Page 44 of Joker

I back out of the room before I start thinking too hard about any of that.

Logan follows me into the hall. “You good?” he asks quietly.

I look at him flat. “You told me I was picking up ‘something.’”

He folds his arms. “Was I wrong?”

I stare at him.

He stares right back.

I hate that he almost gets a grin out of me. “You’re an asshole,” I mutter.

“Worked, didn’t it?”

I glance toward the room. “Yeah.”

He studies my face for a second too long, then wisely decides not to say whatever he was about to. “Get some sleep. We’ll talk tomorrow.”

“Mm.”

He claps my shoulder once and heads back toward the main room, leaving me alone in the hallway with the muffled sounds of women moving around in Raven’s room and the sudden, stupid awareness of the door to mine sitting directly beside it.

I should go inside. Shut the door. Take a shower. Maybe punch a wall for balance.

Instead, I stay where I am for another minute longer than necessary.

That’s when Raven steps out into the hall.

Emma is still inside with Lexi, probably helping settle her for the night, and Mac must’ve gone to grab something because for one strange, suspended second it’s just the two of us again.

She’s standing in the soft spill of lamplight from the open doorway, hair still loose over her shoulders, my sweatshirt still swallowing her whole, face tired enough to break something in me if I look too long.

She looks disoriented. Like her body hasn’t caught up to the fact that the drive is over and the world hasn’t ended yet. Shealso looks too damn beautiful for a hallway at nearly two in the morning.

Which is rude, honestly.

Her eyes lift to mine, and for a second she just stands there like she forgot what she came out to say. Then she clears her throat softly. “Thank you.”

Two words. Quiet enough that if the hallway were any louder, I might’ve missed them.

But I don’t. And because I’m apparently useless tonight, my brain completely abandons me. There are a thousand things I could say.

You’re welcome.

You’re safe here.

Get some sleep.

No problem.

Anything remotely normal.

Instead, what comes out is, “Yeah. Sure.”

Outstanding. Real smooth.

Raven’s mouth twitches like she might smile despite herself. That somehow makes it worse.