And then they break into laughter: a relief to me, as for a moment I was unsure whether it was banter or a brawl.

“We’ll be up in my room,” Ben says. “Take notes on any juicy cases for me.”

I follow him up the stairs, and even though he’s been in my bedroom, I have to swallow down a nervous lump in my throat as I walk into his. But then it’s surreal. Ben’s room is strangely impersonal—like a hotel room. And then I remind myself that of course it is; Ben only moved here earlier this year. I think of my own sparse guest bedroom, and warmth blooms in my stomach: empathy, pity, kinship.

I shut the door behind us, recline against it. “I have so much to tell you, but—” My voice hitches. Ben’s room suddenly shrinks.

He is watching me intently, and I realize how close he is. And how I want him closer. I pull him in by his hoodie pockets, go in for a kiss. Ben smiles against my lips, leans into me, and his hands slide up my back, rushing heat into my cheeks. We push off from the door, walking backward toward the quilted double bed tucked under the slant of the roof, but I come to my senses before we go further.

I pull away, smacking my head on the low ceiling. “Ow!” I give a nervous laugh, more embarrassed than hurt. “Seriously, I have to tell you what I found at Natalie’s house.”

“Sorry, sorry.” Ben throws his hands up in surrender. And, God, I love the way his kiss-swollen lips quirk into a sly smile, like he’s not sorry at all and is in fact waiting for an opening to resume.

Much as I’d enjoy that, this Natalie thing is serious. I sit up, cross my legs under me, and fill him in. And much to my shock and consternation, he doesn’t appear surprised.

“I suspected,” Ben says with a shrug.

“What the fuck? Why didn’t you tell me?”

I get a side-eye. “And give you more reasons to suspect me? You’re digging into people with beefs against Natalie. If I’d told you that I thought she was eavesdropping on private therapy sessions in order to blackmail people, what would you have said?”

“I would have said, ‘Holy shit, that’s huge, that’s motive. We need to find out who she was blackmailing!’ And she wasn’t blackmailing you, was she?”

He shifts.

“Ben!”

“She wasn’t! But she had said things, referenced things to me that only Dr. Shelby knew. That’s why I had a feeling. But I thought everyone would write me off completely if I said anything.”

The pieces slot into place quickly: Natalie’s entry on Ben mentioned his mom; it was followed by a note about him no longer attending therapy.