“Need more comforting,” he says.

“That’s what I’m here for.” She gives his hand a squeeze and situates herself so she’s facing him too, pulling her legs up on the seat and readjusting her seatbelt.

“I can’t stop thinking about what you said earlier.” His voice is a soft rumble of concern. “When you called yourself a selfish monster.”

“Ah no, don’t do that.”

“You don’t strike me as a liar, but you can’t honestly think that’s true.”

“Shows what you know. I lie all the time.”

“Not about that.”

Self-loathing is sneaky. Even on her best days, when Joy is positive she’s a long-lost goddess, there’s no outrunning how awful she can feel about herself.

She shakes her head, then exhales into a sigh. “I don’t like yelling at people, period. Yelling at Malcolm feels like I’m committing some unforgivable crime. It’s hard to explain. I guess, part of me feels like I’m not allowed to get mad at him. Because if I do, then I’ll lose him.”

There’s no expression to read on Fox’s face when he says, “That’s, uh, an interesting way of looking at it.”

“I said it was hard to explain.” Joy chuckles darkly. “Grace says I’m hung up on some self-inflicted morality clause and if that’s all it takes for Malcolm to leave me, then I shouldn’t be with him in the first place.”

“Hmm.” His brows come together. “I take it Grace and Malcolm don’t like each other much?”

“I think they do,” Joy says, nodding. “But as we got older, they started growing apart. Grace thinks he’s all wrong for me, same as how you think he’s wrong for Summer.”

“Hmm.”

“She hates that I’m just ‘waiting around for him’ instead of living my life or whatever.”

“Hmm.” Fox breathes deeply, gaze drifting from Joy to the window. His attention isn’t on her anymore. She has a feeling he’s chasing after his runaway thoughts.

Joy waits patiently for him to come back, taking note of every movement he makes. A quick bite of his lower lip. A slow blink. A nose scrunch. A scratch of his chin.

When did people watching become so fascinating? She’s never been shy, but she can’t remember the last time she purposefully paid this much attention to one person before. Does it always feel like this or is Fox just a special case?

“Would you ever consider dating someone else?” Fox is still looking out the window.

“I have,” Joy reminds him. “I am.”

Her answer captures his attention. All his focus is hers again. Fox laughs, short and breathy. “I meant for real. Do you think that’s something you’d ever be interested in?”