Page 94 of You Fall First

“No, you.”

“All right.” She glances at the sky for a stretch before bringing her eyes down to mine. “What you did tonight was pretty sweet.”

I exhale, and a knot of tension loosens in my chest. Then again, she might be talking about when I gave her the last roll at dinner. Or read Grumpy Monkey to Dutton.

“You’re not mad?” I hedge. “About what I said to Oliver?”

“Mad? No.” She blinks. “Confused … maybe.”

“Yeah, me too,” I admit, the words dripping out slowly. “I guess I just couldn’t let the guy get away with it,” I say. “So I acted on impulse.”

“Well, thank you.”

For several beats, we sit in silence, besides the chirping of crickets. Then I rake a hand down my face, scrubbing off any hint that I might like to be Jo’s boyfriend for real. “I do realize things could get awkward tomorrow at the wedding,” I say. “So if you want, I can tell him I was just being an ass.”

“No way,” she rushes. “I mean … please don’t do that.”

I lean forward over my knees. “Really?”

She lets out a tiny scoff. “As far as I’m concerned, Oliver Wells can stew in his misconceptions for all eternity.”

I sit back again, and the knot in my chest comes all the way loose. “Works for me.”

Her brows contract. “Anyway, he probably doesn’t even care.”

“Oh, he cares,” I chuckle. “I caught the guy flinching before he slinked out of the hall.”

“Maybe.” She looks down at her lap, fiddling with the blanket’s fringe. “But he chose Amelia, so he got what he wanted.”

“Hmm,” I grunt. “Doesn’t mean he can’t see what he lost too.”

“Yeah, well, that’s not the pattern I’ve noticed in my life.”

“There’s a pattern?”

She lifts her gaze, holds mine steady. “Or maybe a lack of. Oliver was my first boyfriend. Like, ever.”

“Okay.” I bob my head. “So that means you were smart and discerning when you were younger. Focused on your education, not relationships.”

“No.” She swallows. “It means nobody ever wanted me.”

“I highly doubt that.”

“I’m telling you, it’s true,” she insists. “I was always everyone’s buddy. The tomboy sidekick. Little Michaels.” She pulls the blanket more tightly around her. “I went to school dances and college parties in groups. Or as a friend. But there were no promposals. Boys just didn’t see me in a romantic light. Men either.” She pushes out a breath, almost like she’s amused. “Meanwhile, my sisters had boys batting at them like moths. My best friend Maren, too. You’d probably love Maren.”

“Is she like you?”

“She’s nothing like me.” Jo sighs. “Naturally, men fall at her feet.”

“Well, on behalf of men everywhere, allow me to suggest the male species can be clueless.” I clear my gravel-filled throat. “And sometimes it’s the women we want the most who feel … out of reach.”

She lets out a sharp laugh. “Well, in my case, no one reached. Not even Oliver. I was the one who approached him on a dating app. Then I got so caught up in making our future happen, I tried too hard. Committed too fast. I was too enthusiastic. Too … everything. At least according to his texts with Amelia.”

“What texts?”

“Ah, right.” She wrinkles her nose. “You don’t know about the infamous thread that ended us.”

“Apparently not.”