5. Chapter Five
Chapter Five
Raif
R aif and his brothers never really get days off.
Running your own business is hard work, and with Raif being the one and only groundskeeper and handyman for the huge grounds the lodge covered meant he is always very busy.
But he tries once a month to sneak away for a few hours during the day to go to his favorite place, the library.
Now, most people would look at Raif and think he’d never set foot in a library, let alone enjoy reading.
But they were wrong. He might be six-foot-three, built like an ox with a big beard and long dark hair, but he’s gentle underneath.
He just didn’t let too many people see that side of him.
It was easier to be seen as gruff and uncaring than to let people see the real him.
The one who mowed the lawns of various people in town without being asked.
The one who took all the stray dogs to the vet in the next town, where they could be looked over and eventually adopted.
The one who hand-made trucks out of wood for the town’s kids at Christmas.
He kept those things to himself, just like his love of reading.
The closest library was in Juniper Springs, the next town over. It was a larger town with a rough history. It used to be nice, blossoming, and growing. Then a motorcycle gang came in and took over. The crime and drugs never really seeped over to Silver Lake.
As Raif pulls into the library parking lot, he lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding.
This is his happy place. Making his way inside, he easily passes by the librarian’s desk to the back corner where his favorite books are.
He’d already returned the books he’d checked out last time, and he’s just here to get one more, well, maybe two to three.
Romance. That is his secret love, romance novels.
He doesn’t care so much for the covers, big hulking shirtless men.
But he likes the stories. Men like him falling in love, getting married, having kids.
It’s seeing his dreams realized on paper, and he loves it.
He combs the shelves. Many he has already read, and he isn’t opposed to reading good books more than once, but he’s always in search of new authors.
He never purchased books from the store in town.
Judy, the bookstore owner, was always in everyone’s business.
When Salem, the auto repair shop owner, had purchased a self-help book, half the town knew before Salem got home.
When Lane went to get a baby book, everyone knew the young woman was pregnant.
Things in a small town never stayed quiet.
That’s why Raif makes the trek to Juniper Springs library.
There’s a self-checkout station where he can scan his card and check out the books he wants without anyone saying anything.
He pulls out a book by a new-to-him author and reads the back blurb.
A handsome CEO who’s rough and harsh falls for his secretary.
Raif isn’t the biggest fan of asshole characters.
He doesn’t understand why some people could be mean to those they care about.
He may have a growly exterior, but he’s always polite to the people he interacts with, well, mostly.
Tucking the book under his arm and pulling another favorite off the shelf, a historical romance, he goes to his normal chair in the corner.
He has an hour to kill before he has to head back and wants to spend it lost in a book.
He opens the first book and gets immediately engrossed in it.
He doesn’t hear anyone till a throat clears in front of him.
Slamming the book shut, he winces as he realizes he lost his place.
Kathy, the older librarian, stands there with her hand on one hip and a book in the other.
“Lost in another book, Raif?”
“Yes, ma’am.” He stands, tucking both books under his large arm, and goes over to Kathy and her book cart.
She’s always shelving books when he's there. She never commented on his reading materials, and for that, he’s grateful.
It’s his secret, and although he doesn’t think she would mock him or tell anyone, he still doesn’t want to talk about it with her.
“Help an old woman out and shelve these books for me, please, so I don’t have to go get the ladder.”
“Of course.” He takes the small pile she must have set aside for him to help with, and she pats his forearm gently.
He doesn’t know much about Kathy. She’d been the librarian since he was a small child and was probably in her mid-eighties now.
His mother was friendly with Kathy when he was growing up.
Even then, he used to love running around and piling up books in his hands, ranging from auto repair guides to old trucks and picture books for babies, he loved it all.
It was a surprise to him the first time he’d picked up a romance novel.
He must have been eighteen and was wandering around the library after his mom had dropped him off.
He went into the romance section, and a cover caught his eye.
He thought it was cheesy and laughed to himself.
But when he opened the book to a sex scene and got aroused, he wanted to know more.
He liked love stories. The build of the characters.
The blossoming of relationships. But he loved the sex scenes.
They made him feel free and connected at the same time.
Like he was part of the story, like it was him going through the motions.
More than one evening was spent at home with his hand on his cock while he read a particularly sultry scene.
It was better than watching porn, that's for sure. He didn’t like the fake noises, harsh lighting, and mediocre acting.
Books were something else, they transformed him.
Took him to a place of love and affection.
Where he could pretend it was him meeting his mate, that it was him falling in love, making love with his soul mate.
After he shelves the books for Kathy, he bids her goodbye and checks out his books, knowing he has to return in a couple of weeks to drop them back off.
It will be more than enough time to read them.
Even though the lodge keeps him very busy from sunup to sundown, his evenings are mostly free.
Sometimes his brothers will drag him out to one of their cabins to drink beer and play cards. But mostly he’s alone.