JABBALOVE

That's When I Knew For Sure that I Like Him

Taz could tell that Gracie was enjoying every bit of her new-found involvement with the next door neighboors. Especially Joe's little crowd of three. Taz loved hanging out over at his place now, because not only did she get to have some real girl-bonding with Nikki, but she also got to experience those quick, stolen chats with Joe. Quick, because whenever she was there, Joe was either on his way to work, or busy fixing something in the garage. Joe, for so many reasons, fascinated the living soul out of Taz. He was an all-around nice guy and she honestly couldn't seem to find anything wrong about him, except of course, when he and Nikki would be throwing mocks back and forth at each other, but even that she found adorable. Joe also had this way of being this sensitive dad for a minute and then morphing into this mean, funny brother the next. He was maintaining two crucial roles around two people and found a way how to balance them. Taz loved witnessing that. What an irony that she had thought he was the bad guy at the beginning.

Taz wanted to go and consult Nikki about the whole babysitting issue that had emerged the day before, and she was so used to being inside the Larot residence that she let herself in through the backdoor. Walking inside the little lawn, a sweaty Joe washing his silver Mercedes brightened her morning like you can't imagine.

"Hey, Joe!!"

"hey there, gorgeous." Joe stood up from his stooping position and Taz had a perfect view of his body covered only in a white tight-fitting tee and a pair of faded Levi's. Taz knew he was what people call "easy on the eyes" but never expected he was this "easy".

"Watcha doing, good-looking?" Taz cursed and bit her lip in the name of God.

"Just cleaning her up. Nikki's out with Isabelle, if you're looking for her." He said, smiling and showing Taz that dimple she dreamt about the night before. Yeah, weirdly enough, she was having a dream about it. A very, very nice dream, if somebody were to ask her.

"Oh, okay." Taz said, half-disappointed, half-jumping for joy. Now the next move. "Should I come back later then, you seem a little busy..."

"No, no, no, I'm just finishing up actually. Please stick around if you don't mind." Oh, no, she definitely, most certainly wouldn't.

"Yeah, why not." Taz said casually, sitting on an unoccupied stool that was probably placed there exactly for her. Oh, stop dreaming, you! 

Taz could hear the sound of loud music blasting off from somewhere inside the house. "You having a little party there?"

"Yeah. I'ts a fullhouse. The guys decided to stop by and eat and drink everything in my house." Joe said, sounding amused. "Hope they don't find my Twinkie stash."

Taz had a time to respond to that with a laugh before asking "So how's the arm?"

"Oh, the arm?" Joe did a macho pose and gave his arm a quick kiss. "The arm is the charm."

Taz chuckled. "What?"

"I think it's the one that got us that gig in Vegas." He said, grabbing the brush and scrubbing it all over the hood. "Thanks to you."

"No, I'm pretty sure it's because you are good, plain and simple." Not that Taz would know 'coz she had never seen them dance before. But Nikki had nothing but positive feedbacks about them, so that had to count for something. "So, Vegas, huh?"

"Yeah, the classic Sin City."

"That must be exciting. You guys must really be good  to score yourselves a gig there."

"I know. I still can't believe it. One day you're dancing at clubs and community gatherings, and next thing you know, bam, you're having your own show in Sin City."