Money Hungry //joshler [✔️]

eighteen

josh is gone by the time tyler wakes up in the morning. he had searched the whole house for him, only to be let down. the brunette brushes it off, probably something urgent that he didn't have time to tell tyler about. or maybe he just didn't want to wake him up. either way, tyler decides not to worry about it and instead goes to check in on billie.

"knock, knock," he says, peeking in her room.

"oh, hey," she says, glancing in his direction before returning to the task of brushing her hair. "good morning."

"good morning," tyler repeats, shutting the door as he joins her inside. "how'd you sleep?"

"good, way better than i would've otherwise."

"good," he smiles. "can i ask you something?"

"yeah, sure."

"did hayley say anything else about me after i left last night?" he can't help but ask. it's been eating him from the inside out since last night.

"not much, really," billie admits. "she said something like you two were probably going to go fuck and that ashley and jenna are blind for not seeing the signs. she said there is something obviously going on between you but josh won't admit it."

"oh," tyler hums.

"be honest, tyler," she says, smirking. "what is going on?"

"we're..." tyler pauses, considering his options. either be honest and risk everyone finding out, or lie and play it safe. "we're friends with benefits, i guess."

it wasn't a total lie.

"doesn't that just make you feel like he's using you for sex? you're okay with that?"

it's not like that, tyler wants to say, but he can't so he simply says, "i mean, it's not really like that. i please him, he pleases me. i wouldn't keep doing it if i wasn't okay with it."

"yeah, that makes sense, sorry. it's just that hayley seemed totally convinced you guys were some secret thing."

tyler fakes a laugh. "josh? having feelings for someone? that sounds like a joke to me."

billie laughs along. "yeah, that's what i thought! he doesn't seem like the lovey-dovey type."

doesn't seem like it, but he is. josh acts all big and hard, but deep down he's just a big teddy bear. isn't that how a lot of men are, though? tyler wouldn't know, he's just a big teddy bear all of the time. he's been trying to be better at acting tough, though.

"trust me, he's not," tyler plays along. "he has his moments, but it's more caring than it is love."

"i think hayley's just jealous he cares about you more than he does her," she grins, elbowing him.

"probably," tyler rolls his eyes. "we've already lost two girls who acted out because they were jealous. hopefully she isn't as stupid as them. anyway, i think i'm supposed to train you today. i'm not really sure, because josh isn't here, but debby taught me on my first day."

"debby?"

"one of the girls we lost," he explains. "so anyway, how long have you been doing this?"