Page 141 of Sexting the Pakhan
Dr. Mehra lowers her voice. “How do you know him?”
I expected the question. I still don’t have an answer ready.
“He’s someone from my past,” I say.
Dr. Mehra looks unconvinced. “That is very broad.”
“It’s the only answer I have right now.”
She glances toward the kitchen. “He looks dangerous.”
I let out a tired breath. “He is.”
Dr. Mehra’s eyebrows rise slightly. “At least you know that.”
Karina shifts beside her but says nothing.
Dr. Mehra looks back at me. “I’ve dated my fair share of bad boys, Zoya. That man is not a bad boy. He’s something else.”
“Thank you,” I say flatly. “That is very comforting.”
“I’m serious.”
“So am I.”
Dr. Mehra studies my face for a second. “Is there something there?”
I frown. “What do you mean?”
“With him.”
“No,” I say quickly, then clear my throat. “Of course not.”
Dr. Mehra says, “I’m asking because of the way he keeps looking at you.”
My stomach tightens. “How is he looking at me?”
She chooses her words carefully. “Like he thinks everyone in the room is temporary except you.”
Karina’s eyes move to my face.
I say nothing.
Dr. Mehra adds, “And like he would bite anyone who came too close.”
That should sound ridiculous. It doesn’t.
It sounds exactly like Ruslan.
I fold my arms. “He looks at everyone like that.”
“No,” Dr. Mehra says. “He doesn’t.”
Karina is too quiet now. I can feel her watching me.
She doesn’t know what really happened all those years ago, in the aftermath of the library attack. She helped me through thepregnancy and held my hair when I threw up and sat beside me during scans when I said I didn’t want to talk about the father.
I told her I went to visit my parents. I told her it was just a hookup that happened in my hometown after the guy comforted me about my nightmares, and I had my fair share of those since the months after the library shooting. So she believed me.
