Chapter 16: Sage Is at a Friend's

Brooks texted at noon.

"Phone was behind the couch cushion. He believed me. Mostly."

I showed it to Ben, and he let out a long, shaky laugh.

Then neither of us said much all afternoon.

Everything we needed to say had been said in the booth, and now there was only the rest.

At nine that night, Sage sent me a message.

"Is it good news yet?"

Ben was standing under the lamp outside Dunmore Hall with his hands in his pockets.

"Yes," I typed.

"Then I'll be at a friend's until noon. Use the good lamp."

I had given her one word, and she had read all of it. I put the phone away and went red to my ears.

"What?" Ben asked.

"She says hello."

I took him up the back stairs, past the sleeping desk clerk, to the third floor.

Our room had two narrow beds and a rug that didn't match.

Sage had pinned a string of white lights along the ceiling.

Ben stopped in the doorway and looked at it for a long time.

"Your mug is on the shelf," he said. "The blue one. You had it at open mic."

"You noticed my mug."

"I noticed everything."

I shut the door and turned the lock.

It made a small click, and we both heard it.

"Nobody's filming," I said.

"No."

"Nobody's posting."

"Rory." His voice had gone low. "I know."

I put my hands on his chest and walked him back until his legs found the edge of my bed.

He sat down hard, and I stood between his knees.

I had taken his glasses off somewhere in the hall, and I hadn't noticed doing it.

Up close, his eyes were gray, and they were fixed on me.

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