Something to Talk About(76)

“Tell me everything.”

Emma did. She felt vindicated when Avery announced, “Fuck Phil, then.”

“Right?” Emma said. “My job is important. If it weren’t important, why’d Jo say—”

She cut herself off. Avery didn’t know that story.

“Why’d Jo say what?”

Emma shook her head. “It’s nothing.”

Avery narrowed her eyes. “Sounds like something. The way you’re blushing says it’s something.”

“I’m not blushing,” Emma said, and blushed harder.

“What did Jo say?”

Emma would’ve buried her head in her hands, but that was worse than blushing.

“She said I was the only thing that got her through her day,” she mumbled.

She expected Avery would make her repeat it, just to be a jerk, but her sister just blinked at her instead.

“When did she say this?” Avery asked.

“A while ago.”

“And to whom?”

Emma could feel exactly how red her face was. “Her father.”

Avery’s eyebrows went up. “Explain.”

Emma hadn’t told Avery about Jo’s father visiting. It was too fragile. Too real. Plus, then Evelyn flew in and Jo turned almost girlish, giggly and happy. Emma spent the week complaining to Avery about Jo’s girlfriend. Avery had called her jealous and hadn’t known just how true it was.

But Avery had said explain. So Emma did. She told her about Jo’s father, about the milkshake, about Jo telling him off and looking so broken that Emma had to do something.

“And what you had to do was kiss your boss?”

“We didn’t kiss!”

“And why was that again? Was it because you didn’t want to, or was it because a security guard called?”

Emma hung her head.

“That’s what I thought,” Avery said. “Did you want to kiss her?”

Emma closed her eyes. Nodded.

“Do you still?”

Emma cracked one eye open. “Your soup’s going to bubble over.”

Avery went back to the stove to stir the soup and let Emma get away with not answering. “So let me get this straight. You’re telling me that Jo Jones yelled at her father about how great you are, about how you’re the only reason she gets through most days, and then you almost kissed her, and you’re claiming this isn’t a big deal?”

“Well, see—”

“No,” Avery said. “There is no ‘well, see’ here. You almost kissed her! You would’ve if you weren’t interrupted! Right?”

Emma picked at her fingernails. “Right.”

“Yeah. That’s a big deal.”

It wasn’t. It didn’t matter. Jo was dating Evelyn and that was fine; Emma was fine with it. It didn’t matter that she’d wanted to kiss Jo then, wanted to kiss her still. What she really wanted was to go back to her normal relationship with Jo, like over the summer, where they got along and made each other laugh and worked together well. Where Jo didn’t think she had a crush on her. Where there was none of this awkwardness. Where Emma wasn’t so damn unsure about everything.

“It’s not that big of a deal,” she said. “I’m just worried because after Evelyn left, Jo told me we could make my promotion official as soon as I hired the replacement, even if it was before midseason. Like the promotion was because she was trying to get rid of me instead of because I deserved it.”

Avery gaped at her. “Emma, she decided on this promotion at the end of last season. It has nothing to do with you guys almost kissing.”

Emma shrugged. “Plus, we’re going on this trip and—I don’t want things to be awkward, is all. I want things to be normal again.”

Avery kept staring at her for a moment. Then she shook her head and put rolls in the oven.

“And what’s normal?” she asked.

“Like this summer,” Emma said. “When it was easy.”

“So normal is you guys getting along so well people think you’re dating?” Avery said. She seasoned the soup.

“No,” Emma said immediately. “No, that’s not what I mean.”

“It kind of sounds like that’s what you mean.”

Emma leaned her elbows on Avery’s kitchen island and dropped her head into her hands.

“I just want things to be easy,” she said. “I don’t want to have to worry about all of this.”

“Things aren’t always easy, Em,” Avery said. “Especially when you’re taking steps forward.”

“I’m not taking steps forward with Jo.” Emma paused, then grumbled, “Especially not since she has a girlfriend.”

“I meant that you’re moving on to a new job, but way to be totally not convincing about not wanting to date Jo,” Avery said, and Emma cringed. “You’re moving to a new job and Jo is moving to a new show, and that’s going to make things different and weird between you and Jo, even if you hadn’t almost kissed.”

Emma rested her chin in one hand and looked up at her sister.

“You’ve got a work trip,” Avery said. “Focus on work.”

“And just ignore the almost kiss?” Emma asked quietly.