Page 34 of His Wall

"Because you keep looking behind you."

"I'm just aware of my surroundings."

"That's a very specific way of putting that."

She did not answer.

We walked.

The river was on our left, slate-gray, the chop catching the morning light. A man on a bicycle clipped past us with his bell going. Claire pulled her other earbud out and wound the cord around her phone and slid the phone into the small pocket at the back of her leggings.

"You should go," she said.

"I should go?"

"Yes."

"It's a public park."

"It is."

"You don't get to send me off the path, Claire."

"I'm not sending you off the path. I'm telling you you should go."

"I live three blocks from here."

"You don't run."

I looked at her sideways. She was still not looking at me.

"How do you know?"

"You eat croissants for breakfast. You take the elevator to the second floor."

I grinned.

I could not help it. The grin came up at the corner of my mouth and stayed there and I let it.

"You've been watching me, Claire."

"You're hard to miss."

"That's almost a compliment."

"It's not."

The corner of her mouth moved. Not a smile. The place a smile lived before it became one. She did not look at me when she did it.

"Walk with me."

"I'm done. I'm cooling down."

"You're walking. I'm walking with you."

"I'm busy."

"You're done. Your cooldown started two minutes ago. Your breathing changed."