“Josh?”
“Yeah?”
I take a deep breath. “I don’t want to explain what tonight was. And I don’t want you to say anything to the rest of the girls.”
There’s a slight pause, followed by an easy, “Okay.”
I stand and pull my comforter around me. “Night, Josh.”
And I go inside, taking my secrets with me.
Chapter Nine
Josh
OnTuesday,Iswingby my place around dinnertime to grab a document. I run into Ruby getting out of her car as I reach mine.
“Hey, neighbor,” she says. “Haven’t seen you around.”
“Probably because I’m only here long enough to sleep. In fact, I’m running back to the office now.”
She winces. “One nice thing about the library is predictable hours.”
“Just one?”
She shrugs. “Plus hundreds of thousands of books.”
“Right, that.”
“It’s a pretty good perk. So, how’d it go with Sami the other night?”
I rest my arm on the roof of my car. “She didn’t tell you?”
Ruby smiles. “I want your version.”
“It was fine until it wasn’t. We were talking and laughing, and then we weren’t. A switch flipped. I’m not sure what happened. I don’t think she was thrilled about my family, but I’m not sure why. We’re not a political dynasty or anything, so people don’t generally hate us the way they do some Texas families on reflex.”
“Who’s your family?”
“I’m a Brower.”
“Like . . .”
“The dorm? And the giant law firm? Yes. That was my grandfather.”
“Ah.”
“That’s a very dense ‘ah.’ Packed with meaning.”
“Yes.”
That’s all she says. “You’re not going to tell me more?”
“Not for me to tell.”
“Did one of my ancestors curse one of hers or something?”
She shakes her head. “Nothing like that. She’s had a rough time with . . . uh, some people. She probably doesn’t love the idea of hanging out with other people that remind her of those people.”
