Page 39 of Outspoken

Brody shakes his head. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”

She looks puzzled, her mouth quirking in disappointment.

With my phone under the table, I respond to Paige’s text:Get him to do the dishes, then I’ll bring up comics.

“Hey, what competition you thinking of later this year?” I ask Brody so Paige can sneak a look at her phone.

“The one down—”

Paige cuts in.

I stifle a laugh.Panda bear?

“Now?” Brody asks.

He glances at me, and I sip cider, pretending to be fascinated by a small chip in the wooden table.

“Sure,” Brody says, standing. “If having them clean helps you relax.”

She leaps from her chair, giving him a firm hug and a kiss. That’s all it takes for his suspicious look to fade, and he grins like a man hopelessly in love before turning toward the sink.

“I got a cousin who loves comics,” I comment to Paige. “Think you’d be interested in selling a few to me? I know the ones he’s looking for.”

She stiffens.

I stifle another laugh. She’s not very smooth. Brody is focused on dishes and only grunts a response, so Paige and I slip away. When we’re in her office, she closes the door.

“I might actually be interested in comics,” I say, scanning the large shelving unit along one wall across from her desk. It’s filled with tons of clear, labeled containers. Several have comics. “I do have a cousin who loves them.”

She grabs a comic off the desk and then sits in her office chair, pointing to a purple beanbag nearby. After resting the comic in her lap, she says,

I sit on the beanbag, sinking in and feeling like a giant on top of it. “Well…” I give her the abridged version because I know we don’t have all evening. Then I fall silent, waiting and bouncing my knee in anticipation.

She sighs.

“I know. I regret it.”

She leans forward to pat my shaky knee.

My heart does the salsa. “You think?”

I grin, a tiny seedling of hope breaking through the soil into the sunshine. But my excitement wavers as I think about Brody’s words earlier. Leaning forward, I rest my elbows on my knees as much as I can in this awkward beanbag. “Hey, if Amber and I got together, do you think we’d implode?”

Paige studies my face.

“Self-destruct. Like we’re a collision waiting to happen and that’s why we shouldn’t try to start something.”

She flips the pages of the comic book, lost in thought. I lean back, hoping she has some sage advice to help me figure this out. While she thinks, I look around the office. It feels weird to be in Paige’s space because I’m still getting to know her. There are a lot of posters on the wall, especially of Wolverine and X-Men, along with a very sensual image of a naked man and woman entwined in an embrace. Otherwise, it’s a functional office with shelves, a desk, and a large cabinet. A table in the corner seems to be where she packages items. It has tape, scissors, a label maker, and other shipping supplies. My gaze falls on a framed photo of her and Brody at the beach. They’re smiling and smashing their cheeks together.

They’re too adorable—something I thought I would never say about Brody.

“You guys have something real,” I say. “It’s beautiful, and I’d give anything to know what that feels like.” I let my body sag—my heart is simply too sore and heavy from years of longing. “But I’ve been trying to let that dream go—make peace with the single life. I don’t want to stress Amber out or make her sad, and I don’t want to complicate things for Brody. If you think me and Amber will only collide with each other, I’ll get over my feelings and move on.”