Page 230 of Stay Scared

“Seven.”

“Only seven?”

“I was trying not to replace one obsessive collection with another.”

“That is alarmingly self-aware.”

“I have had an unpleasant six weeks.”

His thumb starts moving again.

I squeeze his hand once.

He stops.

“What were the original four?”

Owen looks toward the wall.

I laugh quietly. “There goes the screen substitute.”

“There is no screen.”

“You found concrete.”

“It was available.”

“Tell me.”

His mouth tightens.

“One was instrumental.”

“That answer is deliberately boring.”

“The second was a soundtrack.”

“What soundtrack?”

“I am withholding that information.”

“You stalked me for months.”

“That argument cannot remain valid forever.”

“It has at least another week.”

Owen almost smiles.

“The third was a live jazz recording.”

I wait.

He knows exactly which one I want.

“And the fourth?”

His fingers flex around mine.