Page 17 of Falling

“I wish I thought I had a soulmate,” he said after a second, looking down at his own coffee. “I wish someone just liked me for exactly who I am, exactly as I am.”

I wasn’t sure what to say to that, so I didn’t say anything.

“Sorry,” Miles said when I was silent for a heartbeat too long. “Not your problem. And I’m being weird again.”

“I like the weird,” I said, trying to sound as sincere as possible. I did like the weird. I liked that he was himself, without pretending to be anything else. “And from where I’m standing, you’re a catch. Smart, funny, interesting, great sense of style…”

“You don’t think I’m pretty?” Miles asked.

I blinked at him.

Obviously, I thought he was pretty. That was the first thought I’d had about him, on account of having a mostly working pair of eyes.

“Sorry,” he said again. “Weird again. Just… most of my friends are some kind of queer, I think I said? They’re really my sister’s friends, I don’t actually have any of my own. But, umm. They always say I’m pretty. The guys, I mean. I dunno. I kinda like it, I think?”

“Oh,” I said.

Well. My gaydar was clearly still working. Whether Miles knew it or not.

After a beat, I added, “I think you’re pretty.”

Just as the door to the bar swung open.

7

MILES

I was still thinking about Seth interrupting me and Booker in the bar to talk details for his fortieth birthday party—and the fact that Booker had just called me pretty—when something incredible happened in the library.

Something incredible that wasn’t related to a toddler trying to eat a book, even.

Miles:

Ryder White just walked into the library

Evie:

who??

oh is that your movie boyfriend?

he’s not my boyfriend, I just think he’s a good actor

I’m allowed to think that

“Hi,” Ryder White said, flashing his brilliant movie-star smile at me, holding a stack of books so tall he was resting his chin on it.

“Umm,” I said, intelligently. “I… Hello. Welcome, uh. To the library?”

“Thanks.” His smile broadened so that the corners of his eyes crinkled. “Can I check these out? I’d do it myself but I don’t actually have a library card.”

“Oh, well. I can definitely set you up with one of those,” I said, turning to the desk computer. “I’m supposed to be meeting a quota that looks impossible from here so I’m glad you’ve come along. Uh, unless you’d rather have a paper form?”

Ryder White, the Ryder White, laughed. “I think I’ll trust you to fill it out.”

“Well, I know your name,” I admitted. “So we’re halfway there.”

“I didn’t know Ward described me in such detail that you’d know who I was.”