Page 111 of Power Play

“What’s the point?”

I didn’t know how to explain why something as stupid as Ryan opening a cabinet in my kitchen made my chest tighten. Maybe it was because he knew where the plates were without asking, or because his coffee sat beside mine while his cap rested on the counter and his books took up half my table like they belonged there.

He had written my name across a notebook I would still have after he left for Flint. Somewhere along the way, all these little pieces of him had worked their way into my apartment so quietly I hadn’t noticed until I started imagining them gone.

Ryan opened the refrigerator and frowned into it. “You have absolutely nothing useful in here.”

“I have food.”

“You have sparkling water, berries, three kinds of cheese, and something labeled microgreens.”

“They’re good for you.”

“They look like lawn clippings.”

I laughed as he reached for the cheese and glanced back at me. “Crackers?”

“Second cabinet.”

He opened it without hesitation, then paused with one hand on the door before looking over his shoulder. The slow smile spreading across his face told me exactly what he had noticed.

“Look at you telling me where shit lives.”

“Don’t make it weird.”

“I wasn’t.”

“You were about to.”

His smile widened as he grabbed the crackers. “You’re thinking too loud again.”

“That’s my line.”

“You stole it from me.”

He brought the food to the table, opened the crackers, and nudged them between us while I pretended the domestic ease of the moment wasn’t making my chest hurt.

I took one because he was watching. When he turned his attention toward the books and left the food alone, I took another. Eventually, we moved from Spanish into literature.

Ryan pulled out Poe first, followed by e.e. cummings, Amy Lowell, and two collections I didn’t recognize.

“No Brontë?”

“Not today.”

“You’re cheating on her.”

“She knows where she stands.”

“Does she?”

Ryan glanced at me. “You jealous of Emily again?”

“She’s dead.”

“That wasn’t a no.”

I laughed and opened the Poe collection where a ribbon marked “Annabel Lee.”