Page 127 of Make Me Laugh

“You’ve got big muscles and a heavy wallet,” Joey counters, shooting me a pointed look.

A bell rings when I open the door. “And I’m funny. Thank you for noticing, Joey baby, that means a lot.”

She gives me one of her famous eye rolls that I love so much, and I admire her ass as she walks past me and up to the display, greeting the man before falling into conversation with him about his favorite menu items.

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

THE ONE WITH THE SIX-FIGURE DEAL

HexedHeroine posted a poll to her story: Please help me settle a bet with funny boy West Parker: ice cream in a cone or a cup?

WestParkerComedy shared the poll to his story: Two hands are better than one

I scoop a bite of rocky road into my mouth, pointing at Joey with the spoon before taking another. “I bet it’s six figures.”

She licks her strawberry cheesecake ice cream in the freshly made cone, taking the employees recommendation, and I can’t decide if I like it when she eats cinnamon sugar donuts or ice cream more.

“No way, I bet they countered at sixty-grand. I gave them too many stipulations.” Joey doesn’t want brand trips or to turn her account into a walking ad, and she’s not posting anything as Joey—only Hex.

I bark a laugh, throwing my head back like she told the funniest joke. “No fucking way. You’ve got one of the most popular accounts online right now. I don’t think they’re stupid enough to lowball you when they’re the ones who reached out… Six figures plus. Final answer.”

She glowers at me, reaching for her phone with her free hand. “They’re not going to offer me a six-figure deal, West.”

I return the glower. “Why not?” Sometimes I want to shake her—she doesn’t see her worth, even after the impact she’s witnessed first hand that Hex has on people.

Joey licks her ice cream again. “Because I’m just an online presence, not a physical person with ticket sales and shit.” She motions to me, resting her hand on the table with her phone still in it.

“Says the woman who’s had multiple authors publicly thank her for changing their lives with a single post.” She stares at me, unable to argue as I shovel another bite of ice cream into my mouth like the period of my sentence.

She sighs and lifts her phone, the screen glowing against her face as she taps through to the email. I watch her eyes scan, unable to see any of it from this angle. Sticking my spoon in my ice cream, I lean forward, trying to peek from the top.

Joey’s brows furrow.

“What?” I blurt.

“Shhh.” She shoves her ice cream cone at me, leaning back with both hands on her phone.

I twist in my seat, trying to find a place to put this fucking thing so I don’t have to hold it. “Joey, what the fuck…” I mumble, “See, this is why you eat ice cream out of a cup.”

I glance down, then up at Joey still focused on her phone. She’s not allergic to nuts, so I shrug and flip her cone into the bowl with my ice cream and scramble to her side of the booth. “What does it say?”

She doesn’t push me away when I squish in close. “Six figures.”

“Told you!” I grin, but she shakes her head.

“One year contract. One post a month. Two of the four brand influencer trips.” I see a tinge of disappointment flash across her eyes, and I want to make it disappear immediately.

“Well, I wonder if you can renegotiate and ask for⁠—”

She cuts me off. “There’s a counteroffer.”

I look at her as she drops the phone in her lap and fills me in. “No posting requirements outside of the deal itself. No extended contract. No required trips.” She pulls her legs into a crisscross and rests her back against the wall.

I drop my hand from the table to her calf. I want to touch her at all times, that’s all. Nothing weird. “Joey, baby, please. The anticipation is going to fucking eat me alive.”

“They’ll triple the pay if the deal is between us both. We agree to either fly out to LA where they’ll hire a crew to film, or they send a small one to us who will set up all the equipment and give us the privacy to record alone.” We both know which is the better option. “There’s more money to be made if it’s promoted to both our audiences, especially now that they see how well we work together on camera… A few hundred thousand dollars is worth the risk that this thing between us doesn’t fizzle out before they can at least make their money back.”

We sit in the booth together, sharing the mixture our ice cream has become while making a list of pros and cons because I know that’s what Joey needs. I insist she makes one for herself too, considering the deal alone if even for a second.