Hidden in the Blood: A Novel of the Terribly Acronymed Detective Club (Book 5)

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Joe, Wednesday

"No question. You're my favourite person, aside from Lauren."

She blinked at him for a few seconds before saying, "What about Joanie?"

Yes. What about Joanie? He sighed in resignation and said, "She never even texted me back after I sent her the information Lauren had about the car. I think I've damaged our relationship irrevocably with that slip-up."

She smirked and said, "Because of me, you mean."

He closed his eyes and massaged them with his fingers through the lids. He didn't want to have this conversation, but in hindsight it was probably unavoidable.

"Lauren must trust you and me quite a lot to leave us alone together," she said as if reading his mind. "Or, maybe she recognizes that she has a lot of scale balancing to do after what she did with Al."

He chuckled and said, "Maybe a little of both."

"Unlike Lauren, I'm not looking to jump the bones of my best friend's spouse any time I get the chance."

"Darn," he said.

"You're terrible!" she bellowed, but she was smiling. "Were you really hoping we'd take this opportunity to steal some time together?"

He shrugged sheepishly and said, "Maybe not hoping... just... open to the possibility if it was offered."

She crossed her arms and said, "Meaning I'd have to make the first move."

"I'd never want to make you uncomfortable, and I think I'd be doing that if I tried to initiate anything. Aside from those two times, we've never done anything out of the bounds of our friendship."

"And both times were in rather weird and extreme circumstances."

"Yeah, but you have to admit they were both pretty good."

"Ha," she barked. She was blushing, though, and Joe realized this situation was getting dangerous.

Then she said something that surprised him. "Joanie visited Al on Monday and told him what we'd done."

He felt the blood drain from his face. "Oh." It was all he felt capable of saying.

She concentrated on unpacking more as she said, "Al told me this while we were walking him around his room. Do you want to know what else he said?"

"What?"

"That if I wanted to be with you again, he wouldn't stand in my way."

He cleared his throat as he felt himself swelling. "I see," he said.

"It just about broke my heart," she said. "I know he's only saying that to make up for what he's done."

"I guess he must be confident in your devotion to him if he'd allow you to be with me again."

"I guess. I mean, I was just as confident in his, and he's still with me." She looked up and said, "What's happening to us? Are we all just going to sleep around with no consequences?"

"I don't know. If you'd asked me that a few months ago I would have said no. You remember how angry I was when you confessed what you and Lauren got up to with Al."

"I do. Then what happened a few weeks ago happened."

"And suddenly no one has any moral high ground anymore. Except maybe Sunny, since he's about the only one of us who hasn't cheated on his spouse. Even Tej can't say that, although it doesn't seem as bad because it was with you and Lauren."

"Poor Sunny," Rachel said. "So deprived."

"He confessed to me at the hockey game last week that he has crushes on both of you. That was a bit of a surprise, considering he has Tej."