Funny Story

by Emily Henry

The corner of his mouth twitches. “Then why do I feel better?”

24 DAYS UNTIL THE READ-A-THON

And he is pretty lucky that night. He wins six hands. I win the game.

of last Wednesday night’s winnings—into the jar. “Jonah,” he puts in, without me asking. “Thanks, Jonah,” I say.

“You finally get to meet Starfire.”

He winces. “Want me to ask him to stick his head out the window?”

“I was an heiress on the Titanic,” Starfire explains. “And Jason was a handsome artist, but he was so, so poor. My social circles never would have approved. But we had a torrid affair, and he saved my life.”

“Excuse me,” Miles cuts in, smiling pleasantly. “Would you mind waiting to smoke until you’re outside?” He says it so warmly and naturally. He really does have a superpower.

Here are some beautiful flowers that reminded me of you; can I sleep on your couch?

“It was a really special day,” he murmurs, treading water in place, mouth turned down in a frown.

“Your parents,” he says. “Your dad and Starfire. They got a last-minute invitation to meet some friends up in Mackinac.”

That I’d fixed whatever’s so broken in me that I can’t be loved.

His fingers loosen. He steps back. “I called off. I thought you’d…” he trails off.

He studies me for a long beat. Then he leans back from the desk, letting his hands slide clear of it. “Yeah. Got it.” And then he’s gone. At least this time, I was the one to say goodbye first.

So when you turn me down, I have to figure out if you just don’t feel the same way, or if you think you’re doing me some kind of favor. And I never can.”

“This,” he says, “is my favorite beach.”

strip of them on the counter

His hand flutters into my hair as I take him in my mouth, a ragged sound scraping out of his throat.

I realize I’ve said it aloud when he answers. “You have no idea how badly I’ve wanted this, Daphne. How much I’ve needed you.”

His hands come up to cup my face, our bodies keeping pace. “I know,” he whispers. “I’ve got you.”

“You might have,” he says. “I blacked out for a few seconds in the middle there.”

You’re my roommate and my best friend and the woman I just slept with.”

Find someone new to be the cool, fun, laid-back one with.”

“You make the people you care about feel like…” He pauses. “Like you want all of them. Not just the good parts. And that’s terrifying to someone who’s spent a lifetime avoiding those other pieces of themselves.”

“I do,” I say. “I do want all those parts of you.” His eyes open, molten, warm. “Good,” he says. “They want you too.” Then he kisses me. It’s perfect. No, better than that. It’s every part of him, at once. “My room or yours?” I ask him. “Yours,” he says. “First, yours.”

When he pushes into me at last, I accidentally gasp “wow,” a new-to-me reaction to sex I expect to make him laugh.

Miles just nods as if agreeing, sneaks a hand under my neck, and kisses me again, so tenderly I could almost cry.

“Seriously, Daphne, don’t worry about it,” she says. “I knew you were a we-girl and now you’ve got a we. As the internet likes to say, when someone tells you who they are, believe them.”

It’s just an apartment. It’s never been mine.

Miles doesn’t come home that night.

half laugh. “So you got engaged to someone else?” He shakes his head. “We’re not together. We called it off.”

Trying to get back to how perfect we were together.”

“He already spent all day helping her move her shit out,” he says.

Oh im fucking crashing out

I don’t want to be a part of the wrong we. I’d rather be on my own, even if it hurts right now. Someday I’ll be okay, someday.

“I didn’t leave the state,” he says. “I woke up and—something came up. A friend needed help, and I lost track of time.” Something came up. A friend. Something better. Someone better. He’s not admitting who it was.

STOP FUCKING LYING FUCK

But I want him to say it. I want to push as hard as possible against all the bruises in my heart, until it changes me. Until I learn to stop fucking everything up.

Caught up. There will always be a Petra. Someone more interesting, someone more fun, someone who needs less, or offers more.

“Good!” he half shouts. “Expect something! You want to put me on a hook? Put me on the hook. I freaked out, Daphne, but that doesn’t mean I don’t love you.”