Page 27 of Josephine and Clay

Penny notices the way my eyebrows cock. “That’s him, isn’t it?”

I don’t answer right away, which is answer enough.

“Josie,” she says, leaning across the table like this is the most important thing that’s happened all day. “I can’t believe you have a man.”

“I don't have a man.”

She waves her hand dismissively. “You have a texting situation.”

“That's not a thing.”

“It absolutely is a thing.” She nods toward my phone. “Well? What did he say this time?”

I glance down again before I can stop myself.

Clay: You off work yet?

Simple, casual, and somehow… not.

“I’m not narrating my messages to you,” I say, sliding my phone onto the table face down.

Penny gasps as if I’ve personally offended her. “You have to. It’s part of the friendship contract.”

I ignore her. It lasts approximately three seconds.

“He asked if I’m off work,” I admit.

She claps her hands once. “Okay. Good. We like that. It’s attentive but not clingy.”

“I wasn’t aware we were analyzing this.”

“We’re absolutely analyzing this,” she says. “What are you going to say?”

“I don’t know. That I’m at dinner?”

“With me,” she adds quickly. “Make sure he knows that.”

I blink. “Why?”

“So he doesn’t think you’re just sitting around waiting for him.”

“I’m not sitting around waiting for him.”

“Exactly,” she says, satisfied. “So we establish that immediately.”

I stare at her before I realize she might be right.

Josie: Just finished. At the diner with a friend.

I set the phone down immediately after sending it, like distance will somehow make this less immediate.

Penny watches me like she’s witnessing something deeply entertaining. “You like him.”

“I barely know him.”

“That’s not what I said.”

I reach for my coffee the second Jessie sets it down in front of me, using the heat as an excuse to focus on anything else. “It’s not like that.”