Page 117 of The Re-Proposal

“What’s the deal with you and Clarissa?”

“Why is that any of your business?”

Joel lifts his chin. “I’m interested in her.”

I almost snort out loud.

“I’m not giving up.”

“Want my advice?”

“Not really…”

“Focus on producing music, kid. Don’t make Ris your second hobby.”

“You scared?”

I let out a disbelieving laugh. “No, I’m not. You and Clarissa wouldn’t be together even if youwerethe right age.”

“Why not? Unlike you, I’m a real man who isn’t afraid to talk about his feelings.”

“Unlike me?”

“I can’t compete with you when it comes to money. And from what Vargas said about you two, you’ve got history.”

I grit my teeth.Vargas has been running his big mouth.

“But the one thing I have over you is that I’ve got good intentions. I don’t want to add her to my shelf like a trophy. I don’t have anything, so she’d be everything to me.”

“You don’t have anything. You’re right. So why do you think you deserve her?”

“Why do you think money means you deserve her more?”

I’m stumped.

Dammit.

“Clarissa doesn’t seem like the type of woman who’d be swayed by money or she would have already jumped into your arms by now. That tells me that she values something you can’t give her.”

“You know nothing, kid.” I scowl. He’s starting to get on my nerves.

“I know you stare at her all the time,” Joel points out. “And you throw your cash around like it makes you bigger.” He scrunches his nose. “Anyone can see through that. You’re not impressing nobody.”

“Anybody.”

“What?”

“You’re not impressing ‘anybody’. Not nobody.”

“That’s what I said.”

“Why don’t you focus on getting better before you throw your hat in this ring, huh, kid?”

Clarissa bounds down the stairs wearing jeans and a T-shirt. Her hair is bound into a bun at the top of her head. She glides on moonlight like some kind of supernatural fairy.

My heart thumps in my chest.

Joel’s voice thickens with resolve. “The game isn’t over until it’s over.”

---