“They do better when I am there though. And helping them with accounting is icing on the cake. I’m getting experience.”
Jay sighed. “Investment and accounting aren’t the same and you know it.”
I didn’t argue, just shrugged. “I go there once a week. That’s not that much.”
“I’m just saying you don’t have to take all that on by yourself. You don’t owe them—”
I glared at him. “I know I don’t owe anyone anything.”
He waited a beat. “You want me to go with you next week?”
I sighed. “You have your premiere and need to be in LA. They don’t expect to see you.”
He leaned toward me, a small smile playing on his lips. “You could come to LA, shack up with me, and leave this shit behind.”
I rolled my eyes because he’d made the offer more than once. Jay would keep me under his wing as long as he could if I let him. “Yeah, I think I’ll pass.”
His jaw ticked and he leaned back on the couch. “I hate I can’t be here with you. This shit with Rome and my brother makes it infinitely worse. You could just move to LA for a while.”
That was it for him as he grabbed the remote and turned the TV on. He wanted the conversation over, and it could be because we’d shared our thoughts on everything before.
It was the best and worst thing about having a best friend who knew you better than anyone. I knew he was thinking I should avoid them both like the plague. He knew I was thinking about how to overcome everything, how to get along with them and how to move on.
“Jay,” I sighed as I grabbed the remote and turned the TV back off. “Rome’s always going to be around.”
“So.” He didn’t look at me.
“So, we slept together. We’re still good friends and no one is hurt.”
Over the years, I’d learned to see past this facade. No one else would notice the way his eyes squinted just a little and his shoulders bunched slightly before he spoke. “Define ‘slept,’ Brey. Are you still sleeping with him, or is it done?”
“Honestly,” I threw my hands up. “I don’t know. With your little tantrum tonight, it’s probably done.”
He sucked in air through his teeth. “We both know that wasn’t a tantrum. That was me handling it extremely well.”
“Oh, please.”
His lopsided smirk was back. “I deserve a damn Academy Award for how well I acted through that one.”
“Your acting was subpar. If Matthew McConaughey isn’t getting an award for How to Lose a Guy in Ten Days, you aren’t getting one for tonight either.”
Jay’s smile turned up a notch. “Have I told you lately that I miss that nice little lady that you were back in high school?”
“I miss the nice little boy who didn’t expect Academy Awards for nothing.”
He walked around the counter slowly toward me. “You’re going to pay for that, Sass Pot.”
I jumped up, circling around the couch to put it between us. I made it about two steps before he’d grabbed me around the waist and hauled me back.
I fought him, laughing my butt off. “Let me go, you idiot!”
“Nope. Apologize!” He demanded as he threw me back on the couch and walloped me with a throw pillow.
I ducked and laughed harder, shaking my head no.
He sideswiped me and whacked me again. “I’m the best actor you’ve ever known. Say it.”
I grabbed another throw pillow, scrambled upright and swatted him the best I could before he plowed me with another swing. “Well, since you’re the only one I actually know—”