Page 19 of Power Play

“Literature.”

“Specific.”

“It’s a summer elective in literary interpretation and philosophy. I’m taking it to prepare for Professor Klein’s Victorian Literature class.”

Ryan’s expression changes with immediate recognition. “Klein?”

“You know her?”

“I took one of her classes.”

That catches my attention. “You did?”

He lifts one shoulder as though there’s nothing unusual about the answer. “A long time ago.”

“And you liked her?”

“I loved Klein.”

Aura’s head lifts from the glasses she’s stacking. Bliss stops the beer tap before the pitcher is full, letting foam creep toward the rim while she looks at him.

“You loved Professor Klein?” Bliss asks.

Ryan glances between them. “Why are you acting like I said I attended astronaut school?”

“Because Collin Grant cried in the student union after she questioned his argument about Jane Austen,” Bliss says.

“She didn’t make him cry,” I say. “She asked him to explain why his analysis required Austen to have written a completely different book.”

Ryan looks at me. “Exactly.”

I stare at him. “How do you know about that?”

“Everyone knew about that.”

Aura points a glass toward him. “You’re defending her.”

“She’s one of the best professors KFU has.”

“Nobody says that,” Aura tells him.

“That’s because most students spend the semester trying to beat her instead of listening to her.”

There’s no hesitation in the answer and none of the vague confidence people use when they know just enough about a subject to sound convincing. Ryan speaks as though he understands exactly what Klein expects and why everyone else fails to give it to her.

I turn farther toward him. “What did you take with her?”

His eyes settle on mine, but his expression gives nothing away. “A class that required a lot of reading and even more arguing.”

“That describes almost everything she teaches.”

“Then I guess you’ll have to live with the mystery.”

Bliss slides the pitcher beneath the tap again. “That was suspiciously evasive.”

“I answered the question.”

“You answered around it,” I say.