Page 83 of Good Boys Don’t Bite

“You had half my fries.”

“Because you weren't protecting them.”

Ronan shook his head. Elliot pulled out a container of leftover pasta. Dylan said, “Your mom cook that?” Elliot looked over the refrigerator door.

“No.”

“Ronan?”

“He's recently discovered boiling water.”

“Fuck you,” Ronan said.

Dylan smiled. Elliot hated that smile. He hated how easily Dylan occupied space. Some people entered a room as guests. Dylan entered as though everybody had been waiting for him. Elliot placed the container in the microwave.

“Police coming back tonight?” he asked.

Dylan's smile faded.

“No.”

“What'd they say?”

“Same shit.”

Ronan looked at Elliot. Warning. Elliot pretended not to notice.

“They ask why Lucas's jacket was there?”

Dylan rubbed his hands over his face.

“They asked if Lucas ever mentioned Saint Augustine's.”

“And?”

“No.”

“Did he go there?”

“Not that I know.”

The microwave hummed. Elliot watched the container rotate behind fogged glass.

“Then someone put it there.”

Silence. He looked back. Ronan stared at him. Dylan did too.

“What?”

Dylan spoke first.

“That's what the cops said.”

“Seems obvious.”

“They didn't say it like it was obvious.”

“How'd they say it?”