Under the Texas Sky

CHAPTER 44

KIAN

I make sure the hotel door shuts securely behind me, leaving my bag of belongings and my camera in the care of the room and hoping that it doesn’t get stolen. I double check the door, and then check my bag to make sure I’ve grabbed everything I might need.

I have everything. The door is securely shut and locked, and there’s nothing else for me to do. Taking a deep breath, I walk away from the door, down the hallway to the elevator. It’s fine. I can do this. I’m a grown ass adult who doesn’t need to please every single person, as long as I’m happy, that’s all that should matter.

Ha.

I step foot outside the hotel, double checking both ways before I cross the road, counting each step slowly. I’m stalling. Because I’m scared. But I didn’t want to call and alert them that I was coming. What if they were excited, and then I ended up being a chicken shit and not showing up? Or on the other end of the spectrum, what if they weren’t excited and told me they didn’t want to see me? Either option is valid, especially with how Trent and I left off yesterday.

Whatever, it’s Mitch. Mitch loves me. Not as much as Trent, but I know he cares for me in his own way, and it’s unfair for me to compare the love he gives us. Mitch was the one person we needed most in our lives, and I’m just being selfish trying to make it about me.

It’s about a mile walk from the hotel to Mitch’s, and I know the way by heart, so I don’t need to use Maps. I can keep my focus on all that I’ve missed while I’ve been gone.

Downtown has changed a lot. There are two new boutiques, an office space for lease that used to be the office I worked in, and a new bookstore.

Hmm.. Maybe I should go into the bookstore. I might find something of interest.

Yes, I’m still stalling, but if I happen to find something mildly entertaining in here, then it’ll be worth it.

I open the door, and a light tinkle of an alarm goes off, letting the person working know that someone has entered.

“Hi! Welcome to New Beginnings! Do you need help finding anything?” a deep voice asks me from somewhere, but I don’t see them.

It feels weird to talk without eye contact, but I respond anyway. “I’m just looking, thank you.”

“If you need anything, just holler!”

I have to hold in my snort, because does this man expect me to yell in a bookstore? I’m pretty sure I would be kicked out of other places for that kind of behavior, but I guess it’s a good thing this is an independently owned bookstore. Anything goes.

It’s well organized, each section being clearly labeled with the genre, and the books are on sturdy, handmade wooden shelves. It gives it a rustic, homey feeling. I should be curled up on a couch, in front of a fireplace, with a cup of hot chocolate and a book. Maybe they do book clubs here. That could be fun.

Thriller, non-fiction, fiction, YA. There’s something for everyone. I’m sure my jaw is on the floor when I round the corner, because on one of the fancy shelves, from floor to ceiling, is an LGBTQIA+ section. I trace my fingers across the spines, taking in this moment. It feels like I’m truly being seen for the first time. I squat down and start pulling every book off the shelf one at a time, trying to find just one. Just one. I haven’t read a book in so long, and I’m not sure how I’m going to feel while I’m reading it, but I don’t care.

I need to support this small business that supports me, even in a roundabout way, by carrying a book with gay main characters.

A black cover with a model with slicked back hair on the front catches my eye. K-pop and rockstar romance? Two of my favorite things. K-pop and gay romance? Sign me the heck up. I place it off to the side and keep thumbing through books.

I’m on the second shelf from the top, my pile of books has grown from one to five, and I need to stop. But I have to look at every book. I don’t want to miss out on one good one just because I’m impatient.

The sun has set outside, and I realize I’ve spent way longer here than I originally planned. I guess that’s one way to stall.

“Finding everything okay?” the deep voice from earlier asks behind me.

I close the cover on the book I’m currently looking at–a book about a blind man and his nurse–and place it in my pile. I glance over my shoulder, then I’m frozen in shock. Because standing in front of me is a man with dark brown hair, friendly eyes, and a face I would recognize in any nightmare I have.

Hunter.

Trent’s boyfriend.

The current hiccup in my plan to win said man back.

We stare at each other, and he looks at me quizzically. I realize he’s waiting for me to respond because he asked me a question.

“Yeah, I actually found more than I originally came in for.” I force a chuckle.

His face brightens when he sees my stack on the floor. “You have some really good options! Have you read any of them?”

Uh, why would I be buying them if I’ve already read them?

“Oh, um, right,” he says. “Sometimes, people just read on a device, instead of physical copies.”

I want to slap myself on the forehead, because of course I accidentally said the snarky, asshole comment out loud. He’s just trying to be nice. “I’m sorry, you’re right,” I say. “Are there any other ones you recommend?”

Does he not recognize me, does he not care? Did Trent ever tell him about me? The thoughts are battering at my brain while he bends over to pick up my stack and inspect it.

“These are all really good. Is there anything specific you were looking for? I just got in a few from a new author, but they’re more on the sad side.”

I scrunch my nose up at that, and he laughs lightly.

“Sad books are good,” he says, “as long as they end with a happily ever after. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve read and loved some books without a happily ever after, but I prefer when the couples end up together.”

Why does he have to be so likable, and so people-persony? It would be a lot easier to not like him and ruin his relationship with Trent if he didn’t seem so generous.

“Happily ever after? Like in fairy tales?” The thought piques my interest. Because everyone loves when Prince Charming saves the princess, but if it’s in the LGBTQIA+ section, that means anyone and everyone gets their happily ever after, with whoever the heck they want.

“Exactly like that, and sometimes the roads they take to get there are hard. That’s where the sadness comes in.”

Well, it looks like it’s about time for me to take my stack of books and learn how to get to the happily ever after. “Thank you, I’ll definitely have to come back and check out the rest of them.”

“Come by whenever. I’m the owner, but also the only employee, so if the door’s open, I’m here.” He carries my books for me to the checkout register and tells me about the new author he’s going to do a display shelf for while he scans and bags my things.

“Have a good night, Kian,” he says, following behind me and opening the door for me.

So he does know who I am, yet he still went out of his way to be nice to me.

I need him to be an asshole so that when I sabotage his and Trent’s relationship, I don’t regret it.

But he just gave me the tool I needed to figure out how to get to mine and Trent’s happily ever after.