Page 199 of His Reckoning

“No.”

“Anyone?”

“No.”

He nods once. “And she’s the first person you told?”

I don’t answer. I don’t need to.

Dean exhales slowly. “Okay.”

I turn back toward him. “That’s why it’s not just a book,” I say, my voice tighter now. “She wrote things I would never have wanted out there.”

Dean nods. “I get that.”

The words land differently this time.

“That’s an invasion,” he adds. “At least, it feels like one.”

I exhale slowly. “Yeah.”

We stand there for a second.

Dean tilts his head slightly. “But let me ask you something.”

I brace.

“Did she write your story?”

“No.”

“Did she name you?”

“No.”

“Did she expose anything someone else could connect back to you?”

“No.”

He nods. “Okay.”

I frown slightly. “Okay?”

“Yeah,” he says. “Because that matters.”

I cross my arms again. “She still crossed a line.”

“I’m not saying she didn’t,” he replies. “And you’re allowed to be pissed about that.”

The tension in my chest loosens slightly.

“But there’s a difference,” he continues, “between someone crossing a line because they didn’t think it through”—he pauses— “and someone crossing a line because they didn’t care.”

I don’t respond. I already know which one Kayla falls into, and that’s the problem.

Dean studies me. “Did she look like she didn’t care?”

The question lands harder than anything else.