Page 73 of The Romantic Agenda

Summer begins blinking rapidly like she doesn’t understand—or maybe that she does. She starts crying before she even makes it out of the door.

Joy falls back on the bed in defeat. “Fuck.”

They’re gone,” Fox says.

“Great.”

Joy sighs, retreating further into her quilt. She’s added two blankets to her cocoon, hoping to create the same sensation as a weighted blanket, but no dice. Overwhelmed, and full of regret and fury, she resisted calling Grace, who would make her feel betterbutalso yell at her for not listening.

Fox lingers in the doorway.

“Are you here to start shit with me too?” Her mood hasn’t recovered, stuck somewhere between dejected Sour Patch Kid and snapping turtle. She didn’t mean what she said to Summer but that doesn’t change the fact that she lost her temper again and saidit anyway. The words rolled out of her like a bomb being dropped from a plane—no way to abort or stop it.

He blinks, suddenly very fascinated with the floor.

“Oh my god, you are,” she says, temper burning again. “What the fuck—is it Make Joy Feel Like Shit Day or something?”

“Definitely not here to do that.” His morning vocal fry still hasn’t warmed up to his usual rumble just yet. He looks squinty and tired, like if the room gets too quiet, he’ll fall asleep standing up. “What did you say to Summer?”

She looks him dead in the eyes. “The same thing she said to me.”

“But she’s the one who’s crying.”

“I’m crying on the inside,” she deadpans. “You don’t know me.”

“You’re right. I don’t.” He rubs his hands down his face. “Can I come in?”

“I don’t want to talk about Summer.”

“Okay.”

“Or Malcolm.”

“Okay.”

Joy nods him in and watches him as he sits on the bed. “What do you want to do today?”

“Wallow in a vat of misery.” She laughs, hollow and defeated.

His eyebrows fly upward. “Or we could do something fun.”

“Like what?”

“Whatever will make you happiest.”

“I don’t deserve to be happy.”

“I don’t deserve to be miserable,” he says. “We’re spending the day together. Might as well meet in the middle at content.”

“We are?”

He nods.

Why is he so concerned withherhappiness? So far, the best parts of the weekend for Joy were all with Fox. Now here he is again, wanting to spend his one free day with her. She made Summercry—surely that’s a few points in the evil column that he should take into consideration.

And why does he keep putting everyone else first?

The entire trip was built around Summer—everything she loved and wanted, everything Malcolm could give her. He even included Joy in some of that planning by making a modicum of space and buying her gifts. Nothing for Fox at all except that damn cake.