Page 5 of Follows with Intent

“I’m going to finish up some paperwork.”

“Jadon.”

“Twenty minutes. Half an hour, tops.”

Struggle showed in her face. She must have lost whatever battle she was fighting, though, because the words came spilling out. “And then?”

“What?”

“What are you going to do when you finish?” Her tone turned scornful when she added, “In twenty or thirty minutes.”

Jadon rocked back in the chair. Inside the detectives’ bureau, the temperature simmered from too many bodies and an old boiler. They’d cracked a window (that was, per regulation, supposed to be sealed shut), and drafts of cold air limped into the building, an occasional whisper on the back of Jadon’s neck. We should get a fan, he thought. A fan would help.

“Are you going to hit the gym,” Cerise asked, “for the second time today? Or do you have a Brazilian jiujitsu class? Let me guess: you’re going to go home and stare at a blank wall for six hours and shower and get here before anybody else.”

He had a headache, he realized, and he wondered how long that had been going on. A while, he thought. It was one of those things, like the full-body aches, that became background noise eventually. His eyes felt gummy, and he rubbed one now. He couldn’t quite bring himself to look Cerise in the face.

“I’m sorry,” she said.

“No.”

“That was super shitty.”

“No, I get it.”

Cerise sighed. She looked him over, and then she said, “Jay, people are starting to talk.” And then she must have heard it and she said, like she was editing, “People are worried.”

“I’m fine.”

“Are you? Because it’s okay if you’re not.”

He cracked a smile. “I’m fine, Cao. Scout’s honor.”

“When was the last time you went out with friends? Or slowed down long enough for a real meal? Or—”

He made a warning noise.

As usual, Cerise ignored it. “—went on a date?”

“I appreciate this. I do. But I’m good. And you can tell all these other people who are worried about me that I’m good. Okay?”

The sound of traffic filtered in through the open window.

“Come to Halloween.”

“Oh God.”

“Dhan is begging you. Well, technically, he’s begging me.”

“That’s nice—”

“And you’re not the one who has to come up with excuses all the time. He’s starting to think you don’t like him.”

Jadon gave her a level look. “That’s a low blow.”

But, as usual, Cerise was unfazed. “You’re hurting his feelings.”

“Cheap. That’s real cheap.”

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