Page 37 of A Ballad of Betrayal and Beauty

“Hey!” I hear, then Joel emerges from around the corner with something small bundled in his arms. “Look what I found.”

He jogs over to me with that bright smile.

“Check it out.”

Leaning in, he shows me what he went down the alley for.

“Oh my god,” I gasp, rushing toward him and the rumpled orange fluff ball. “Stella? How the hell did you get outside?”

Joel passes her to me, and my panic is instantly soothed by the fact he found her. I look up at the window she normally occupies and see that the screen has popped off at the corner. “Shit!” I brush leaves out of her long fur. “Oh, Stella, what were you thinking?”

“Seems like she didn’t want to go far. She must really love you.”

Joel looks up at me then, and I know this is it. If I let him leave, he won’t come back. He’ll move on and I’ll forever regret that I wasn’t brave enough to give him a chance.

You can do this. You can trust—one more time.

“Joel?” I ask.

“Yeah?”

I pull Stella tighter toward me for strength. “I-I . . .”Just say it.“Could you help me upstairs? The screen needs to be fixed so she doesn’t escape again.”

He raises his eyebrows. “Upstairs?”

“To my apartment.”

“Oh, uh . . . okay.”

I nod, tilting back on my heels. “Come on.”

There’s a small alcove tucked into the side of the building that leads to a staircase, and I lead Joel up past the front door to the laundromat. I pull my keys from my bag and open the door before heading up.

“Must be nice to only have to go downstairs to do your laundry,” Joel admits when we reach my apartment.

“Why do you think I picked this place?”

He smiles, and I can’t help but mirror it back.

I open the door, and Stella immediately jumps from my arms and shakes out her fur, dust and dirt scattering onto the floor. She meows loudly, then looks at me, as if to sayI thought you weren’t going to bring this boy home, you hypocrite.

“This is Stella,” I say, shutting the door behind me. “I found her in the same alley six months ago.”

Joel chuckles. “Hey, naughty girl, it’s nice to meet you. I love that name, by the way.”

I raise my eyebrow. “Stella?”

He chuckles. “Yeah. It’s one of my favorite movie lines. You know—” He dramatically reaches out his arm with a pained expression. “Stella . . .Stella!”

Be still my heart. “You’ve seenA Streetcar Named Desire?”

“Yeah, of course.”

A wide grin takes over my face. “It’s one of my favorite movies.”

He smirks. Damn him and that smirk. “The, uh . . . the window is just over there,” I say, pointing toward my bed, becauseof coursethe window I need fixing is right beside my bed.

Okay, just keep yourself together. He’s just here to help me fix the screen.

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