Page 101 of Charm City Rocks
“Is this…?” Billy asks.
She nods.
Lawson Daniels clears his throat on Robyn’s voicemail inbox. “Back in your car, after you almost killed the both of us, you asked if you could record me saying what I said. I thought about it, and that was quite cute, as far as requests go. So, listen up, love, I’m gonna do my best. I was riffing before, so forgive me if the details are a bit dodgy.”
“Am I about to hear something I shouldn’t be—”
“No,” she says. “It’s not like that. Well, mostly not.”
Billy braces himself. “He really does have a good voice, though, doesn’t he? It’s the accent.”
Robyn bends her straw in half. “I know, right?”
Lawson’s voice is so deep that the little phone speaker vibrates against Billy’s earlobe. “Robyn, you, my dear, are quite lovely,” he says. “Beautiful, in fact. Okay, now I’ll skip the part where we said mean things about Billy’s jumpers, and that bit about Aaron’s hair. No sense in rehashing all that, right? You are capable and smart and accomplished, and you, love, need a couple of middle-aged blokes from Baltimore about as much as a fish needs a bloody Jet Ski. Got it? Now, allow me to go off script for a moment. I’m really quite good at improvisational performance. Lotta people don’t know that. Anyway, I’ve been thinking about your lips for the better part of a month now. Hands down the best snog I’ve had in ages. If I could go back, maybe I wouldn’t have jetted off quite asfast as I did. A few more minutes with you…well, anyway, maybe another time. All right, love. Best to you and yours. Tell Billy and your freakishly tall child hello for me. Cheers now.”
Billy looks at the screen; the message is over. “Did you make out with Lawson?”
Her hands are on her cheeks,Home Alone–style. “Yeah.”
“When? Where?”
“I gave him a ride to the airport, remember? He kissed me in my car.”
Billy laughs—stunned, but also overjoyed by the harmless scandal of it. “Wait, what did you say about my sweaters?”
“Um, don’t you think maybe they’re a bit much?”
Billy looks at their beers and waters, sweating between them. “Well, shit. That hurts my feelings.”
“Don’t take it personally,” says Robyn. “It’s summer now anyway.”
“How’d he even get your number?”
“No idea,” she whispers. “Famous-person powers.”
“The Illuminati?”
They laugh so much that the table next to them looks over. “She kissed Lawson Daniels,” Billy tells them, and Robyn slaps his arm.
“Sorry,” she says. “My friend is drunk.”
“She lies,” Billy tells them. “Chronically. It’s sad.”
Billy and Robyn laugh together some more. Billy scans for Caleb, because he’s been gone longer than a trip to the restroom at a seafood restaurant should take. “Where the hell is he? Our food’s gonna be out soon.”
“So, yeah,” says Robyn. “We’ve both kissed celebrities. Score for us, right?”
Billy tries to keep smiling, but the reference to Margot is a dash of cold water.
“Sorry,” Robyn says. “I’m dumb. I just—”
“No, come on. You made out with an Oscar nominee. You’re allowed to be happy.”
Their waiter drops off rolls.
“You’re allowed to be happy, too, you know,” Robyn says.
Billy has been enjoying the newfound ease between them since Aaron moved out and Margot went back to New York. They feel like actual friends now instead of people who are just trying to make something work. He holds out his hands, palms up. “What?” he asks. “Who’s happier than me, right?”
