Page 20 of Overtime

“Sure, right after you tell me what thoughts you were jacking off over.”

“Joss,” I warn, although I suppose that’s technically also the answer to her question.

“Fine! You, obviously. The text was about you. And instead of sending it to Violet, it sent it to you.” She sighs.

“And it’s more embarrassing than all of this?”

“At least this is mutually embarrassing.”

“How do you figure?”

“You’re dripping wet all over me, nearly lost your towel, and I reiterate, very clearly using my expensive conditioner for unintended purposes. I doubt you’re going to tell them about the text messages now because then we’d have to tell this whole story and it doesn’t look much better for you.”

“I didn’t sneak into a bathroom while someone was showering.”

“I didn’t leave the door unlocked.”

“Holy fuck.” I pinch the bridge of my nose. “You’re infuriating, do you know that?”

“I assumed from the way you keep swearing at me.”

My brow furrows as I stare and then I pull away from her, grabbing the phone and unlocking it to pull up the text. I can see part of the message in the preview as I go to delete it.

Joss:

Please go with us on this double date…

“Do you not want me to go tonight?”

“You said you weren’t going to read it!”

“I’m not but some of it’s visible when I open the app.”

“Give it to me.” She goes to snatch the phone out of my hands.

“Joss!” I pull it back.

“Fine. It was sarcastic about you coming tonight and her offering to have you shower here and how I don’t need to be thinking about you naked. And this right here, is exactly why. Now you’ve gotten me all wet and been pressed up against me. I heard you jacking off and I don’t need all of this! I’m in a weak fucking state, and I don’t need you being all James Dean with abs around me. Okay? So no. I didn’t want you to go tonight. Or be showering here. Or be here at all frankly!”

I have so many things I want to say, but I need to be more careful with her than I have in the past. Because getting wrapped up in the hurricane that is Jocelyn Marks is the last thing I need right now in my life.

“Then why didn’t you just say that when they invited me?”

“Because they love you. You’re the good one. Their golden boy. The one who’s always there for them and goes on runs and hangs out at their house on the weekend. I can’t tell them they can’t invite you out with us. Then they’ll just think I’m a bitch and tell me I need to behave.”

“Well, you do need to learn how to behave.”

She rolls her eyes. “You wish.”

Those words must make me lose my mind because the next second I’m hauling her up into my arms and dragging her into the still-running shower.

ELEVEN

Joss

“Oh my god!”I start to scream the words, but they come out muted when I remember I don’t want Ben or Violet to come running. He puts me down directly under the spray of the shower head, and I could kill him. Right here in cold blood. Because now my clothes are soaking wet, more so than they already were and my hair is dripping. I swipe at my eyes because the mascara I put on this morning is definitely not waterproof, and I’m sure I look like a feral raccoon now. Just fucking great.

“Are you insane?” I yell as I try to open my eyes but fail when I feel the sting from the combination of water and mascara. I step out of the stream of water and gasp for air.