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

  "Speaking of… I drew you a picture," I said.

  He tilted his head at me like he was perplexed at why I do such a thing.

  "I thought Joe told you I had something for you," I said.

  "He said he did. Or him and his girlfriend did."

  I stared at Josh with a deer in the headlights expression since I had no idea what to say. I was relatively sure Joe had been referring to me when he said girlfriend, but something inside me wouldn't clarify that with Sarah sitting right next to me.

  "I drew you something," I said, trying not to be awkward while still not addressing his statement. I brought an oversized messenger bag with me, which contained an 8x10 drawing that I had put in a simple, low profile frame.

  Unless traveling, I usually worked with nothing smaller than 11x14, but he was a kid, and I didn't know how much room he had, so I made it smaller. I took the framed drawing out of my bag and handed it to him, watching as he stared down at it.

  His eyebrows furrowed as he studied it intently. I had drawn the letters J-O-S-H, each stemming from a flowerpot at the bottom of the page. I had a gritty, whimsical style that contrasted the fact that each letter was it's own, intricate flower or cluster of flowers.

  Josh stared at it for what must have been twenty or thirty seconds before Sarah got antsy and said, "See it? Josh Flowers, get it. They are Josh (pause) Flowers."

  The boy stared at it for a few more seconds before looking at me with a genuinely confused expression. "This is me," he said, shaking the frame at me. "It's me in a picture. It's my exact name as a picture. It's Josh Flowers. Who drew this?"

  "Lu," Sarah said, proudly.

  He stared at me. "Why?" he asked.

  I shrugged. "Because I thought Josh Flowers should have some Josh Flowers."

  He got that far-away look in his eye as he contemplated what I was saying, and I smiled, watching him. I could tell he loved it.

  "How'd you know my name?" he asked.

  "Because she's Joe's girlfriend," Sarah said.

  Sarah knew Joe and I were spending time together, but she and I had never, I repeat, never said the word girlfriend. I felt woozy when she said it, like all the blood that was in my head suddenly left.

  "I thought you said she was your friend," Josh said.

  Sarah smiled. "She is. She was my friend first. We went to art school together, can't you tell?" She gestured at the drawing again, and Josh focused on it.

  "I can't believe it is me!" he said. All of his emphasis was on the word 'is' in that sentence, which made me smile. He didn't see me, because he had gotten lost staring at the picture again.

  "Every letter is a flower," he said.

  "Pretty cool, huh?" Sarah asked.

  "Yep," he said.

  "Nobody else's name can do this, I bet." He looked at me for confirmation, and I smiled.

  "Not very many," I agreed. "People in your family could maybe do it, if they have the same last name."

  "My daddy has my last name, but he don't stay at our house."

  I smiled. "Then you're the only one who could have a picture like that."

  "Yeah, because my mom's name is Jaime Milton."

  I made a face like I was thinking about it. "I don't think I could draw Jaime Milton," I said. "Unless I just drew a portrait of her face, but that's not really what we're talking about here, huh?"

  "No," Josh said seriously, making me smile. "Are you Joe's girlfriend?"

  I was so nervous that I smiled and made an awkward shrugging gesture that neither confirmed nor denied his question.

  "Did he quit that other girl?"

  "Josh," Sarah said, scolding him a little.

  "What? I’m glad if he did. She never would have made something like this. She didn't even know my name, hardly. Plus she was too tall. She was almost as tall as Joe." He pulled back, looking at me and measuring me up in case he had put his foot in his mouth.

  My heart was beating a thousand miles an hour as a result of all the Chelsea talk.

  "How long you been Joe's girlfriend?" he asked.

  "I don't know. I didn't even really know we were calling it that. I guess about a week or so. I thought I was maybe going to get to meet you on Tuesday."

  "But I got strep throat," he said.

  "I heard about that. I'm glad you're feeling better."

  "Is that why you made me this?" he asked, lifting the picture.

  "It would be a nice get-well gift, but I just made it because your name sounded like it should be a picture. Plus, Joe told me all about how cool you were, so I knew you'd get it."

  "Oh, man, I saw it right when I looked at it. Josh Flowers."

  "I'm glad you like it," I said, leaning back to watch the game.

  Josh didn't offer any words of thanks, but he used the opportunity to come sit right next to me, which I took to mean the same thing.

  "Joe got me this jacket," he said, leaning over to put his arm right in front of me.

  I held his arm, feeling the hoodie. "That's nice," I said.

  "And these shoes."

  "Really? Those are nice, too. They match your jacket."

  "Yeah, he got them for my birthday with a new watch, but I left it at home. He's probably gonna get you something good for your birthday, too—if you're his girlfriend still by then."

  "He's super generous," I said. "He was telling me that he wanted to take us for pizza and ice cream after this."

  "Yessssss," Josh said. "I knew it! I guess I'm gonna have to wait on my diet."

  "Are you on a diet?" Sarah asked.

  "Not really, but I need to be because everybody says I'm fat."

  "You're not fat," Sarah said.

  "I agree," I said.

  He truly wasn't. He was stocky, but I definitely wouldn't use the word fat to describe him—not even close.

  "It's mostly just Byron Carter who says it," he said. "He's my pain in the back since kindergarten. He says I'm fat, and I can't catch, but I can. It's just that he throws it to me when I'm not looking."

  I put my hand on his back, wishing I could take all of his pain and embarrassment away.

  "I would never, ever, ever want to be friends with Byron Carter," I said.

  "Yes you would, if you met him. Everybody wants to be his friend."

  I sat there, not knowing what to say. I wasn't expecting to have to give life advice to this kid.

  "Well, sometimes God gives us pains in the backs, Josh. Sometimes it happens for reasons we don't understand."

  "What? Like he's gonna start being nice later?"

  I shrugged. "Maybe, but not necessarily. Maybe it'll have nothing to do with Byron. Sometimes we don't know why things happen until way later, and sometimes we maybe never figure it out. But nothing is wasted. If nothing else, you can look at this kid and know how you don't want to act." I smiled at him. "I definitely think you should have pizza and ice cream with us, though. That dude doesn't know what he's talking about. I think you're really handsome, and I have good taste, so that should tell you something."

  Josh looked at Sarah, who agreed. "Me too, and I have really good taste, too. You're gonna grow up to be a handsome man, I can tell."

  Josh nodded, wearing such a thoughtful expression that I had to work to hold in a smile.

  The three of us sat there and watched the rest of the game, Sarah and me asking Josh questions about his school and answering the ones he had for us (which were mostly related to our feelings on pop culture).

  We would go for minutes at a time without talking, though. Josh liked the game of basketball, and Sarah and I were just happy to stare at our respective crushes, so silences were okay with all of us.

  I loved watching Joe interact with the guys on the court. The way they bantered and smiled at each other as they played made me feel proud of him. It was fun to watch him excel at a sport and look good doing it. Collin wasn't bad himself, and Sarah and I would pinch and poke each other every time one of them did something we deemed worthy of such a reaction, which was
just about constantly.

  Chapter 17

  There was no scoreboard, but I assumed our guys won since they were all smiles after the game. Collin and Joe met us at the front of the gym after going by the locker room with the rest of the guys.

  Josh had been standing there with Sarah and me, but he took off running toward Joe when they came walking down the hall. He had the drawing in his hand, and it was the very first thing he showed them. He held it out as they approached each other, and I watched as both Joe and Collin leaned in to take a look at it.

  Joe was pretending to be amazed (because he has already seen it), but Collin seemed like he really was. They were too far away for me to hear what they were saying, but there were definitely words exchanged as they took turns pointing at the picture. The boys stayed there for what seemed like a full minute, gawking over the drawing and talking to Josh before heading in our direction.

  The five of us collided at the front entrance of the gym. Collin walked right up to Sarah, taking her into his arms and kissing her forehead several times like he just couldn't help himself. She congratulated him for playing well, and he thanked her. Joe didn't take me into his arms like Collin had done with Sarah, but he came to stand next to me, smiling and nudging his chin at me as if checking in.

  I smiled back at him and nudged my chin, too.

  "Josh likes his artwork," he said. He glanced at the boy. "Did you tell her 'thank you'?"

  Josh stared at me with wide eyes as if trying to remember if he had or not.

  "Thank you," he said, just in case.

  "You're very welcome. I'm glad you like it."

  "I looove it. I'm like the only person in the world who is a picture."

  Joe smiled and tousled the boy's hair. "The one and only Josh Flowers," he said. "Come on, let's go get some pizza."

  "Sarah and Collin are coming, too," Josh said.

  He had already set the whole thing up with Sarah while we watched the game, but she hadn't yet told Collin.

  "What are we doing?" Collin asked.

  "Pizza," Josh said. "And then ice cream."

  "Pizza and ice cream," Sarah said, blinking up at Collin.

  Good grief, they were so cute that I had to look away. Joe must have seen me squirm because he came to stand behind me, leaning in to kiss my cheek. "Wanna head out?" he asked in my ear.

  I smiled and nodded, and he tugged me toward the door, leaving everyone to follow behind us.

  Collin owned quite a few restaurants, and since he happened to have one that served pizza within a reasonable distance, that's where we chose to eat. I was so glad we did that because Josh got the royal treatment. Collin took him into the kitchen where Josh got to watch the chefs make the pizza and fire it in the wood-burning oven.

  Joe and I waited at the table, and Josh told us all about it when he got back. Collin had ice cream at the restaurant, but we decided to go to Ben & Jerry's since there was one nearby.

  Collin and Sarah decided not to join us for ice cream, so after dinner, Joe and I headed out with Josh. He held onto his drawing the whole time, waiting anxiously for opportunities to tell someone about it. He had shown it to two different people at the restaurant, and that was just what I knew about. Josh carried it with him when he went to the kitchen, so he probably showed it to people in there as well. He showed it to a random person walking down the street and also the person working the register of Ben & Jerry's.

  It was incredibly fun watching how proud he was of that thing—I felt humbled by it. I had drawn it on some beautiful paper that was bought for me by the man who had also agreed to pay my rent for the next few months. The conditions under which I made that piece of art were so lavish and undeserved that I almost felt guilty for being able to watch Josh adore it so much. It seriously brought tears to my eyes, and I had to fight them back. It was hard to believe that just a few weeks ago I was feeling discouraged, like I might not find joy in art anymore, and now here I was, looking at this little boy's face, which lit up when he showed people that drawing.

  After we paid for our ice cream, Joe and Josh went to get us a table. I asked Joe to take my bowl to the table so that I could use the restroom, and he agreed easily. It was crowed in there, so I wasn't too surprised to see them sitting at a table for two when I returned. Joe swiveled, sticking out a knee to indicate that I should sit on his lap.

  The tiny table displayed the 8x10 drawing, which was propped up, taking up just about the whole surface. I sent Joe a knowing smile at the way Josh set it up. My bowl of ice cream was sitting next to it, and I picked it up as I sat on Joe's knee. My heart raced as I got situated on his leg and turned to smile at him. We had been seeing each other all week, but we didn't yet have regular PDA, and the slightest contact had my endorphins on edge.

  "There was a bigger table over there." Joe whispered the words into my ear so that Josh couldn't hear.

  He was telling me he wanted me to have to sit on his lap, which set my heart racing yet again. I swallowed, wondering if I should whisper back or leave it at that.

  "I'm glad you picked this one," I whispered back when Josh was distracted.

  Josh looked back at us, and I smiled as if I thought we might have been caught, but we hadn't. Josh just smiled blissfully as he licked his ice cream cone. I was so crazy about Joe that I barely remembered the bowl of ice cream in my hand. Maybe it was from the exertion of playing basketball or maybe it was the lighting in this place, but his eyes seemed more green than usual. I stared at them from the close proximity of his lap, wondering how I ended up there.

  "I like her way better than that other girl."

  "What other girl?"

  "You know," Josh said. "Chelsea."

  "Oh, I totally forgot about her."

  "I know, me too," Josh said, nodding.

  I smiled at both of them even though my adrenaline was now pumping. As far as exes go, Chelsea was pretty low-impact, low-repercussion. That still didn't change the fact that I wished she didn't exist at all.

  Joe put his hand on my leg in a protective gesture and I gave him a thankful smile. The three of us sat in comfortable silence while we finished our ice cream. We brought Josh home after that, and Joe promised he'd see him in a couple of weeks. He gave the cab driver his address after we dropped off the boy.

  "I figured you'd come over to my place for a little while," he said.

  I smiled. "You did?"

  "Uh-huh."

  "What made you think that?"

  "Because I want you to."

  I inched closer to him and he put his hand on the other side of my legs, manually scooting me closer to him. I leaned against him.

  "I can't believe how much Josh liked his picture," he said. "I knew he would love it, but I didn't expect him to show it to every single person we encountered."

  I rested my head on Joe's shoulder, and he used the hand that had been on my leg to touch the side of my face.

  "I really like him," I said.

  "He loves you," Joe said. "He said if I don't marry you that he probably will."

  "Did he really say that?" I shifted to stare at Joe who smiled and nodded.

  "He said he wanted to marry a girl who could draw," Joe said.

  "Aww, really?"

  He nodded.

  "How sweet," I said. "I really liked him."

  Joe adjusted so his arm was around me, and I snuggled into him again. "You smell clean," I said, taking a deep breath with my nose right up against his neck.

  "Don't sound so surprised," he said with a smile in his voice.

  "I thought you'd smell sweaty after your game."

  "I took a shower," he said.

  "A shower?" I asked, pulling back and regarding him with a surprised expression that made him smile.

  "What'd you think I was doing after the game?"

  "Changing."

  "And showering," he said. "I was nasty."

  "You looked good to me."

  "I might've looked good, but you wouldn't want to sm
ell me."

  I put my nose next to his neck and took another deep breath. "I can't imagine not wanting to smell you," I said. I was so head over heels for him that I kissed his neck. It was right there in front of me, and I just couldn’t resist any longer. I placed my lips on the upper part of his neck, right at the corner of his jaw. My mouth was slightly open, and I held it on his skin for a few seconds before pulling back. He leaned back and stared at me with an appraising grin before glancing at the front of the cab and then back at me again.

  "What was that?" he asked.

  "I didn't say anything."

  "What was that you did?"

  "You mean this?" I put my slightly open mouth on his neck again and let it linger there for several long seconds. I felt and saw his chest rise and fall with one huge breath, and I smiled. I felt completely at home nestled in the hollow spot of Joe's neck, and I really didn't care whether or not the cab driver was paying attention to us.

  "Joe?" I said with my mouth close to his ear.

  "Yes, Lu?"

  "Am I your girl?"

  I put another soft kiss next to his ear. "You know you are," he said.

  "How'd I get to be that?"

  "The splinter, remember?"

  "That night at the pub?" I asked, pretending to have forgotten.

  "Uh-huh."

  "What happened? Did we fall in love, or what?"

  "Yep, we did. Something happened that night. I have the picture that proves it."

  "I remember that picture," I said. "You wouldn't give it to me."

  "Hey, I bought that picture fair and square."

  "You didn't buy it fair and square at first," I said. "You tried to steal it. Me and Drake had to count those photos and figure out one was missing behind our backs."

  "You counted them?" Joe asked.

  "Yeah, to see if one was missing."

  "I thought nobody would notice."

  "Yeah, but then you got busted."

  "And I paid dearly."

  "I think I still owe you money from that transaction," I said. I knew right where those hundred-dollar-bills were. I hadn't spent any of it because of the memories that went with them.