Page 14 of What Boys Learn

“Thank you,” she said softly, busy double knotting the bright orange laces.

You’ll get past this, I wanted to say.Whatever this is. A man, a moment, a mistake. Keep going.

While she was distracted with the laces, I pulled my phone from my back pocket and took a swift, silent photo.

When I finally got back to Giuliano’s, the pizza was not only ready but cold.

7

Pulling up to our apartment ten minutes later, I spotted an empty police cruiser parked at the curb. Robert.Good.

I would tell him about the girl. He could keep an eye out if she was around town somewhere, looking dazed on some park bench or at the train station, without enough money to buy a ticket. He’d probably laugh at my story—and even more at my bare feet. He’d scold me for not noticing the boyfriend’s license plate, but he’d also understand the gravity of the situation. More than half of his patrol calls were about domestic disputes.

All those thoughts vanished a moment later as I approached the door, damp-bottomed pizza box in my hands. Something was wrong.

Robert had said he was working until nine o’clock. Even aside from the fact that we’d broken up six months ago, there wasn’t a reason for him to be inside the house.

To the right of the door, the living room window was open. An insipid sitcom with a laugh track was playing inside. Benjamin hated sitcoms.

I inserted the key before realizing it was the wrong one. I fumbled, dropped the keys once and had to pick them up again.

“Finally,” Benjamin said when I managed to push the sticky door open.

“You could have opened up when you heard me struggling.”

He ignored me, stood up from the couch, and turned down the hall.

“Hold up,” came Robert’s voice. “Don’t disappear into your bedroom yet.”

“She’s home,” Benjamin said, returning to thrust his palm in Robert’s face. “Give me my phone back.”

“Not until I talk to your mom.”

Benjamin shot daggers at Robert before stalking away again.

“Fine,” Robert relented. “Go to your room. I’ll talk to your mom, first.”

“Benjamin?” I asked. But his bedroom door had closed. “Robert? What’s going on?”

He was wearing his patrol uniform and duty belt, but he had a paper plate of Cheetos on the coffee table, like he’d been hanging out casually, waiting and snacking. I slid the pizza box onto the counter. “Is there a reason you let yourself into my apartment when I wasn’t here?”

“I came in with Benjamin.”

“Even if he invited you, that’s not the same thing as me giving you permission. We’re not dating anymore. Youdorealize that, right?”

“This was a special occasion,” he deadpanned, standing up from the couch. He aimed the remote at the television set, killing the canned laughter ofThe Big Bang Theory.

“Have a seat.” It didn’t seem like a casual suggestion.

I looked to the blind-covered windows, worry replacing irritation. “You couldn’t have texted me?”

“We did.”

I retrieved my phone from my purse, where I’d stowed it after silencing the multiple texts and the callback from Willa. One missed call, two texts from Robert, one from Benjamin.

Robert tucked his thumbs under his belt. “Benjamin said you went to get pizza. I didn’t think you’d be gone long.”

“You know how Giuliano’s is.”