10. Jo

Playlist: Homesick (with Sam Fender) | Noah Kahan, Sam Fender

Jo: hey

Leo: what

Jo: i talked to nic

Leo: okay well it wasn’t as bad as she made it sound

Jo: did you cry when she yelled at you

Leo: there’s nothing shameful about crying!

Leo: please don’t tell mom and dad ??

Jo: i’m holding on to it until i need something from you

Leo: fuck that’s even worse

Jo: oh, i know ??

By the time I leave the brownstone, I’m already five minutes late for lunch. This doesn’t bode well for me—Kelsey does not like tardiness.

After that weird little love fest with my sister and her boyfriend, I find myself thinking about Hunter for some reason. I haven’t talked to her for four days, since I came home early. When I’m home, she’s usually hidden away in the library editing, or out on a shoot. But yesterday, I came home to a clean kitchen and an India Holton paperback with a 3 post-its listing her thoughts stuck crookedly to the cover. This morning, it was an Eva Leigh mass market. It made me smile; she’s uses a pink pen and an abundance of hearts and exclamation points.

As I walk to the bistro, I pull my phone out of my pocket to text her my own thoughts on the two books, but am surprised to see she’s called multiple times in the past few minutes.

I start to type out a quick response as I approach the restaurant, but when I look up, my eyes meet a pair of blue eyes I know all too well. Kelsey and Becky sit at a table facing the window, and while Becky is looking at the menu, Kelsey is looking right at me. I inhale shakily and drop my phone into my tote, deciding to text Hunter back later.

As I walk to their table, I realize this place is out of my price range. The waitstaff wears crisp white button downs with a vest and tie, and they carry plates with the tiniest portions. But Becky, Ms. “Comes From Old Money,” is paying.

Now I can’t help but wonder how much Kelsey’s ring cost. When I proposed, I had saved for months—okay, one month, which is months in lesbian time—to afford a ring off Etsy. She’d seemed to love it, gushing over how much it meant and how sentimental it was…but maybe sentimental wasn’t as good as I thought. I knew she liked nice things, but I genuinely thought she liked me more.

“Jo!” Kelsey waves from the table, the light dancing off her gaudy ring. I try to smile, but it’s pained. Her engagement ring, at least two carats, is a stabbing reminder of what she wanted, and who I was never able to be.

Becky is a two carat diamond, and I’m a random ring off Etsy.

I nervously wave back, careful to avoid waiters and trays as I make my way to the table. I can do this. I can do this. I can—

“You’re late.” Kelsey scowls at me, tapping her perfectly manicured fingers on the table. “I hope it won’t happen again. You wouldn’t want us to dock your pay for tardiness.”

I try to swallow, but my throat is too dry. “Right, I’m sorry. It won’t happen again.”

Becky looks up from the menu and playfully elbows her fiancée. “She’s kidding, right babe?”

Kelsey laughs, the same way she used to laugh at my jokes. “Right. I’m just so excited to get to work.” She claps her hands together, the noise echoing in the buzzing restaurant.

“Is someone else joining us for lunch?” I ask, motioning to the place setting next to me with my head.

Suddenly, both sets of eyes are on me from across the table. Kelsey’s eyes sparkle in a way passersby will call playful. But I know her, and that sparkle is mischief. “Jo freaking Quinn,” she says, Cheshire Cat grin in place, too. “Why didn’t you tell us your new girlfriend is Hunter Cleary?”

I understand all of those words individually, but not put together. “Huh?”

“We booked Hunter Cleary as our photographer, and imagine our surprise when she arrived—” Becky begins to say.

“On time,” Kelsey interjects, and I wince.

Becky shushes her, waving her hand dismissively. “Imagine our surprise when she arrived and we told her you were our event planner…and she wondered why you hadn’t told her.”

Hunter ? My girlfriend ?

I laugh nervously. “Hunter Cleary?”

Kelsey nods, her smile unwavering. “Mmhmm. We were taken off guard when Hunter referred to you as her roommate.”

I want to forget the way my full name sounds in her mouth. When Hunter says it, it’s warm tea and sunbeams. When Kelsey says it, it’s like I’m being pelted with hail. She, like my mother, only used my full name when she was upset.

“Snookums! There you are!” The very second Hunter’s southern accent cuts through the tension, I feel my entire body somehow tense and relax at the same time. I jump up from my chair and spin to face her.

She’s wearing a hot pink sundress with white cowboy boots, blonde curls flowing over her shoulders as she walks towards me. She’s beaming, and unlike Kelsey’s smile, hers meets her eyes. I feel boring as hell in my black suit. I only wear eyeliner and mascara, but her signature pink gloss makes me want to try a signature color, too.

She’s so unapologetically Hunter, and it makes my chest ache. She’s all woman, and somehow still the girl I loved so long ago. How she is able to harness both is beyond me.

But then I remember where I am, where we are. That she’s at my business lunch and that Becky and Kelsey think we’re dating.

My hands begin to tremble, and my throat is dry. “Hunter,” I somehow manage to croak, feeling the color drain from my face.

She steps towards me, my back to the table, and then reaches out and cups my face between her hands. “I’m going to kiss right next to your mouth,” she whispers. “It’ll look real to them, okay?”

I stare at her silently, because what the hell am I supposed to say in response to that?

“Okay?” she prompts. “I’m not doing it until you consent, but we need to move fast if you want it to be believable.”

What the fuck is happening right now.

I nod, feeling like my brain’s lost connection to my body. “Okay,” I whisper back.

Hunter leans into me, lips brushing softly at the corner of my mouth before pressing firmly to my skin.

Her lips are soft and pillowy, and I fight the urge to turn my face to find out if she still tastes like bubblegum and tequila, the way she did during our first kiss.

After a few seconds, she pulls away. It had to have only been a few seconds, though it felt so much longer.

And yet, it felt too short, too. This woman is turning my existence into a walking contradiction. “Hey,” she says, smiling up at me. “Surprise, baby.”

Surprise, indeed.

Hunter is here. At my business lunch with my ex-fiancée and her current fiancée–my clients.

What the fuck .

“I didn’t realize that surprising you would put you into shock,” she says with a wink as she pulls out my chair for me. “Sit down.”

I obey, trying to avoid looking at Kelsey and Becky, but it’s hard when I can feel them staring at us.

“You two are so sweet together!” Becky squeals, clapping her hands together.

“I didn’t realize you knew Jo would be here,” Kelsey says to Hunter. Her voice has changed, but I can’t put my finger on it.

Hunter scoffs as she sits beside me. “You didn’t realize that I know where my girlfriend is on a Sunday afternoon?” She nudges my leg with her knee under the table, subtly motioning to her lap with her head. Her phone is unlocked and open to a list on the notes app.

-We met as teenagers, reunited at Tyler & Nellie’s wedding and have been dating since.

-We decided I’d move in when Nic moved in with Josh

-I like being spanked. This might be TMI and not matter but my god your ex has already asked me weirdly invasive questions, and I wouldn’t be surprised if she quizzes us on our sex life.

-We’ll talk more after.

-You got this, snookums. ??

I swallow and look back up, where Becky and Kelsey are looking at me expectantly across the table. “Huh?”

“I was just saying, snookums, I didn’t realize Kelsey was your ex.” Hunter takes my hand in hers and squeezes gently. It feels like I grabbed a livewire, heat and sparks running through my entire body. I want to pull away, to run away from all of this.

“That’s why I was confused when that was the first thing she mentioned about you. I know how much you love surprises, so I didn’t tell you we were working together. Your surprised face is the cutest ever.” She widens her eyes and opens her mouth, recreating my surprised face, I suppose.

“I’m just…confused that Jo didn’t tell you we dated,” Kelsey says in that same, unidentifiable tone. Hunter squeezes my hand tighter, and I can feel her tense as well. It’s strange how this comforts me. Not her discomfort or unhappiness, but the shared tension at Kelsey’s words. It makes it a little less lonely.

Kelsey takes a sip of water just as Hunter speaks again. “Oh, I mean…it’s not like you two were engaged or anything, right? She’d mentioned a recent fling that she regretted. I didn’t realize it was you!”

I stare at Hunter as Kelsey chokes on her water. Hunter smiles sweetly and brushes a drop of water from her cheek. “Have y’all ever tried escargot?” Hunter asks casually, picking up the menu.

After a minute or so, Kelsey is able to speak coherently. “I didn’t…Giovanna Quinn, should you be eating that? Doesn’t it have too many carbs?”

I freeze, the dinner roll I’d gotten for myself halfway to my mouth, face reddening.

“What did you say to her?” Hunter asks, voice rough and ragged. Gone is the sickly sweet smile, and it’s replaced by glaring eyes and pursed lips. Her cheeks are pink and she looks pissed .

Holy fuck. Hunter’s always hot, but angry Hunter is really something else.

“I asked if she should be eating those carbs.” Kelsey’s eyes are shooting daggers at Hunter, and for the first time, I realize how similar the two of them look. Blue eyed and blonde, though Kelsey’s a natural brunette. What the fuck did Hunter Cleary do to me all those years ago that made my type specifically women who look like her?

“She has diabetes, if you didn’t know. I didn’t see her check her blood sugar,” Kelsey continues.

“Of course I know she has diabetes. But maybe the question should be whether or not you should be eating your roll.” Hunter says cooly.

“I’m not diabetic,” Kelsey responds, a forced smile plastered on her face.

“Oh, with the way you were talking about it, I assumed you were just projecting your own issues onto Jo. Do you make a habit of policing your vendors’ food choices?”

“Of course we don’t!” Becky answers. “Kelsey didn’t mean harm, she’s just looking out for Jo’s health.”

“Jo’s an adult who manages her own diabetes. She knows her body and making comments on what she decides goes into her body is both ableist and fatphobic. What a shame.” Hunter pouts. “I’d hate for Coffey & Co’s business to suffer because you allow your employees to treat vendors this way.”

I stare at her as the following silence echoes around us. Holy shit. Hunter is more than sparkles and glitter and soft, fluffy things. She’s a goddamn firework. Fuck with her in the wrong way, and she’s an explosion capable of destruction.

I look at Kelsey, and know she’s holding back her anger. I can tell she wants to snap, and so can Becky.

“Babe, can we talk?” Becky says, getting to her feet.

Kelsey is silent as she stands and follows Becky toward the restrooms.

Hunter drops my hand and I flex mine, the absence of her touch jarring.

“You could read the note?” Hunter stage whispers, rotating her torso so she’s facing me.

“Yeah…what the fuck is happening right now?”

“I never got a chance to apologize for what I said and I wanted to make things right. So I said we were dating.”

“Back up.” I am so confused by this whole situation. “How did you know I was planning their wedding?”

She shrugs, staring at her hands as she picks at her peeling sparkly silver nail polish. “I didn’t. They reached out to me about shooting the wedding and, hell, I had no idea you worked for Becky. When I emailed you for Nellie and Tyler’s wedding, I thought you worked for yourself. Your email address didn’t say anything different.”

It’s true. I’d taken on Nellie and Tyler’s wedding as a side project because I liked them so much.

Hunter continues rambling. “And they said they liked my work, and asked me to photograph the events leading up to the wedding, and I had no reason to say no. Then she mentioned you were their coordinator when I got here, and I got excited and told them you’re my roommate and Kelsey was all like ‘you’re dating my ex?’ and I didn’t know what to say so I said yes.”

She inhales sharply and my brain spirals in an attempt to keep up with her rapidfire info dumping before she piles on even more. “I knew she must have reason to think we were dating, and I had a feeling I should just agree, especially considering she’s your awful ex and I tried to call you but you didn’t answer and I wrote the note in the bathroom so we would be on the same chapter, if not on the same page—”

“God,” I groan, sinking low in my chair and rubbing my hands over my face. “This is a fucking mess.”

“I’m sorry,” Hunter apologizes, and I peek at her through my fingers. She looks so defeated, and it makes my heart hurt a little. I miss Firecracker Hunter.

“It’s my fault, not yours. When they offered the gig, I realized the payment would be enough to get a fresh start and start the firm I’d always wanted to. Then Kelsey referred to our engagement as a fling, and I realized Becky doesn’t know we were engaged because we hadn’t disclosed it at work. God, I don’t know why I said it, but I said my girlfriend had moved in, and your name was the first I thought of. I didn’t think it would ever matter.”

Hunter’s quiet for a moment, and her silence is unnerving as hell. “That makes sense,” she says.

I peer through my fingers again. “No, it fucking doesn’t.”

She’s staring at her hands clasped in her lap, and shrugs her shoulders. “Maybe not, but I get it. Do you want to tell her the truth?”

I think about when I met with Kelsey and Becky about planning their wedding. How easily Kelsey had referred to me as a fling, as nothing . The way my heart hurt so fucking badly that I hoped it would stop beating altogether.

“What do you think?” I ask. “I didn’t mean to rope you into this, but I did. This isn’t just about me anymore and it involves and impacts you.”

“I don’t like her.” Hunter looks at me, blue eyes clear as the ocean. She has an intense look on her face, but it makes me feel safe. Secure. I slowly lower my hands from my face, keeping my eyes on her. “Kelsey. She’s…I don’t know. I get a bad feeling about her, and I’m never really wrong about these things. I hate how she makes you feel, so if you can use her to get what you need, do it.” She bites her lip, and I can see the wheels turning in her head.

“You can say it,” I encourage.

Her brow furrows. “Say what?”

“Whatever it is you’re currently trying to decide whether or not you should say.”

She blushes. “I’m that obvious?”

“Maybe just to me. Because, you know. We’re roommates.”

Hunter giggles. “Speaking of, Kelsey asked why I referred to you as my roommate, and I told her it was an inside joke about women from history who were obviously lovers but historians refer to as roommates. Just so you know.”

I can’t help but smile. “I like that.”

“Anyway, I’m just going to say it, and I’m so sorry in advance if it’s harmful. But I don’t think you see it.”

“See what?”

“Kelsey’s power over you. She knows the impact she has on you, and she revels in it. She likes watching you scramble to appease her and saying things that make you second guess yourself and feel ashamed. Like that bread shit?” She scoffs and rolls her eyes, leaning towards me. “ That’s why she can never know the truth, and why you need to run as soon as this is over and never look back.”

I stare at her, speechless. Nic and Josh insinuated the same thing, but I thought they were biased. Hunter has no reason to say this to me, not when I’m certain Kelsey and Becky are offering her a pretty penny.

“Thank you,” I whisper hoarsely. “I think I needed to hear that.”

Hunter reaches out and takes my hand in hers again, squeezing in such a comforting way it makes me want to never break contact. “I know.” Her voice is soft, kind. “You deserve the truth, Jo, even when it’s painful. I hate that it isn’t the norm for you, hearing the truth.”

“So you want to pretend we’re dating? You’d do that for me?” I ask, wanting to clarify that we’re actually continuing with this bizarre plan.

“Of course I would.” She blinks at me, and then blushes the prettiest shade of magenta. “I mean…it doesn’t really matter to me, and it’ll help you. So why not.”

I have a list of reasons why we shouldn’t do this. We should come clean and I should quit my job and change my name and run away.

“Okay,” I say, swallowing.

She sticks her hand out. “Fabulous. They’re coming back, so act quickly.”

I take her hand in mine, pushing away the sparks that feel like they’re igniting my entire body.

She pulls me in and presses her lips to my cheek.

“So sorry about that,” Becky says as she and Kelsey take their seats across from us at the table.

I look at Hunter out of the corner of my eye as she crosses her arms over her chest. “I assume we aren’t expected to tolerate discrimination if we sign the contracts?” Hunter isn’t playing around, she’s getting right to business.

“Absolutely not.” Kelsey smiles that same empty smile. “I apologize for my lack of professionalism.”

“It wasn’t only unprofessional,” Hunter fires back. “It was discrimination, which is illegal. How am I supposed to trust that you’ll treat my girlfriend and I with the respect we deserve?”

“Hun…gah!” I yelp in pain as she digs the heel of her boot into my foot. No one else at the table seems to notice.

“I just want to know what you’ll be doing to make this a safe and healthy work environment, and what you’ll do to earn our trust,” Hunter clarifies.

What is she doing? I told her I needed this money and she’s going to ruin everything and…

“I apologized,” Kelsey bites. All pretenses of a smile are gone and she’s back to scowling at Hunter. “What else do you want me to do?”

“Prove your apology isn’t empty. To be completely honest, the fact you’re fighting against this shows me that you aren’t taking what I said seriously and I don’t see a need stay any longer,” Hunter says, standing from her chair and holding her hand out to me. “Come on, snookums.”

“We’ll increase your compensation. Both of you,” Becky says, standing also. “Name your price.”

“Fifty percent increase. Each,” Hunter says smoothly, sitting back down and reaching for another dinner roll.

“You have yourself a deal,” Becky agrees, returning to her own seat as well. Kelsey’s eyes dart between the three of us. I avert my gaze and look at Hunter, who happily butters her roll before taking a bite. The butter smudges on her lip, and the tip of her tongue sneaks out and licks it away.

Why the hell is Hunter Cleary cleaning butter off her lips so hot?

“Fantastic,” she says while I leer at her mouth. “Can we expect updated contracts by the end of the day tomorrow?”

“Absolutely,” Becky promises. “Again, thank you for your understanding.”

“Of course.” Hunter’s mouth is full of dinner roll. She turns to me and grabs my hand, which is tightly clenching the napkin on my lap, before swallowing loudly. “Giovanna was telling me the other day how happy she was that her ex was able to move on. I just want to support Kelsey’s efforts.” She winks at me, and that’s when it hits me.

Hunter Lillian Cleary is a mastermind.

God, that’s hot.