Page 41 of You Fall First

“You won’t.” He takes a beat. “These days, Jojo’s been feeling … how can I put this without sounding like I’m giving her a hard time? A little directionless?” There’s a moment of silence. Then he says, “I just sent you her contact. I’m guessing she’ll jump at the chance to do something. The kid’s probably home right now, bored as hell, organizing my mom’s spice rack for the third time.”

I blink. “Kid?”

“Jojo,” he says, like the answer’s obvious.

I run a hand over my head and force a laugh. I can tell Dex isn’t criticizing Jo or intentionally patronizing her. He’s just keeping the subject light. Messing around. Joking with his boy.

Me.

And this is exactly what I need, in this moment and in the future. No drama, just a loyal friend.

So I can’t forget who Dex is and what he means to me.

No matter how differently I may see his sister.

After adding Jo to my contacts, I settle in at the kitchen table to message her. I don’t want to put her on the spot, so I decide to text instead of call. Everything I say sounds wrong, though. Either too dire for the circumstances, or too … breezy? So I try again, aiming for a matter-of-fact opener. Just the truth.

I fail at that too.

Me

Hi Jo. This is Noah.

Delete.

Me

Howdy, Jo. Woody’s uncle here.

Delete.

Me

Greetings from Noah Stadler.

Delete.

Man, I am astonishingly awful at normal communication right now. It’s like I’ve never texted a human before. If only it weren’t too late to take Dex up on his offer to call Jo for me. But no, I’m in this now, and I can do it.

I have to.

So I make one final attempt, except this time, I think about what Jo would text me. I channel her. Warm, friendly, and unbothered by being knocked over by a four-year-old. That’s the energy Dutton and I need, the calm Jo brings to the situation.

After one last scan of the message to rule out any embarrassing autocorrects, I hit send.

Then I hope for the best.

Or at least not a total text catastrophe.

Chapter Eleven

Jo

Have I been counting the minutes until it’s, arguably, not too early to eat lunch?

Yes.

Did I make it to noon? Not quite.