“Thanks, stalker.”
“We didn’t do those. I thought they were just a movie thing, actually. A movie thing and a small-town thing, apparently.”
“What would you have been? Most likely to win a Pulitzer?”
He laughs. “I doubt it. Most likely to obsess over unsolved murders? I was known for it back then too.”
“I know.”
“You know?”
“It’s in one of the Reddit threads about your podcast. Some people you went to high school with have weighed in there.”
“Jesus, you should not be looking at any Reddit threads about me or you.”
“Why? Because they call me a crazy murderer but say they’d still fuck me?”
“Yes! That’s exactly why.”
“This isn’t news to me.” I move even closer to him, parting my legs so I can wrap them around him and sit in his lap. His arms circle my waist.
I lean down to kiss him. “As one of the men who would definitely still fuck a crazy murderer, I don’t think you have the right to look so scandalized.”
His lips brush mine as he speaks. “I prefer not to use the word crazy. Not in that context, anyway.”
“It’s so interesting that it’s the word crazy that bothers you and not murderer.”
“I didn’t say that word didn’t bother me too.”
I kiss him, looping my arms around his neck and shifting until I can feel that he’s currently only bothered in the good way.
“Let’s go back to the bedroom.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
LUCY
I wake a second time to a door opening. It’s morning now, light streaming in through the blinds. Ben is on his stomach beside me, still asleep.
“Ben!” It’s a familiar voice from the living room. Paige. “Are you in there? You know I worry that someone murdered you when you don’t answer my texts.”
He stirs, groaning as he rubs a hand across his face. The clock says it’s after ten. We were up late.
He rolls out of bed and pulls his boxers on. As he walks to the door, he holds his hand out. I think that means he wants me to stay put. He opens the door a crack.
“Hey.”
“Hey— Dude, no. I do not want to see you in your underwear.”
“Then don’t barge into my hotel room at the crack of dawn.”
“First of all, it’s practically lunch. Second of all, you gave me a key, so I’m not sure what else you expected me to do with it.”
“I need to shower. I’ll meet you in your room in like an hour.”
“It’s going to take you an hour to shower?”
“I have stuff to do. Websites to browse. Political news to obsess over. Just give me a little while.”
There’s a long pause. “Please tell me you did not.”
“Just give me—”
“I know that purse, you stupid motherfucker.”
Ben stumbles backward as Paige barges into the room. I sit up, holding the sheet against my chest. Paige doesn’t look surprised so much as defeated.
“Hey, Paige.”
She presses a hand to her forehead. “Ben, I swear to god.”
“Does it help if I tell you that this isn’t the first time?” I ask.
Ben gives me a deeply exasperated look.
Paige points at him. “You stupid motherfucker,” she says again, to really drive the point home.
Ben takes Paige by the shoulders and gently shoves her out of the room. He shuts the door behind them.
“Ben, what in the hell are you doing?” Paige whispers. I slide off the bed and grab my underwear, edging closer to the door so I can better hear them.
“Can we—”
“I don’t know whether to be impressed or horrified that you figured out a way to fuck your own podcast.”
“That is—”
“I told you that I would only work on this case with you if you kept it together, and this is not keeping it together. This is the exact opposite of keeping it together.”
“Since when have you cared who I sleep with?”
“Since it’s the woman we are currently reporting on! You know what people would think if this got out, right? You understand that she could unravel your entire season just by telling people you’re sleeping together? No one would trust you.”
“I understand that, but one, she wouldn’t do that. And two, why would she even want to? This podcast is making her look better than she has in years.”
I feel like I should be insulted by that, but he’s not wrong.