For a split second, something unreadable flickered in Jeffrey's gaze. Then…
"Pfft."
He spit-laughed. Right in her face.
Joanne blinked, momentarily stunned, before her brain caught up to the utter audacity of it.
"You should've see your face!" Jeffrey choked out between wheezes, doubling over with laughter.
Joanne smacked his chest—hard.
"Dumbass!" she barked, wiping her face furiously on his shirt. "You spit on me, dumbass!"
He only laughed harder, his deep voice vibrating against her as she huffed in indignation.
"I knew you didn't mean it that way," he said, his tone softer now as his arms came around her again. This time, his fingers threaded into her hair, cradling the back of her head in a way that made her breath catch.
And just like that, she understood.
He'd teased her.
Jeffrey teased her because he knew the woman he fell in love with.
