Felix grinned shyly. “Not really. I don’t hit people. Just a punching bag in the basement.”
“Still cool.”
“Thank you.”
In the lull that followed, Jo and Felix did nothing more than stare at each other.
“You kids about done?”
Jo jumped. She’d forgotten Peggy was here.
Felix tapped his phone screen. “Fuck,” he muttered, then he raised his voice. “Packing up now, Peg—sorry! Sorry to you too, Jo. I kept you five minutes over.”
“That was friend time,” she replied, “not work time.”
“Except for Peggy.”
“Yeah, oops,” Jo said, shoving books and dice into her tote. “Thank you again for doing that. It, um, it means a lot.”
“Peggy’s good people.”
You are too. Jo barely had time to bite back the words. Maybe she shouldn’t have. Maybe it would have been a nice, friendly compliment. But it felt way too intimate a thing to say to someone she’d spent less than three hours with, during which she’d mostly talked his ear off about Monsters and Mythology. So she held the words inside, where they settled, warm and solid and true, near her heart.
He let her go ahead of him into the lobby, where Peggy was standing near the door, library key in one hand and car key in the other.
“Thanks for staying, Peggy,” Jo said. “You don’t have to next week, though. I feel comfortable here.” Out of the corner of her eye, she watched a gratified smile appear on Felix’s face.
“Are you sure, honey?” Peggy said. “I really don’t mind. I’m just starving. I can bring dinner next time, and I’ll be less inclined to holler.” She winked.
Unable to stop herself, Jo glanced over at Felix. “I’m sure.”
Later that evening, Jo curled up on the couch in her one-bedroom apartment on the top floor of a fourplex. She was in her pajamas, aimlessly scrolling through random videos and posts on her phone, while Merry, her brown tabby, snoozed on her feet. Her ankle was quirked at a weird angle, but she knew better than to disturb a sleeping cat. If she’d thought ahead, she could have grabbed her library book off the nightstand—the one Leni had recommended to her. But she hadn’t thought ahead and, again, sleeping cat. She was trapped.
Bored of cycling through the same three social media apps, she switched over to her texts. Aida was out with her fiancé, Trey, tonight, so Jo pulled up the dormant group text with her California MnM group. The group included Aida, of course, but hopefully someone else would be around to respond.
Jo
*taps mic* Is this thing on?
I miss you guys.
Kim
OMG, Jo!
How are you???
Heather
Joooooooo
Max
hey
Jo
I’m good! Bored. Not much of a Friday night scene around here.
Young
Oh, cool, so you only check in with us after A MONTH because you’re bored. Love you too.
J/K, moving sucks and it’s always busier than you think it’ll be.
David
Hi, Jo. Miss you. We’re starting up the new campaign next week. Mind if I pick your brain about GMing some time? I don’t know how you did this much prep every week.
Jo
It’s a lot! It’s easier once things get rolling. But yeah, text me any time!
Max
speaking of mnm
INDI-CON
