“Something like that.”
“Hmm.” She took a puff and coughed. “He likes you. I know he does. Ryan is just… he doesn’t like change, and he’s not very good with spontaneity,” Theo explained in between weed-induced coughs. I cocked my head to the side, suddenly much more interested in this conversation than I was a few minutes ago.
“They barely ever saw each other. I’m pretty sure they were both kind of using each other as a front because they think that’s what the world wants to see.Especiallyher. The only time they ever really hung out was when she had family gatherings that she wanted a date for. Other than that, she was never around.”
I couldn’t tell if it was the weed or Theo’s words that were making me feel way more chilled out. So maybe Ryan was telling the truth. Maybe he was breaking up with her, and he was just busting my balls about it because he was a closeted fuckingbrat.
“Why are you telling me all this?” I asked, tugging up my hood and shoving my hands into my pockets.
Theo shrugged and ashed her joint out on the steps before getting to her feet. “I don’t know. Maybe because I’ve never seen him look at someone the way he looks at you.”
Omg.Swoon.
“Or maybe things have just been way less boring since you showed up, and I’m not ready for things to go back to the way they were.”
I cocked my head again as Theo’s grin widened.
“Ormaybe…I’m hoping if I help you lock down my brother, you’ll give me your sister’s number in return.”
NowIwas smirking.
Well, well, well. Looks like Cassandra made an impression.
“I can give you her number, but I can’t be held responsible when she inevitably blocks your ass.” I snickered, and Theo’s lip quirked up.
“She won’t block me,” she said with the confidence of someone who hadn’t grown up with the headcase that was my sister.
I shrugged. “Alright. Fucking deal. You convince Ryan to give me a chance, and I’ll give you Cass’s number,” I said, holding out my hand.
Theo smirked and clapped her hand into mine.
“Deal.”
I grinned back at her. “Look at us! Pimping out our siblings for personal gain. We’re so charming.”
Theo chuckled and shook her head before jogging up the steps to her apartment. “Never said I was a nice person.”
I turned away as well, shooting her one last smirk over my shoulder.
“That’s lucky. Because anice person wouldnever survive Cassandra Walker.”
As ridiculous as it was, I couldn’t stop myself from comparing Joanna to Cal.
She was the complete opposite of him in every way, down to her safe, eco-friendly Prius. I sat in the passenger seat as she drove us to a local coffee shop, thinking about how much Cal would hate this fucking car.
Joanna was going on and on about how school was going and about the fact that she was considering adding some new psalms to her curriculum, and I could barely manage more than one-word responses.
The painkillers Cal had left for me were finally kicking in, and I was using my newfound brain power to analyze Joanna in a way I never had before.
She was pretty enough.
Average.
She was nice.
Normal.
She was polite…
