Page 11 of Car Wash
“Is there something wrong with the milkshake?”
“No,” I say, giving him a sidelong glance, my shoulder brushing the cool window. “What?”
“I don’t know,” he says, pushing his hair back from his forehead. His thick forearm, tattooed and tight with muscle, makes something twitch deep inside me. He shakes his head. “Sorry. I thought something was wrong.”
“With the shake?” I say.
“Yeah. I don’t know.”
I take another sip.
“No. It’s still as good as it was ten seconds ago,” I say.
“It felt like you went somewhere else for a second.”
I want to hide my face.
I can’t tell him some guy tried to get me alone on the thin promise of popcorn and zombie movies. He would tell my dad. Wouldn’t he? Maybe not. I’m not sure.
“I’m still here,” I say softly.
It looks like he wants to say more, but he doesn’t.
I don’t know what he would say.
“Radio?” he says, clearing his throat.
“Sure,” I say. I turn it on and scan the stations until I find something good, and I stay right there.
“I love this song!” I say, probably a little too loudly.
It’s my favorite artist—The Weeknd. I love his music because his voice is so angelic that he can make the nastiest shit sound romantic.
My stomach rolls over itself as I wonder if this is the edited version.
The music thumps along through the speakers—beat heavy, bassline thick as molasses, synth dark and moody. I hold my breath and peek at John from the corner of my eye, ready to change the station at the first sign of a dirty word. The vocals cut out for a half-second and I breathe a sigh of relief. It’s the clean version. Thank goodness.
And as I look over to see my dad’s best friend behind the wheel of this sexy-ass car, a chill runs through me.
Because he shouldn’t look like this.
Not in this light.
Not with his sleeves pushed up and one hand loose on the wheel like he owns the whole damn world.
I tell myself to stop it.
That he’d never see me that way.
To him, I’m just Mark’s daughter.
But my pulse is thrumming in my ears, so I do the only thing I can do.
I cross my legs, sit back, and just enjoy the ride.
Chapter Six
John
