She was aware of him in the room the way you were aware of something that had weight and presence. Not unpleasantly — he was not loud or messy or difficult, he was actually very easy to be around which was almost the problem — just constantly. She knew when he came in and when he left and when he was at his desk and when he was asleep and she had not had that specific knowledge of another person since she was seventeen and sharing with her sister.

It was different from sharing with her sister.

She was not going to examine how it was different.

Thursday evening she...