"Let me guess," she says. "You play football."
"I did in college. Just graduated, so my football days are over."
"What position?" she asks as she gets her station set up.
"Tight end."
She nods, glancing at me and smiling. "Tight end. My favorite position."
I stop myself before rolling my eyes.
She motions for him to get up. "Let's get you shampooed."
As he walks to the shampoo chair, she turns back and mouths, oh my god he's gorgeous!
I just smile, then go to the back room to do laundry. As I fold towels, I notice my heart's still beating fast. That was not what I was expecting Nate's cousin to look like. Nate's cute, but his cousin is hot, and not like average hot, but a whole different level of hot. Just wait until the girls in town get a look at him. They'll be lining up at his door, begging to go out with him.
My phone chirps and I see a text from Nate. Did Brad show up?
I text back. He just got here.
The phone rings. It's Nate. I duck out the back door to answer it. "Hey, I can't talk during work."
"I know. I'll make it quick. Did you meet Brad?"
"Yeah, a few minutes ago. Why didn't you tell me he was coming by?"
"I wasn't sure if he would. He said he had some errands to run and might stop in to get his hair cut. Who'd he get?"
"April. Oh, she cancelled on me tonight so if you still want me to tag along with you and Brad, I'm in."
"Yeah, definitely. I think we're just going to grab dinner and a couple beers. You want us to pick you up?"
"If you could, then yeah."
"We'll swing by around seven. Does that work?"
"Yeah, see you then."
I hurry back inside just as my mom comes through the door to the laundry area.
"Hey, Mom," I say, sounding out of breath. "You need towels?"
"Yeah." She looks me up and down. "What's going on with you?"
"Nothing. Why?" I hand her a stack of towels.
"You're out of breath and all sweaty. I thought maybe it was because you saw that hot thing out front." She smiles as she saunters over to me.
"What hot thing?" I ask, but I know who she means. I hope she didn't flirt with him. She would've if she'd been drinking, but she seems sober.
"The guy April's working on. You gotta come see him. If I wasn't with Dave, I'd be on that guy so fast."
"Mom, he's MY age. He's way too young. And he's Nate's cousin."
"Huh. I thought he looked familiar, although he's a hell of a lot hotter than Nate." She nudges my side. "You better get him before someone else does."
"ME? I'm not going to date Nate's cousin."
"Why the hell not?"
"Because he's Nate's cousin. It wouldn't be right."
"What's not right about it?"
"It just...it seems wrong."
"Does he already have a girl?"
"No."
"Then go for it! Grab that hot piece of ass before it's taken."
I cringe. "Mom, please don't call him that."
She laughs. "Get your butt out there and claim him. And do it fast because Kacey's already got her eyes on him."
"Kacey has a boyfriend."
"Never stopped her before." My mom turns and walks back in the salon.
Grabbing more towels, I follow her, passing Brad as I walk to the shampoo sinks. I glance at the mirror and see him watching me. I expect him to look away, but he doesn't. He keeps his eyes on me and smiles.
My heart takes off again, that nervous flutter overtaking my stomach. I drop off the towels and race back to the laundry room.
Ten minutes later, as I'm folding towels, Brad walks through the door.
"Hey," he says with that gorgeous smile. "Just wanted to say goodbye before I go."
"Oh." I stand up. "Okay, bye."
"You should come with us tonight."
"Who?" I ask, then realize he means Nate and him. My brain doesn't seem to work around Brad.
"Nate and I are going to dinner. You should come with us, unless you have plans."
"I did, but they fell through. Nate called while you were in the salon. I told him I'd go tonight."
"Good." He holds my gaze a moment. "See you later."
"Yeah," I say, sounding breathless.
He leaves and April rushes in. "Did he just ask you out?"
"No, we were just talking about tonight. I'm tagging along with Nate and Brad since you cancelled on me."
She grabs my arm. "I think he likes you."
"What? No." I laugh. "He was just being nice because he knows Nate and I are friends."
"You wouldn't date him?"
"Brad? He doesn't want to date me. He's Nate's cousin. It'd be awkward."
"Why? Because Nate wants you for himself?"
I set down the towel I was folding. "Why do you keep acting like Nate and I are a couple? He's not interested in me that way. In fact, just the other day he said he'd never thought of me as anything more than a friend."
"Really?" She scrunches up her nose. "Are you sure you heard him right?"
"Positive. He has no interest in me romantically, and I feel the same way about him. Nate's like a brother to me."
"Then you're free to date Brad! But you better hurry up. Every woman in the salon was checking him out. Even the old ladies. You gotta make a move before someone else does."
"I'm not dating Brad." I fling open the dryer door and yank the towels out. I'm so tired of washing and folding towels and sweeping up hair every day. I need a different job. At least the lifeguard job will get me out of here in the afternoons.
"Look what Wayne just sent me," April says, showing me her phone. It's a photo of Wayne, shirtless, with his old man hairy chest. Gross.
Not sure what to say, I just nod, then quickly go back to my laundry.
She shrugs. "I know he doesn't have the best body, but he treats me better than the guys I dated before."
None of the guys she's dated have treated her well, including Wayne, but I'll never convince her of that. I've tried, and it was a waste of time.
"My next client is here. I gotta go." She heads to the door. "Oh! Brad left me a ten-dollar tip! Isn't that great?"
I wish I got tips. Maybe I should've stuck with cosmetology school. If my mom could do it, and April could do it, why couldn't I? Because I was terrible at it, that's why. And it's not what I want to do.
The hours slowly pass until I'm finally able to leave at four. I'm so excited to be done. Today was my last full day of work here until the pool closes in the fall. I'm really lucky Renee lets me do this every year. She only does because of all the high school kids looking for part-time jobs in the summer. She pays them less than me so it works in her favor to have them take my hours.
When I get home, Dave is there, watching TV in his boxers and no shirt.
"Do you have something against clothes, Dave?" I ask as I go to the kitchen to find a snack. I didn't have money for lunch, so skipped it.