Later that afternoon, Booth found Brennan in her office.
"Hey Bones."
She turned toward her computer. "Oh…hey."
He stepped toward her desk.
"You were right."
Without looking at him, she raised her eyebrows. "Great."
"I had to chase him all over town before he stopped, but once he did, it was easy to get him to confess…"
He waited for her to respond.
"Come on, Bones? Don't you want to know what happened?"
She turned to look at him for a moment, then turned back toward the computer screen. "Whatever, Booth."
He placed his hands on her desk. "Well, turns out, Francis was a real big deal in England with Jane Austen and all that, so when this guy came into town, well, he wanted to impress people, so he lied and said he was Francis. Anyways, when the real Francis came to town, he had to get rid of him, so he poisoned him. No one knew any better, and so he just left the body out in the weeds. But then…" He waited again for her to show some interest in the case, and when she didn't he continued as if she had, "Then, Bones…Anne, she found out about it, so he poisoned her too."
"Great, Booth. That's great."
He looked at her.
"Look at me, Bones."
She waited for a moment, then finally met his eyes. He was surprised at the hurt he saw in them. He sat on the edge of her desk.
"Bones…"
"Forget it, Booth."
"No, Bones. Look, I'm sorry I called you a snob, okay?"
"Whatever, Booth. You know, you were just telling the truth. Just, finally telling me what you thought of me."
"Bones…no, stop, okay? I don't think you're a snob. I think you are nice, it's just…I don't know…this stupid book reading competition."
"Booth, it's not a competition."
He raised his eyebrows.
"Okay, okay…maybe I was trying to compete against you." She confessed.
"Well, me too." He smiled. "And, you know, I know I'll never measure up against you, Bones, so…that makes me…I don't know, lash out, I guess."
"Booth…you measure up…" she looked at him, sitting on her desk, "I'm the one who is always making social mistakes. I don't measure up to you."
He shook his head. "What a pair we make, huh?" he smiled.
She leaned back in her chair.
"I guess."
He thought for a moment.
"Bones, come over to my house tonight, for supper. We can cook, and…just, hang out, you know, without competition."
"Okay, sure…I'll show you how to make mac and cheese."
He closed his eyes and nodded. "Sounds great, Bones. See you at seven?"
"Sure."
He smiled as he left her office.