Troublemaker

Work was hard to get through when she had Joe who was willing to spill any beans she wanted him too. She had to do the evening shift, though, to make up for the days she missed from being depressed. It was only her and Meaghan, so she was having fun at least.

“Hey MayMay, I’ve got a proposition for you.” Zoe called out to her friend as she closed drive thru window for the night for good.

“Whats that is?” Meaghan said in her deep Chicago accent.

“I’ve got a boy…and he’s really good looking…”

“Okay.” Meaghan said in agreement. Zoe knew it wasn’t an ‘okay go on’ but a ‘okay, yes.’ This made Zoe chuckled.

“Don’t you want to know his name?” She asked her friend.

“Is it bad if I only care if he’s alive and young at this point?” Meaghan asked, being completely sincere. Zoe just cracked up and shook her head ‘no.’

Zoe made her way, swiftly, back to Nick’s house. Joe had promised to stay up late with her and chat about Nick. She was glad, even after the incident today, that he was a cool person that she could talk to. She hadn’t had time with Kevin yet, so she didn’t know much about him, but he acted more like the Jonas father than anything.

After a late night movie and snack, she resided to the deck to smoke a cigarette. She looked over at Nick, who joined her outside and smiled. “I love you.”

“I love you, too. What did I do?” He asked, looking scared.

“Can I not just say it from time to time?”

“I guess so…what do you want?” He was skeptical.

“Nothing!” She yelled, giggling at the same time. “Well-“

“SEE! I knew it!” Nick giggled.

“I want to hook Meaghan up with Joe.”

“Joe has a girlfriend.”

“He said she’s like a…what did he say? A wet cloth at a campfire party?” Zoe made a whatever face and focused on the task at hand.

“I’ll see what I can do. I’m going to bed though, you coming?” He winked and stood up.

“Give me twenty minutes, I wanna smoke another one and wash my face.”

“Okay.” Nick bent down to her and kissed her forehead. She smiled and watched him walk inside. Joe knew what this meant, Nick going to bed and leaving Zoe alone, so he took the opportunity.

He went outside and occupied the seat Nick had just left.

“Can I ask just one question before you finish regaling me of Nick’s past?”

“Sure, what’s up?”

“What made you do it today?”

“Oh…I was hoping that would never be brought up.” Joe blew air out of his mouth and blew a raspberry out of stress. “I guess I figured you were like all of Nick’s other girls who’d fuck anyone, no matter the cost.”

“Far from it, I love fucking, but not with just anyone. But it does make me wonder.”

“I know, I’m going to tell you.” Joe laughed. “Want some wine?”

“No. Beer.” He nodded and ran inside to get drinks. She lit another cigarette and was pleased with Kevin’s choice in beer.

“Okay. First, after high school he fell in love with this little cutie, she played him like a toy, he eventually got tired of it all and left her. Shortly after that he kind of went through a whore phase…he was fucking anything with two legs that didn’t swing in the middle.” It took Zoe a minute to understand Joe’s words, but she eventually understood.

“That explains the good in bed part.” She said to lighten the mood a little, but it just made Joe look physically nauseated.

“Well…anyway. After that he found this girl, and oh man, he thought she was the one. They were happy, things were good, and mom and dad loved her, blah blah blah.” Joe stopped for a second to take a sip of wine. “But it was like a devil hell beast was spawned after he proposed. She went crazy.”

“How so?” Zoe was intrigued by this devil hell beast.

“She started trying to control everything he did. When he got his hair cut, how long it should be, what to wear, when to wear, and even when he should shower. Before the engagement, she didn’t care if he showered for days, but after she wouldn’t even let him kiss her without showering, I swear.”

Zoe physically shuttered at someone being like that and took a swig of beer. “That’s terrible. I guess that’s why he was so weird about the promise ring.”

“Actually, we were all shocked when he told us he did that because we didn’t think he’d ever commit to a female like that again. We honestly thought he was moving to Georgia to give up women all together. Of course, he didn’t know he’d meet you though.” Joe smiled as he sloshed his drink in the glass.

“Aw thanks.” Zoe smiled genuinely and the compliment from Joe made her feel warm. Kevin soon came outside to finally get to hang out with Zoe.

“Hey lady, haven’t talk to you yet, how are things?” It might just be his demeanor, but Zoe could have sworn he was upset.

“Are you okay?” She asked him bluntly.

“Eh…yeah.” He smiled weakly.

“No you’re not. Mama is the know all of this joint, so tell me what’s wrong.”

“My wife can’t do anything.” She thought it was a weird statement, but shrugged it off as Yankee logic and left the two men to be.

“I’m going to go to bed. I’m dog tired, work’s killing me.” She stretched and yawned. She caught both men staring at her while she was stretching and she was all of a sudden very self conscious.

When she made it to bed, she climbed in slowly and nuzzled Nick’s neck from behind. When he turned, she kissed him softly and whispered, “I love you.”

Nick knew this was sincere and he replied, “I love you too.”