Page 91 of Make Me Laugh

Her notes are to the point, highlighting the good qualities, while also pointing out things someone might not like.

I accept three in a row, my head spinning with the dollar signs Joey mentioned.

Frankie’s coming to spend the weekend with us after making the hard decision to part ways with her record label and management, and Joey suggested we rent a townhouse downtown near the venue instead of overpaying for hotel rooms.

The day we check in for the long weekend, Enzo barges into my room and basically corners me. “What’s up with Joey?”

Steam rolls out of the bathroom connecting our bedrooms. “Hey, so question. I know your parents were assholes, but they had to have taught you how to knock, right?” I’m already dressed in a pair of sweats, using a towel to ruffle my hair until water doesn’t drip from the ends.

“I know you deflect with jokes.” Enzo plops down on my bed, pulling a pillow from the side to prop himself against the headboard.

I shrug, tossing the damp towel over my bare shoulder. “I dunno. What’s up with her?” I’m pretty sure my voice cracks and I give myself away, but I don’t look to see if he’s caught me in my lie. I bend down, thumbing through my bag on the floor to find the shirt I want.

Enzo glowers, his midnight black eyes pinning me in place. “I know you did something stupid… I just can’t prove it yet.”

Telling Enzo wouldn’t be the end of the world, but I’m not sure that’s the best idea, and I absolutely know Joey wouldn’t want me talking about it with anyone—my best friend included.

“I always do something stupid. What’s new?” I find the T-shirt Joey wore the morning she left my hotel room in Boston, a smile pulling at the corners of my lips. I’d much rather her wear it again, but at this point, I’ll try anything if it gets her to talk to me. I’m sick of being treated like an office mate she only speaks to when we need to brief for a meeting.

“Listen, I’m going to see a movie with Kell.” Enzo pops up from the bed, putting the pillow back in its place. “Go figure it out.” He stalks through our conjoined bathroom. “You’re good at pestering people until they break.”

He doesn’t see me flip him off as he walks away.

I finish getting dressed, eventually wandering downstairs. The townhouse is huge, with plenty of space for Joey to avoid me in, and yet, in the last thirty minutes, she’s managed to pop into every room I’m in.

While I throw a load of clothes in the wash, she comes into the laundry room looking for a broom, eyes scanning the shirt I’m wearing before bolting without the dustpan.

When I go to the kitchen to grab a beer, Joey comes downstairs looking for a corkscrew to open a bottle of wine.

I think she finally gives up when she finds me in the secondary living area, thinking if I hung out here, she’d have space to move about the house without running into me again.

Joke’s on her! The universe wants us in the same room.

She sighs at me lounging in the middle of the couch, no TV on, just hanging out with the doubts in my head… “The longer you avoid me, the more awkward it gets.” I lock my phone screen and throw my arm over the back of the couch.

“I’m not avoiding you.” I can tell she knows I know she’s lying. Joey’s in her Harvard sweater, a pair of loose sleep shorts, and she’s hugging her MacBook to her chest with a stemless wine glass in her hand. I take my time enjoying the view of her thick thighs covered in the ink I’m slowly memorizing.

She eyes the couch, choosing the end she thinks is furthest away from me.

“I’m almost seven years younger than you, Joey. Not seven years old.” I give her a pointed look that says, be for real right now.

Her lip raises in a heated scowl. “Don’t say it like that.”

“Then stop avoiding me,” I say frankly.

Sipping my beer, I watch as Joey crosses her legs at the ankles and pulls a blanket off the back of the couch. She drapes it over her legs, placing her computer in her lap, and sighs. “West, we shouldn’t have done that.”

“Okay, but we did.” I shrug. “And I don’t regret it.” I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to regret anything when it comes to her. “Do you?” I ask, because apparently I’m a glutton for punishment on top of everything else.

She looks like she’s about to crawl out of her skin under my careful gaze. I don’t want to run her off, but I’ve about had it with her making this worse than it needs to be.

“I mean…” She trails off.

“Fine, say you do regret it.” I know she doesn’t, but I’ll let her think whatever she needs to get by. “You’ve never been forced to be around someone you shouldn’t have hooked up with?”

Joey shakes her head gently, her ponytail swaying with the movement. “Just you.”

“Ow,” I mutter.