Page 34 of Holiday Friend Zones
“Are what?”Joey crosses her arms.“Are sneaking around behind my back?”
“No!”I say, a little too loud.“This only just started.”
“Is it a thing?”she asks.
“No,” Chase says.
“It’s not?”
Hurt cuts through me at his words.
“Then you’re just screwing around with my brother?”Joey huffs.“Unbelievable.”
She tosses Max’s bag down on the couch and spins on her heel and walks out the door.
“Joey, wait!”I call after her.
But it’s too late.She’s gone.
Fuck.In the span of one minute, it seems like everything has gone to shit.
“Max, do you want to watch some cartoons?”I hear Chase ask him.
“Mommy says I can’t watch TV until dinner.”
“Today is a special day, so I think you can.”
“Okay.”
Chase turns on the TV for him and walks up to me.
“Are you okay?”
He tries to pull me in, but I don’t go.“No, not really.”
“About what I said…”
“About this not being a thing?”I bite out.
“I didn’t mean it,” he says.“I want this to be a thing, but I didn’t want to say it for the first time in front of Joey.”
“You do?”
He nods.“I know we had no time at all to discuss this before Joey showed up, but yeah, Honey.I want this to be a thing.”
“Good.”I breathe a sigh of relief and wrap my arms around him.“Because I want this to be a thing too.”
“Good.”Chase presses his lips to my forehead.“I want to kiss you, but I have to watch Max today.”
“Go.”I push him away.“Be a good uncle, and I’ll take care of Joey.”
“Are you sure?She seemed pretty pissed.”
“How would you feel if you walked in on her and your best friend?”I quirk a brow at him.
“Fair point.”He spins me around and wraps a coat around me.“Go to work, and come by the bar tonight.Let me know how things go with Joey.”
I wink at him.“I will.”
