Page 148 of Joker

Private. Mean. Final.

Not this one.

I stand there another minute just looking at her.

Then I turn and head for my room. Because another thought’s been building all day, low and steady and impossible to ignore now that it’s fully formed.

Lexi needs her own room. Not a temporary corner. Not a borrowed setup. A real space. A room that says she belongs here long enough to unpack.

And Raven?

Raven doesn’t need to keep pretending there’s still some meaningful line between her room and mine and when all of me goes calmer when she’s there. That thought should maybe be more alarming than it is.

Instead, it just feels obvious.

So by the time Raven knocks softly on my door twenty minutes later after checking on Lexi one last time, I already know what I’m going to say.

She steps in wearing leggings and one of my T-shirts this time, hair still damp from a shower, face clean and soft in a way that keeps catching me low in the chest when I’m not prepared for it.

“Lexi’s down,” she says quietly.

I nod once, leaning back against the dresser while I look at her. Then I say, “Good. Because I’m stealing you.”

That gets a blink out of her. Then a faint smile. “Oh?”

I jerk my chin toward the bed. “C’mere.”

She crosses the room slowly, watching me with that cautious curiosity she still gets when she’s trying to figure out what exactly is happening in my head before I’ve said it out loud.

I wait until she’s close enough to reach, then hook an arm around her waist and pull her into me.

She goes with it immediately.

That still does something dangerous to me every time.

Her hands settle against my chest.

My palm slides over her lower back. And for one quiet second, I just hold her there. Breathe her in. Let the day settle.

Then I say it. “I think it’s time Lex gets her own room.”

Raven stills slightly in my arms. Not badly. Just surprised. She tips her head back to look at me. “You do?”

“Yeah.”

I brush a strand of damp hair back from her face and keep my voice rough and practical because if I make this too emotional too fast, she’s gonna bolt out of instinct.

“She needs a real setup. Her own space. Not a temporary one.”

Raven’s eyes search mine. I can see the exact second she realizes what else I’m saying without me saying it yet. Her breath catches just slightly. “And me?” she asks softly.

I hold her gaze. “You’re in here.”

Silence.

Her whole face changes. Not dramatically. Just enough. Enough to make me want to pull the entire world apart with my bare hands and rebuild it into something that never made her look that startled by being wanted. “Joker…”

“Angel.” I slide my hand up to the back of her neck and keep it there, steady and warm. “You’ll been sleeping in here half the damn time anyway. We both know it.”