“My dad was an English professor, remember? I’ve read everything.”
I nod, waiting for her to fulfill her end of the bargain.
“My turn?” she asks, and I nod again. “Okay. One good thing.” She thinks for a moment. “When I was ten, my parents took me to New York. We saw three Broadway shows in three days.Phantom,Les Mis, andChicago. I cried during all of them. Not because they were sad, but because they were so beautiful. I’d never heard music like that before.”
“Did you want to be an actress?”
“God, no. I wanted to be a critic. Ten years old and already planning scathing reviews of imaginary performances.”
I almost smile at that. “Sounds about right.” Desperate to know, I ask, “Do you like me?”
Emmaleen looks at me like I’ve just asked if she’d like to jump off a bridge. Then she holds up her index finger. “One. Youmade me stand for four hours in shoes that weren’t mine, had heels high enough to qualify as torture devices, and didn’t fit.”
I say nothing.
She raises a second finger.
“Two. You put me inside a game without telling me I was playing.”
Her third finger joins the others.
“Three. You created a very detailed set of rules for this game in the form of notebooks to manipulate me with money.”
Fourth finger.
“Four. You made me undress in front of you.”
Thumb.
“Five. You used me to make your cousin jealous.”
She switches to her other hand, extending her index finger again.
“Six. You searched my background without my permission.”
Middle finger.
“Seven. You created a punishment system specifically designed to keep me off-balance.”
Ring finger.
“Eight. You’re a criminal.”
Pinky.
“Nine. You’re probably lying about half the things you’ve told me.”
Thumb again.
“Ten. You’re asking me if I like you when we both know you don’t actually care about the answer.”
She drops her hands, finished with the accounting. I let the silence stretch between us, cataloging the accuracy of each accusation. Except for the part about making Rico jealous, she’s not wrong about any of it.
“I wasn’t trying to make Rico jealous. I was telling him to stay the fuck away from you. But anyway. Do you like me?” I ask again.
Her face flushes. “Did you not hear what I just said?”
“I heard every word. Answer the question.”