Page 76 of Salvatore
“We could go another night,” she quickly offered before rambling on. “I’ll ask Sal what other night would be good for him. So, are you up for a double date? Do you need to check with your girlfriend what night she’s available?”
“You’re better off asking someone else,” Amo told her unhelpfully. “Nero and Vincent are scheduled for the day shifts. Elle or Lake love going to the movies, but I don’t see them wanting to seeMission Impossible.”
“Exactly why I didn’t ask them …” she mumbled, feeling just as defeated as poor Winnie looked.
“You could ask—”
“Never mind,” Valerie cut him off, giving up on her own mission impossible. Amo was helpless. “I’ll leave it up to Sal. He can figure it out. Have a nice day.”
Grabbing his drinks and his other purchases, Amo left them staring after him.
Valerie turned back to Winnie. “Are you sure you like him? I think he’s a dick.” How the man couldn’t see Winnie was in love with him by a single look defied her imagination.Boys, they’re so oblivious.
“I didn’t say Ilikedhim.” Turning bright red, Winnie started putting out some keychains. “Only that I wascuriousabout him.”
“You know the first thing that attracted me to Sal?”
The girl looked back at her. “No, what?”
“How hot he was,” she confided. “Of course, I had to get past the strong and silent part of his personality.”
“Amo is hot.” Red seeped down from her cheeks to her chest as her head hung low. “Too bad he doesn’t even know I’m alive.”
“You know that isn’t true,” she tried consoling the lovesick girl. “It’s not like he thinks a robot is ringing him up when he comes in here.”
“I might as well be a robot—afatrobot.” Glumly, she picked up one of the keychains to play with. “He probably has a lot of women he goes out with that are prettier than me.”
“You’re very pretty.” Valerie stared her down intently to make sure the girl understood that. Life was already hard for a girl in this cruel world; adding societal pressures on women of needing to fit inside a box of what was pretty by societies pressures didn’t help. She knew that better than anyone, considering how she dressed. However, men were dumb dogs, and Valerie didn’t want to get her hopes to high.
She didn’t know anything about Amo’s personal life. He could have a steady girlfriend, and it wouldn’t be fair to raise Winnie’s hopes up if there was no chance of getting with him. It was obvious her confidence was already a bit low by the way Winnie talked about herself.
“Besides looks shouldn’t matter, anyway.”
“Didn’t you say Sal’s looks was the first thing you noticed about him?”
“I admit, I’m a shallow person,” she said, putting a hand over her chest before scooping all the empty wrappers in the now empty bag and throwing it into the full trash can. “It’s okay for women to be shallow—it’s endearing. When men do it, they’re womanizing assholes. Just from the little I’ve been around Amo, he doesn’t come across asthat muchof a womanizer.” She couldn’t say the same about the asshole part …
“I don’t think so either,” Winnie agreed helplessly. “He seems too sad to be a womanizer.”
Damn.The girl had it bad. Amo didn’t come across as sad. He came across as if he carried a big chip on already massive shoulders. The few times she had been around him, after Sal had made it clear she was taken, he’d sported a grouchy face and had the personality of an eighty-year old, crotchety old man.
“You don’t think he figured out why you mentioned a girlfriend, do you?” Winnie asked, taking the pack of Skittles from her before she could open it.
Valerie snatched the candy right back before ripping open the package without remorse, knowing Sal could pay the tab. This love stuff was just taxing on her soul. “Of course not. How could he? I was smooth as silk.”
He was beginning to think his prayer was working, but then his phone lit up with a call from Winnie.
Fuck.He answered it only to say that he’d be right there. He’d wait until he was there to find out what she had done in person.
He made his own call on the way to the gift shop, as he had officially given up trying to work until Valerie sold her game. Once she did, she’d begin working on her new game, and then his life could go back to somewhat normalcy.
“I haven’t heard from you in a bit. How ya been, kid?” His old friend’s voice came over the line.
“Pretty good, but it sounds like you’re doing better than me these days.”
The happiness and carefree attitude was easily noticeable through the phone, along with the sound of the ocean.
“Oh, definitely,” his friend quickly assured him that he was currently living the life. “Cabo is great this time of year. You and Valerie should come take a trip down here.”
