Page 96 of Joey

No shirt. All skin. Still smelling like sex.

“Remember that time we took Brooke to the Grand Canyon?”

“What?”

“She was wearing that white dress. And she was so tan, remember? Because we were playing a lot of golf that summer.”

“What?” And this time it’s a laugh.

“You know, for being such a rich asshole, you really suck at golf. Not much better at tennis, either.”

“Huck,” I say.

“But Brooke is real good at it. Remember how surprised we were?”

“I don’t have room in my brain for this shit right now, OK? I get it. I appreciate what you’re doing. But—”

“Remember that time we bought you in the charity auction?”

“Huck—”

“I never really understood why you did that. But I kinda get it now. You wanted to stay connected to your brothers. To this city. To those people you used to know. And that lake house. I think you miss them. I think… I think you want them. And you use Wald and me as replacements.”

“That’s not true and you fuckin’ know it.”

“I don’t mean it that way. I just mean… somewhere along the way you three lost each other and maybe you know how that happened and maybe you don’t. But you’ve been trying to fix it for a long time now, Joey. And I’m not telling you that what I think is true, OK? I’m just gonna say this and let you think about it. Some things are worth saving and some things aren’t. And maybe, if you’ve spent the past sixteen years trying to put it all back together and failed, then maybe it’s just time to move on, you know?”

He pauses to see if I’ll say anything. But I don’t.

“How much did you cost us?”

“Dude—”

“That night at the auction. How much did we pay for you?”

I’m about to tell him to stop. This isn’t helping.

But he says, “I remember your face when you first noticed Brooke in the audience.”

I shake my head and suck in a deep breath.

“You were confused. Then you smiled. Then you settled into the idea and we made it a game. So how much was it? Because I can’t remember.”

I’m still thinking about what he said. About whether or not it’s true. Have I been compensating for losing Jesse and Johnny?

“Focus,” Huck says. “How. Much.”

“Two million.”

“That’s right,” he says. “Two million fucking dollars to take home what was already ours. But you know what?”

“What?” I ask. Dropping my head a little as I side-eye him.

He leans in. His hand wraps around the back of my neck. His lips come up to mine and I kiss him before he can kiss me. He says, “You were worth it.”

I give in for a minute. Knowing I shouldn’t. Understanding that this kind of slip can lead nowhere good. Everything is up in the air right now. Opportunities, and possibilities, and future outcomes.

But I can’t make myself care.