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She grinned at him. “All right. Challenge accepted. Let’s go make laundry not boring.”
Evan followed them to the laundry room and stood outside as they went in and picked a washing machine. Riley filled the machine and started it. Then she turned to him. “Okay, you got to ask me twenty questions about my book series. Now it’s my turn.”
He stepped closer to her. “But, I don’t have a book series.”
She rolled her eyes. “About you, silly.”
She wanted to ask him questions? Personal ones? Maybe that wasn’t a bad idea. He did want to get closer to her. He slowly nodded. “All right.”
She nodded and hopped up onto the table set in the corner for folding laundry. She looked quite pleased. “Okay. First question. I think I know the answer, but I’ll ask anyway. Have you ever dated anyone as Shadow?”
“Besides you?”
She nodded.
“No.”
Was that a smile she was hiding? He couldn’t quite tell. “Do you live alone?”
If he didn’t count Sir Barks, he did. And he was pretty sure she meant humans. “Yes.”
“Are you a morning person?”
The washing machine switched from filling with water to churning, and he stepped closer to Riley to hear her better. “No.”
“Do you like to read?”
He nudged her leg. She’d figured out why he was so interested in her books. “You caught me.”
She pushed her glasses up, suddenly acting self-conscious again. He wasn’t sure why she was so embarrassed about her books. Even if they weren’t any good, every writer started somewhere. She glanced away. “Do you watch a lot of TV?”
“No.”
“Do you listen to other genres of music, besides pop and jazz?”
He put his hands on her knees. “Yes.”
She stared at him, and bit her lip in a tentative way before asking the next question. “Does anyone else know your identity?”
He sobered. He probably shouldn’t answer that question. If he were being smart, he would stop this game right here. But his pulse quickened, and he suddenly wanted to answer her truthfully. “No.”
Her eyes widened. “But, Jalen knows, right?”
Great. Now what was he supposed to say? HewasJalen. No one besides him knew. His heart pounded as he tried to think of how to get out of the situation. Finally, he just shrugged. “No one besides Jalen.”
“Oh. Okay.” She paused, as if she were thinking about what he’d said. He didn’t really want her to piece it together, so he reached up and pulled off her glasses. He was curious if she had a strong prescription.
He slid them on over his mask. Everything looked normal. Riley grabbed at them, but he stepped back, not wanting her to accidentally grab his mask off as well. “These aren’t prescription glasses?”
Pink colored her cheeks as she once again reached for them, but he managed to thwart her moves. “Hey,” she said. “Give them back.”
“Are these fake glasses?” Why would Riley be wearing glasses that she didn’t need? It gave him a funny feeling.
She buried her face in her hands. “All right, fine. You figured it out. I wear designer glasses.” She peeked through her fingers. “I’m sorry. I just feel more comfortable with them on.”
He took them off and handed them to her, feeling like a jerk. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have pulled them off. I was just curious.”
She shoved them back on her face and dropped her gaze. He wasn’t sure, but he thought he saw another look of guilt cross her features. “No, it’s okay. I shouldn’t be so sensitive.”
