Page 233 of Ruthless Court

Kane: Stop wearing them. I like them.

My pulse misbehaves.

Lila reads over my shoulder.

“He likes the glasses.”

I turn the phone facedown.

“I’m still burning them.”

Noor picks up her keys.

“After the bookstore.”

* * *

The shop is narrow, dusty, and perfect.

Books climb the walls from floor to ceiling. Handwritten cards stick out from the shelves with recommendations from employees who clearly have strong feelings about everything.

A sleepy orange cat occupies the front window.

No cameras.

No athletes.

No one whispering H&T.

I breathe easier the second the door closes behind us.

Lila disappears toward romance.

Noor heads for essays and criticism.

I drift into history with a basket over one arm, stopping when I find a battered book about ancient trade routes priced at four dollars.

Therapy.

I sit on the floor between two low shelves and open it.

Noor finds me several minutes later.

She lowers herself beside me, knees pulled up beneath her coat.

“You want to tell me why the poll scared you that much?”

“It’s humiliating.”

“That isn’t all.”

I turn a page without reading it.

Noor waits.

She’s good at that.

The silence keeps expanding until the truth has nowhere left to hide.