Page 280 of Ruthless Court

Not the sarcastic face she usually sends when she wants me to know I’m irritating her.

Progress.

Hannah: Are you going to ask me to look at your left-side drive halfway through coffee?

Me: No basketball.

Hannah: What if you see a television playing a game?

Me: I’ll avert my eyes.

Hannah: That may cause physical distress.

Me: I’ll suffer quietly.

Another pause.

Then:

Hannah: Why?

One word.

I know what she means.

Why this?

Why now?

Why her if she isn’t helping me play?

I lean against the brick wall outside Bellwether.

This deserves something better than flirting.

Me: Because I know what you see when I ask you for film.

Nothing.

I keep going.

Me: I know you’re waiting for the part where I decide your value is what you can do for me.

My thumb hovers.

Me: So Friday I don’t want anything from you except your company.

Three dots.

Gone.

Back.

Gone again.

I let her take as long as she wants.

That’s apparently another new skill I’m developing.