Page 61 of Only This Once
Julia braced herself for her friend to argue, but Phoebe cut herself off.
“No, you’re right. I’m sorry, okay?”
Julia didn’t feel any better. “Do you really mean that? Or are you just saying it because I asked you to?”
Phoebe blew out a breath. “I know I’ve been a bitch lately. Things have been hard for me, but that’s no excuse. It’s supposed to be you and me, to the ends of the earth, but I haven’t been a good friend at all.” Her voice grew smaller. “Or a good sister.”
Julia pushed herself up as her chest squeezed. “You mean to Jinx? Is that because of me?”
“I didn’t handle it well when he told me about… well, you know.”
“You can say it, Phoebe. Herpes isn’t a dirty word.”
“I’m not comfortable with it. I kind of wish he’d never told me.”
Julia closed her eyes. “Jesus. Please tell me you didn’t say that to him.”
“No.” Her voice drew the word out, though, like she wasn’t sure. “I don’t know what to say to him.”
“I thought you said Charles gave you a few articles.”
“Well, yeah, but that was because—never mind.”
Julia rubbed at the ache in her chest. She had a feeling Phoebe had said something even worse to Jinx than she could imagine.
“Do you want to support him?”
“Of course I do.” Phoebe’s voice rose, as if she was offended. “He’s my brother.”
“Then it’s on you to figure out how. Research. I’m sure there are a lot of resources.”
“Can’t you just tell me what to say? You always know the right thing.”
In the past, the words would have felt like a compliment. Instead, Julia wondered if this was the real reason Phoebe had called. Her body began to feel heavy again. This day had been too much.
A knock on the door saved her from responding. She pushed to her feet, the effort taking more out of her than it should have.
“You’ll figure it out,” she said to Phoebe. “I’ve got to go. Someone’s at the door.”
“Don’t tell me you’re ditching me for Jinx again.”
Julia looked through the peephole, her chest squeezing as she took in his curls and his blue eyes.
“Bye, Phoebe,” she said, hanging up and jerking the door open to a startled Jinx. “What are you doing here?”
He flushed. “I’m not trying to stay. You said you had a bad day, so I thought…” He held his hands out toward her.
Julia’s eyes dropped from his adorable blush to the offering he’d brought. She recognized the container holding the banana split. It was from the ice cream shop their older brothers took them to all the time as kids. “I haven’t had one of these in years.”
His shoulders drooped. “Sorry.” He cleared his throat, pulling the ice cream toward his chest. “I’ll go.”
She reached out and grabbed his arm, nearly jostling the ice cream to the ground. “No. Stay.” Her chest ached from all the thumping going on inside. She forced a smile, not sure why her eyes felt warm. “But I hope you don’t think I’m going to share.”
His dimples appeared. “This is all for you, Jules. I figured ice cream made anything better.”
“Especially banana splits,” she agreed, pulling him inside the apartment. She closed the door behind him before taking the container. He even had a plastic spoon.
Jinx used his freed hands to push back his hair. “I didn’t mean to force you to invite me in. I’m really okay not staying.” His smile was soft and sweet. “You said you were feeling down, so I wanted to do something, and this was all I could think of.”
