Page 13 of You Spin Me

“Okay. ‘Play “Misty” for me.’” It’s weird flirting when I can't see how my words land, but I’m rewarded with a groan at my silly joke. “Sorry, couldn’t resist.”

“Seriously, any real requests?”

“Hmm. How about ‘Like to Get to Know You Well’ by Howard Jones?”

A surprising bellow of laugh lands in my ear.

“What’s so funny?”

“Oh, it’s something about my sister and her husband. They were dating when that song was getting a lot of play. Every time it came on, they’d race to say, ‘I’d like to get to know you’ with a pause before the ‘well’ as if they were having second thoughts.”

“But they did?”

“Did what?”

“Get to know each other well?”

“I hope so. They have a baby now.”

“Okay. Play that song for me.”

“I will. And you’ll call tomorrow? Or I’ll be forced to play every song with the name Jessica in it until you do.”

My words ride a laugh as I promise to call. “Good night, Cal.”

“Good night, Jess.”

After I hang up, I turn the radio back up—not so loud that it’ll wake the neighbors, but enough so I’ll have a chance to hear his voice again.

Then it hits me. He has no idea what I look like. He never even asked anything likeWhat are you wearing?

I can’t conjure a picture of him, either. But Cal’s voice? It sneaks down my nerve endings and stirs up some serious giddiness. A feeling I could get addicted to.

CAL

I’d like to get to know you well, she said.

Same hereis what I should’ve said. If I knew how to talk to a girl. Instead, I told her some stupid-ass story about my sister.

“Am I an idiot or what, Blondie?”

One thing about having visible scars? Sometimes you can get away with shit other people can’t. Like bringing your dog to work. Or to the bar around the corner, which is where the two of us are headed right now.

At the end of every shift, we head over here. By the time I push open the heavy door, the place is officially closed, but the owner’s an old friend who lets us in anyway. I take my usual seat at the far end of the bar where a sweating beer glass waits for me.

“Hey, Phil.”

“Morning, Cal. Got a nice brisket sandwich tonight.”

I nod. “Sounds great.”

He nods back. “And you’re up for taking the leftovers again?”

“Yep. The guys count on me.”

“You know I like that the food’s not going to waste, but you don’t have to??—”

“It’s not like I have anything else to do right now. I’ll take them.”

---