Page 36 of Josephine and Clay

There it is. The opening. The easy slide into the kind of flirting I could do in my sleep.

Normally I’d pick it up without thinking. Toss something back. Let her laugh. Let the night keep moving in the direction it already wants to go.

Instead I hear myself say, “Sometimes letting go at the right second’s more important.”

She smiles, but I can feel the answer landed a little sideways. It’s not the smooth line she was reaching for.

Brandon, damn him, notices immediately.

He throws an arm around my shoulders from behind and says loud enough for everybody nearby to hear, “Would you look at that? Our boy’s gone philosophical.”

I elbow him off. “Get off me.”

The woman laughs, but I’m already half distracted, and the worst part is I know by what.

My phone in my pocket.

That shouldn’t be enough to throw me. A phone’s a phone. A woman I’ve spent one night with and traded a handful of texts with shouldn't be enough to make all this feel slightly dulled around the edges.

But the thought of Josie slips in anyway.

The way she writes, trying to stay in control even while the words turn warm.

The way she acts as if she doesn’t know exactly what she’s doing to me.

“You alright?” the redhead asks.

“Yeah,” I say, too late.

Brandon lets out a sharp laugh. “He’s not.”

I turn to glare at him. “I’m standing right here.”

“And doing a terrible job pretending you’re interested in this conversation.”

The woman lifts her brows, amused more than offended. “Wow. Harsh.”

“True,” Brandon says.

I scrub a hand over my mouth, already irritated. “I’m fine.”

“Uh huh,” he says. “What’s her name?”

I stare at him. “What?”

“There’s a her.” He points at me as if he’s solved some grand mystery. “No way you’re turning weird in a bar without there being a her involved.”

I snort. “I’m not turning weird.”

One of the other guys, Mason, leans in with a grin. “You kind of are.”

“Shut up.”

The redhead gives me one last look, clearly deciding I’m more trouble than entertainment at this point, and slips away toward a group of girls near the dance floor.

I watch her go mostly out of habit, but there’s no pull there.

Brandon catches it and grins wider. “Damn. It’s serious.”