Page 44 of Between the Lines

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

“YOU’REGOINGTO have to talk about it sooner or later,” Amy commented mildly. Jo peeled a slice of cucumber off her eye and glared balefully down at where her youngest sister was painting her toenails neon pink. “If you don’t we’re just going to keep torturing you with beauty treatments.”

“There’s nothing to talk about.” Jo removed the second cucumber slice, tossing them both into the trash can as she struggled to sit up. Holding up a foot, she wiggled her newly polished toenails and grimaced.

“Why pink?” she asked Amy, voice sullen. “You have every color of nail polish known to man in your room, so why the hell would you choose pink for me?”

“Pink with sparkles,” Amy replied cheerfully, pulling her legs up under her where she sat on Jo’s bed. “And I just told you. We’re torturing you with spa night until you talk to us.”

“There’s nothing to talk about.” Jo crossed her legs as well, looking down at the floor where Meg was stirring something in a bowl. “What the hell is that?”

“It’s a hair mask.” Meg smiled beatifically up at her. “Egg yolk and avocado oil. And it’s going on your head unless you spill.”

“I just said, there’s nothing to spill!” Throwing her hands into the air, she accidentally brushed one against her cheek. It came back with a smear of green slime. “Can I wash this off now?”

“Not until it’s dry.” Beth sat on the floor with Meg, holding a plastic shower cap. “The clay won’t have pulled all the crap out of your pores until then.”

“Fantastic.” Jo sucked in a deep breath. Her sisters had her number—this was a form of torture unique to her, and she wasn’t enjoying even a second of it. Her room smelled like flowers, the mask on her face itched and her toenails were fucking pink. More than that, she was miserable.

Had it really only been a few days since Theo had crashed back into her life? As far as her heart was concerned, he’d never left. But that was the thing, wasn’t it—he was going to leave.

And if she stopped him, what the hell kind of person would she be? Not one who wanted the best for the person she loved, that was for sure.

Her computer pinged, a notification that she had a new comment on her blog. Normally she loved checking out people’s responses to what she’d written, but right now she couldn’t imagine ever posting again. She couldn’t imagine wanting to know anything about sex ever again, because she’d always associate the act with Theo. He was her match in every sense of the word.

She’d known he would probably go, but the pain was worse than anything she could have imagined.

“Well, then. Since you’re still holding out, it’s hair treatment time.” Meg wiggled a paintbrush in her direction. “Come here!”

The thought of raw egg, cold and slimy on her head, was finally enough to make her crack. Scuttling back into the corner of her bed, out of Meg’s reach, she growled at her sisters as a whole. “Fine! Fine! I’ve been sleeping with Theo. And I fucking fell in love with him again, and he’s moving to San Francisco with all of the hippies, and I’m miserable! Is that what you wanted to hear?”

“It’s what I wanted to hear.” Jo shrieked as Theo stuck a leg inside her window, knocking her pen cup off her desk. Clapping a hand to her chest as he hauled himself up so that he was straddling her windowsill, she gaped at him in shock. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“The last big discussion we had, you climbed in my bedroom window.” With a grunt, he pulled his second leg in through the window, sliding into her room. Offering a disarming grin to her sisters, he nodded. “Hi, girls. Do you mind giving us a minute?”

“Not at all.” Balancing the bowl of hair gunk in one hand, Meg rose smoothly to her feet. Smirking at Jo, she waved the paintbrush around. “Should I save this for later?”

Jo bared her teeth, and Meg just laughed. Offering Beth a hand, she hauled her other sister to her feet, then nudged her to the door. “Come on Beth, Amy. You guys can argue over who gets the hair mask.”

“Not on your fucking life,” they said together, all three jostling their way through Jo’s bedroom door. Beth was the only one who looked back over her shoulder, smiling softly at her older sister. “Don’t be a total bitch, okay? You know what you want.”

Then she was gone, closing the door softly behind her. Jo didn’t even take offense to her parting comment, because heaven knew, she was feeling bitchy. Bitchy, and prickly, and spoiling for a fight.

“That’s a good look for you,” Theo commented mildly as he turned to face her, arms crossed over his chest. Damn it, why did he have to look so good? Dressed in a pair of jeans that were faded in all the right places, with a navy T-shirt that stretched tight over his chest, she had to curl her fingers against the urge to reach out and touch.

Jo looked down at her torn jeans. She was only wearing a cotton sports bra on top, since she still had a thick layer of clay on her face. Her hair was scraped back from her face with a fuzzy headband, and her toes were pink and glittered when she moved.

Well, he’d seen her looking worse. Spreading her hands wide, she shrugged. “This is who I am, Theo. What’s the matter? Not fancy enough for your big new job?”

He ignored the hostility in her voice. Instead, he held out a small, tattered package wrapped in faded paper. Hesitantly, she took it, squinting to read the words printed on the wrapping. “Happy birthday? My birthday isn’t for months. How quickly they forget.”

Never mind Beth’s gentle admonishment—she was being bitchy. She couldn’t seem to help it. She was furious, not with him for pursuing his dream, but with herself for knowing that she’d never get over him.

“I’m reenacting our last night together, back then. But backward.” He stuffed his hands in his pockets, then rocked back on his heels. He was barefoot. “You climbed in my window. I’m climbing in yours. We had a fight, and I didn’t give you your present. We are not going to have a fight now, and I’m finally giving that birthday present to you.”

“This is the present you were going to give me then?” Shock crashed over her like an ice-cold wave. “You kept it all this time?”

“It was still in the drawer beside the bed in my old room when I moved back here.” He grinned mischievously. “Right beside a box of condoms that are most definitely expired.”

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