A hint of pink bloomed on her cheeks. 揑 noticed. Thank you for doing the bare minimum.?She blinked. 揂gain, what are you doing here? Do you need me to teach you how to read??
I burst out laughing. 揧ou抮e kind of mean for a shy girl.?
Her eyes widened. 揑抦 so sorry. I don抰 know why I said that. I know you can read.?
The grin stayed glued on my face. I liked this side of her. 揑t抯 okay, bookworm. I know you jest. I抦 here to check up on you and see if you抳e done your homework.?
She froze. 揗y homework.?
揧ep. Since you get off on having homework, I thought I better make sure you did it.?I winked and her eyes widened.
揑 don抰 get off on having homework,?she hissed. 揂nd no, I haven抰 done it.?Her cheeks reddened further, even in the dim light at the back of the bookstore.
I rubbed my jaw and narrowed my eyes, pretending to think. 揥hat was that we agreed on again? My way, my rules, something like that??
She rolled her eyes. 揇on抰 think too hard, you might hurt something.?
Another laugh burst out of me. 揧ou抮e cranky today.?
揑抦 not cranky.?
I stood. 揥ell, I don抰 have all day, so let抯 get to it.?
Panic flared in her gaze, and she took a step back into a bookshelf. 揋et to what??The same squeaky voice as a couple days ago when we were on the water, when I was teasing her about sharks.
揧ou抮e going to ask ten guys out, like we agreed.?
Her eyes darted around, and she chewed her lip. She didn抰 want to do this, I could tell, but I didn抰 care. A sick part of me liked pushing her boundaries.
A couple days ago, she didn抰 want to get on the board. Fuck, she didn抰 even want to get into her wetsuit, but she showed up. A part of her wanted to do something new, push herself out of the safe little box she hid in most of the time. And that was how she would become this hot girl she wanted to be. The look she gave me when I pulled her back on her board, sputtering and coughing? She was furious.
I thought about the way she had melted against me when I hauled her to my chest in the water. Something about it sent a thrill through my veins.
She crossed her arms over her chest, frowning at me.
揃ookworm, you want to be a hot girl? Hot girls don抰 care what people think of them. They don抰 worry if they fuck up because failure is part of life. Do you trust me??
She snorted. 揘o.?
I grinned.
揑 do trust that you know what you抮e talking about,?she admitted.
I wasn抰 going to give her a chance to bail on this. 揅ome on.?I moved past her and noticed another employee behind the desk, a Black woman with bright blue earrings.
揌i.?I nodded to her. 揕iya, right??
She beamed at me. 揧eah, and you抮e Wyatt??
揧ou know it.?I gestured at Hannah. 揑抦 going to steal Hannah for a few minutes. Is that okay??
Liya glanced between myself and Hannah, who shrunk like she wanted to disappear into the floor. 揝ure.?
揅ool. Come on, bookworm.?I put a hand on her back and guided her out of the store.
揥here are we going??
揥e抮e going to stand right here,?I said, holding the door open, 揳nd you抮e going to ask out the next ten guys you see.?
Her hands twisted in front of her. Her throat worked as she swallowed. 揟his is not how I pictured finding a boyfriend.?
揌ey.?I leaned down to meet her eyes, waiting until she raised her gaze to mine. 揜emember when you fell off your board and got a face full of water??
Irritation replaced her worry. 揧es.?
揧ou were fine after, right??
A tiny nod. She inhaled. 揙kay. Fine. Let抯 get this over with.?
揈xcellent.?I scanned the street. It was just after ten in the morning on a Thursday, so no weekend summer crowds yet. A few people moving in and out of stores, chatting with neighbors and friends on the sidewalk, enjoying their morning. Don, the retired guy who ran the local news blog, The Queen抯 Cove Daily, walked up the street carrying a couple bags of groceries.
揇on.?I waved. 揌ow you doing, buddy??
Hannah froze. 揌e抯 married,?she hissed at me under her breath.
I kept the grin on my face but lowered my voice. 揇oesn抰 matter, not the point.?
Don nodded and smiled at us. 揋ood morning. Not too bad. Canned kidney beans are on sale at the grocery store and there抯 only a couple left, you two should get over there. Ninety-nine cents.?
揥ow, nice.?I grinned before turning to Hannah with an expression that said go on.
She swallowed and shook her head. I nodded with raised eyebrows.
揌i, Don.?Her voice wobbled.
揌i, Hannah.?
Hannah抯 mouth snapped shut and she glanced at the door of her bookshop, like she wanted to run inside and hide.
I crossed my arms over my chest and leaned against the brick wall. 揌annah has something she wants to ask you.?