“Did that hit on the field take out more than your leg and you’re forgetting about why you are hanging out with me at all in the library on a Friday night? No. I didn’t forget unless you don’t want me to help you get through this essay anymore.”
“Please?”
I was a sucker for a goodplease.
Plus, I had already said yes. “What do you have so far?”
“A topic.”
“I thought you already said you were doingPride and Prejudice?” I asked, not understanding what he meant. Was that really all he had?
“Right. I mean, a thesis,” he corrected, seeing the horror on my face. “We already had to get them approved.”
I waved for him to go on, hoping that he had one to share.
“I’m going to talk about the courting practices and the house parties that are thrown at the fancy guys’ houses is basically the eighteenth-century version of online speed dating. You know, swipe right, swipe left?”
I stared at him. I wanted to make a joke, and yet, somehow, it was oddly accurate. Creative even. “Have a lot of online dating experience then?”
Ryan shrugged, a little bashful. “Enough to have some good stories.”
“A slightly anecdotal paper it is then,” I offered, glancing back down at my list of resources.
I wanted to ask more questions but held back. Though Ryan certainly had a popular reputation, I never heard of any dating mishaps. That kind of thing was sure to go around a school as small and tightly knit as Barnett like wildfire if it was amusing enough.
“Good. Now, we can find some sources.”
“Where? Online in the database thing?”
“Well, we are in a library, so let’s start with books, Ryan. You know, the things on the shelves?”
He looked at me without humor. “I know what a book is, Luella.”
My eyes flared at the name, and I knew he saw it the moment his lips pressed back together in a humorous challenge. Oh, now, he wanted to tease the moment he got what he wanted?
“We’ll find sources on the book as well as on the historical consequences of regency seasons. You’re right after all. As well as bragging rights to a good party, they were created to make suitable matches, though they usually took place in higher concentrated places. London, for instance, compared to the smaller villages where Elizabeth and Darcy met more coincidentally than actively, like your thesis says. Perhaps that means you could also go into how the two of them caused a break of what was proper and expected based on their status.”
Ryan blinked. “Wow.”
I raised an eyebrow, pushing my chair back to stand. “Am I overwhelming you?”
“No. I just had no idea you could find things like that here. See, you’re helping me already,” Ryan encouraged. “Let’s do it.”
Ryan’s eyes followed me until I rounded the table, standing in front of him.
“Are you going to make me get them all for you by myself too? It’s going to take a whole lot more than you picking up the phone and ordering a pizza to make this worthwhile.”
“What you’re saying is that you do have a price to do my essay for me?”
“You should be ashamed as a future educator.”
Laughing again, Ryan made a little noise of effort as he hoisted himself back up to standing and stretching his leg out, as if it was tight. He took my lead as we headed past the stairs to the other set of bookshelves.
Holding up my piece of scrap paper, I split it in half. I held out the other piece in front of him. He took it with little more than a snatch, as if he thought I’d taunt it in front of him like a cat. The thought had occurred to me.
“All right. First person to find their books on the list wins,” I explained. “Fair?”
“What’s the prize?”
