Page 70 of Joey

“Yes,” he says, meeting my gaze. “I’m buying you a ring and you’re going to wear it when we meet the Kanes and my daughter.” I open my mouth to protest but he says, “Just those specific times, OK? You don’t have to wear it unless we’re with them. I’ll even buy it without you, if that makes a difference. Just pick one and we can forget about it until you have to put it on.”

He thrusts his phone at me. The webpage he pulled up has a list of different ring styles. “I like the princess cut. It’s classy. What do you think?”

And fuck him. Fuck him for picking the cut I like. Asshole.

“Like it?” he asks.

“It’s fine,” I say.

“Cool. I’ll get a big one. How many carats? Three? Five? Ten?”

“Don’t be dumb.”

“I’m not. If you want a ten-carat diamond, I’ll get you one.”

“No one wears a ten-carat diamond. No one even wears a three-carat diamond.”

“Girls like you with men like me do.”

I close my eyes and take a deep breath.

“Why are you so angry with me?” he asks. “I didn’t do anything wrong. If you don’t like Huck and Wald, fine. Then don’t sleep with them.”

“I like them,” I say.

“Then what’s the problem?”

I swallow and open my eyes. “You guys are a package deal.”

“Not like that we’re not. We don’t normally sleep with the same girl.”

“But you have!”

“Obviously,” he says.

“Well, what happened to her?”

“She was a one-time thing. They were all one-time things. Just… you know. Guys doing pervy guy shit. And then ghosting.”

“That does not make me feel better.”

“What are you afraid of?” he asks. “You can’t really like me, Brooke. You don’t even know me. So that’s not what this is about, is it?”

“I just don’t like the feeling of being used.”

“We’re both using each other.”

“But I feel… loyal.”

He juts his chin backwards. “Loyal?”

“Yeah. I feel loyal to you guys already. That’s how teams work. Especially during a job. And I’m getting that reciprocal feeling from both Huck and Wald, but…”

“But not me?”

“Not you,” I agree.

He looks away for a moment. Studies the city buildings around us. Squinting his eyes in the glare off the tall towers of glass and steel.