SHAW SAT ON THE FLOOR of North’s living room, his back against the sofa, flipping channels between a QVC special on hoop earrings and a rerun of 90 Day Fiancé. North lay on the couch, a paperback of In Cold Blood folded along the spine so he could read with one hand. With his other hand, he ran his fingers over Shaw’s head, sending a pleasant rasping sensation through the buzzed hair and into Shaw’s scalp.

On the QVC special, the woman was trying on some really big hoops now. Showing them off for the camera. She had an interesting shape, a little bit like a pickaxe: a sticklike body, and then this uneven distribution of weight at the top. Those hoops looked big enough to set off a landslide.

“And they don’t go with her outfit,” Shaw announced.

“Hmm?” North asked, and a page rustled behind Shaw.

“Those earrings are really terrible. And she’s too basic to pull off something terrible.”

“Mmmhmm.” The light scratching of North’s fingers never changed.

Shaw flipped back to 90 Day Fiancé. He didn’t remember the characters’ names, but he kept getting dragged back into the episodes. They fought a lot. And they cried a lot. And they talked into the camera a lot, explaining how they loved this person they’d barely known for three months. That was the part Shaw liked best—well, that and the blow-up fights. He liked hearing all the ways people knew they loved this stranger from another country.

“It’s totally different from us, you know?” Shaw said.

“Hmm?” North’s fingers drifted to the back of Shaw’s head, running down to his nape.

“They’ve known each other for ninety days. Less, sometimes. And somehow, they know they love each other.”

“Mmmhmm.”

“Isn’t that crazy?”

Another page rustled. “Crazy.”

“I mean, I probably was in love with you after three months.”

“Oh yeah?”

“But it wasn’t love love. Not like now. I mean, that’s the thing, right? It just keeps growing. The longer you know someone, the more you know their quirks, the good stuff, some of the stuff that’s not so good.”

“Mmmhmm.”

“When did you know you loved me?”

“Huh?”

“North, come on. When did you know you loved me?”

“Freshman year.” Paper whispered again.

“But when? After thirty days? Sixty days? Ninety days? Was it when we were in my dorm room bingeing Buffy? Were we sitting on the quad? Was I drinking hot chocolate? Was I doing naked squats in the shower?”

“It definitely wasn’t the naked squats. I could live the rest of my life without seeing you do naked squats again.”

“Hey! I look good.”

“You’re very handsome. But nobody looks good doing naked squats.”

“I did. I know I did. I can’t believe you never told me this.”

“Sweetheart?” North’s hand slid down Shaw’s neck, curling across his collarbone to settle on his chest.