“I have some time. And I will have more soon enough. I’m not going to be a first-year associate forever. Besides, it’s actually not any of your business.”
He shouted that last part. He and Lauren were close, but sometimes fighting with her brought out a side of him he didn’t love. They’d had some drag down fights when they’d been kids, although they hadn’t fought like that in a very long time. Josh loved his sister, but there were few people on Earth who knew him so well and so knew exactly how to piss him off.
She put her hands on her hips now and glared at him. “Right. You guys have known each other for five minutes, but you’re already thinking long-term? Or are you thinking with your dick?”
“That’s low. It’s not like that at all.”
Lauren shook her head. “I don’t know what you want me to say. Did finding out that you guys were dating freak me out? Yeah. Did I handle it well? Probably not. But if she broke up with you, it is not my fault.”
“It’s a little your fault.”
“Again, I told Paige I was okay with it. I didnottell her to break up with you.”
Josh let out a breath and felt his argument deflate. “Well, it doesn’t matter now because on Friday she said she wanted to break up.”
“She really said that?”
“Well, yeah. Sort of. I think. I’m not really sure, actually.”
“What does that mean?”
“The idea of breaking up with me seemed to upset her.” He glanced at Lauren. “Again, to be clear, my love life and your friend’s love life are actually none of your business.”
“Uh, you came here to talk to me about it. You made it my business. And if you guys are so close, why did she offer—repeatedly—to break up with you?”
“She said that?” Well, that was discouraging. Had Paige really been willing to give up on them so easily.
“She said she didn’t want to break up with you, but she would if I had a problem with your relationship. I told her I didn’t. She broke up with you anyway?”
“Well, we left things kind of ambiguous, but she stopped returning my texts, so…”
“I guess that explains why you’re so mad.” Lauren sighed. “Look, I’m sorry. It was not my intention to meddle, and again, I told Paige I was okay with it. Yeah, I freaked out. But you’re right, it’snotmy business. I still feel weird about it, but I don’t want to be in the middle of this, and frankly, I resent that you guys put me there. But, I mean, if you guys want to date…I’ll have to learn to live with it. But she tried to break up with you. So maybe she’s not as committed as you thought.”
Josh’s head swam with that. He could so easily picture some future where they all hung out together. He dropped in on drink nights at the bar up the street on nights he didn’t work late. He’d come by the Cat Café and tease Lauren and hang out with Paige while she did the schedules for the week. Maybe they’d live in the same apartment and explore the city on weekends. He could see all of it before him like it was a movie. If Paige was using Lauren as an excuse to break up, and it seemed like that was the case, maybe she wasn’t as committed to making it work as Josh was. Maybe she had really meant to break up with him.
Josh grunted and dropped into an empty chair. “Well, now what do I do?”
Lauren picked up the rag and started wiping the table again. “You are my brother and Paige is my friend, and I want both of you to be happy. If you’re happy with each other, that’s wonderful. If not, that’s okay, too. What do you want?”
Well, he wanted Paige, but not unless she really wanted to be with him. “Maybe it’s time to move on. Probably I should be focused on work anyway. But I just want to register the complaint that I do not appreciate your interference in my love life, and I do really like Paige. For the record.”
“So noted. But also I did tell her I was okay with you guys, so I don’t deserve all the blame. I just… I know how bad Megan hurt you and I didn’t want someone I loved to do that to you again. Not that she would on purpose. Well, anyway. I’m done. No more meddling. You kids have to work this out on your own.”
“Right. Thanks, Mom.”
“Oh, come on, now. That’s not how this is.”
“Mom didn’t like me dating Jennifer O’Malley in tenth grade and gave me a very similar speech. Is this what happens to all married people? You become your parents?”
Lauren mock gagged. “How dare you. Why didn’t Mom want you to date Jennifer O’Malley?”
“I forget. I think Mom and Mrs. O’Malley had clashed at a PTA meeting or something. When Jen dumped me, Mom gave me that speech. ‘You kids have to work this out on your own.’ Like, verbatim. But she added a chorus of, ‘It’s for the best.’”
Lauren reached over and pulled Josh into a hug. “I swear, that’s not what I’m doing. I’m…bowing out. I have no role in what happens between you and Paige.”
Josh sighed and hugged her back. “Well, thanks for that, I guess.”
“You gonna talk to her?”
