Page 24 of Josephine and Clay

Since I know it’s likely to be a face I recognize, I turn to see who’s joining us…

Really?

“Josie?”

She stops near the window with a small box in her hands. There’s a tension in her shoulders, though.

A slow grin pulls at my mouth.

Well… that’s interesting.

I push off the counter.

“Didn’t think I was going to get the chance to see you again.”

A flash of embarrassment immediately crosses her face. Her spine straightens, pulling herself back together piece by piece. “Hi, Clay. You’re still in town.”

“Not for long. I’m just about to head to the circuit.”

“Right,” she says. “Of course.”

I tilt my head slightly. “You gonna pretend you didn’t hide from me the other day?”

Her face flames bright red. “I wasn’t hiding.”

“Uh huh.”

“I was busy.”

I grin. “You were behind a building.”

Her lips press together, and I think she’s gonna shut this down completely. Until she caves. “Alright, that might have been a tactical retreat.”

I laugh. “That’s one way to put it.”

“Can you blame me?” she says, glancing away briefly. “It’s a small town. Running into you in broad daylight felt… unfortunate.”

“Unfortunate?” I echo.

She looks back at me, dry. “Highly.”

She’s different today. Still guarded, still controlled, but she’s not pretending that night didn’t happen.

“Didn’t seem unfortunate at the time,” I say.

Her breath catches. “Context matters.”

“Does it?”

“Yes.”

I lean a little closer, just enough to feel the shift in her space. “So what’s the context now?”

Her fingers tighten slightly around the box she’s holding. “You’re leaving. Which means whatever that was stays simple.”

I nod slowly. “Simple.”

“That was the agreement.”