebody who came from London needed the room I was staying in last night."

  He came to a stop in an area at the base of the stairs. "So, you're upstairs now?"

  I nodded, and he held out his arm to walk me up the stairs, which were grand and covered with beautiful, red, floral-patterned carpet. He instantly started talking to me, and we walked at a snail's pace so we wouldn't have to rush our conversation. He had heard me talking about my art and about my upcoming living situation at S&S, but he had a few questions for me about it. We stood and talked at the top of the stairs for another five or ten minutes.

  "That building isn't far from my place," he said as we finally began making our way down the hallway.

  I had been to Joe's apartment and was well aware that it was close to S&S.

  "That's right," I said, playing it off like I cared less about it than I really did.

  "You've been to my place," he said, with narrowed eyes at my nonchalance.

  I shrugged. "Have I?" I glanced at him, and he grimaced even further, causing me to giggle. "Oh, yeah, I remember now."

  Joe smiled and shook his head at me as we came to stand in front of my door. He stretched, which was a sight to behold.

  "Okay, so night," I said. "Thanks for taking me to get this." I held up the tiny baggie, and Joe nodded as he leaned against the wall near my door.

  "You're welcome," he said. He stared at me with a smile that said he knew we were saying goodnight.

  "I had fun," I said. "I mean, in spite of the splinter and everything." I smiled and shrugged. "I'm glad we danced. You're an okay dancer."

  "You're all right, too," he said. He was reserved, but the energy between us was charged. I was relatively sure by the way he looked at me that I wasn't the only one feeling that way.

  He regarded me with what looked like an almost regretful expression, so I smiled and said, "Sweet d
reams," as I reached for the doorknob.

  He reached out to stop me by putting a hand to my arm. "I've been hanging out with this girl, Chelsea, for a little while now."

  I felt a gut-clenching pain in my whole mid-section when he said those words. I tried not to visibly flinch, but I'm sure I made some sort of facial expression. I shook my head and put a hand out to stop him from speaking. "You really don't need to say that," I said. I reached for the doorknob, but again, he stopped me with a hand on my arm. I shook it off, glancing at him with a friendly but guarded half-smile.

  "I'm trying to tell you why I don't feel like I can kiss you right now."

  "I'm not, I didn't think we were, I'm not, we're not, that's not at all what I was thinking."

  He smiled at my jabbering. "Okay, well I just wanted you to know I was thinking about it," he said.

  I felt so hurt by hearing the other girl's name that I said. "Well, I wasn't."

  He pulled back and looked at me with a little smirk that said he was surprised to hear me say that. "All right then," he said.

  "All right, so night," I said, smiling my best, most genuine smile.

  "It doesn't feel right to just say goodnight and walk away."

  "I'm afraid that's our only option," I said. "And honestly, I wasn't expecting anything to happen anyway," I added in an aloof tone since I was feeling embarrassed and hurt after hearing that girl's name.

  "Okay, well, I guess it was just me, then," he said. He smiled and shrugged, but it was obvious that he was disappointed about hearing where I stood. I was too hurt and stubborn to do anything but stick to my resolve at that point.

  "Okay, so night," I said. I smiled and stuck up my hand to offer Joe a high-five.

  He returned it, holding onto me for the briefest of seconds even though I only intended for us to slap hands. I smiled as I turned to open the door. I knew he wanted to kiss me and he was stopping himself for the sake of some other girl. I smiled numbly as I turned and went into my room, sharing tense, awkward silence with Joe.