4. Teddy
FOUR
TEDDY
I’ve caught myself just staring at her too many times. I’m fine with being just friends, I really am. But goddamn, she looks good in the jeans and white button-up she’s rocking today. And I may have leaned a bit too hard into my desperation to know where that tattoo of the scale-feathered ma-something or other is located. She’s not helping, though. She says she has a boyfriend, but then she also seems kind of flirty. Maybe that’s just who she is. Maybe she’s like this with everyone. Or maybe I just want her to be flirty and so that’s how she’s coming across.
Then there is the ridiculous tote slung over her shoulder that is not helping me keep my mind firmly in the friend zone. “Readers do it by the book.” I stand beside her doing my best to look like I’m reading the back of a book when I’m wondering what exactly “it” implies.
“How does it sound…” She pauses, studying me. “Gavin?” She’s pushed her glasses back onto her head so clearly they are just for reading.
“Ugh.” I try to focus on the words in front of me. “I’m not sure,” I mutter, placing it back on the shelf. “It’s definitely one I’ll need to consider. And my name isn’t Gavin.” She lets out an adorable huff, and I secretly hope this is a game we get to play for a while.
“What’s your favorite show?” she asks out of the blue.
“ The Office .”
“Favorite band?”
“Shinedown.”
“Greatest fear?”
“Heights.”
“Your name?”
I level her with a look and slowly shake my head. Her mouth twists in frustration, and I let my gaze linger there for longer than I should.
“Favorite color?” she continues.
“Blue.” Specifically the color of her eyes, but I keep that to myself.
“Original.” She rolls her eyes. “Food?”
“Cauliflower.”
“Seriously?”
I smirk down at her and shake my head. “What’s your favorite show?”
“You haven’t answered my last question.”
“I will after you answer the ones you asked me.”
“Fine. Downton Abbey .” She looks up at the ceiling in thought, “Favorite band changes, but right now, Of Monsters and Men. I can’t stand blood. I adore green, specifically fresh sage leaf green. And nothing beats fresh-cut french fries from a chip truck with malt vinegar and too much ketchup.”
“Those are very specific answers.”
“Details matter, EG. Now spill.”
“I don’t have one.” I shrug.
“Who doesn’t have a favorite food?” She almost looks offended.
“Who doesn’t have a favorite all-time band?” I fire back.
“Me.”
“Well, there ya go.”
“Well, are there foods you hate?”
I shrug again. “Not really, but I’m sure there is something out there I haven’t tried yet. My family isn’t exactly adventurous when it comes to food.”
“Hmm.” She reaches for another book in front of me at crotch level, and I jump back like I’m afraid she didn’t see me and then she’ll think I moved there. If she notices me acting like a complete weirdo, she doesn’t acknowledge it. “Read this synopsis and let me know if it interests you.” She hands it to me and walks away. Maybe she did notice.
I did come here to get a book, but my reading comprehension seems to have fucked off because the words are not making sense to me. I read it over three times and then take out my phone to record the title. I’ll read about it online later. Maybe my brain will be cooperating by then. I slide it back into the spot Nellie had pulled it from and follow in the direction she went. She’s in the nonfiction section flipping through a large book about birds.
“My dad’s birthday is next month. Figured I’d get a jump on his gift.”
“He doesn’t have that one yet?”
She flips the book to the cover, her eyes narrowing through her glasses in concentration. “I’m 90% sure that he doesn’t. But that’s what gift receipts are for.” She smiles up at me and winks, and I can’t help but release a puff of a laugh.
“Did you just wink at me?”
She immediately looks embarrassed but laughs too. “Yeah, I don’t know where that came from. Everyone needs a creepy friend. Do you have one of those yet, Steven?”
“I think I do now. And nope.” I say, taking the book from her to look through it myself. It’s not what I’d look at and describe as easy reading. It has large and beautifully photographed images of birds, but the text is dense, like a textbook. “Doesn’t your dad know all of this stuff yet?” I ask, handing it back to her.
She shrugs. “Possibly, but these are mainly South American birds. He’s more of a North American raptor guy.” I must look confused because she clarifies further. “As in birds of prey. So eagles, hawks, falcons, birds that you wouldn’t want to be a small creature around.”
I don’t have the heart to tell her that I don’t have a whole lot of interest in being around birds as a 6’2” creature so I just nod in understanding.
“Did that book not interest you?” she asks when she sees that my hands are empty.
“Sort of.” I shrug. “I’m just trying to be good with my money. If they don’t have the book for my sister, I’ll consider it.” I send a silent prayer into the universe that they do have the book for my sister.
“I wish I had your self-control in a bookstore.” She laughs and leads me back to the historical fiction section, right to where Kate Culliver’s books are.
There are only two, but one is the book I’m after. “That’s her second.” Nellie points to the lone book left on the shelf. “It’s not exactly a series, but the characters from that book”—she points at the book I’m holding—“do make an appearance.”
“Is it the type of book I’ll want to start immediately?”
“I wasn’t ready to leave the world when I was done.” She gives me a sly smile. She has a boyfriend , I mentally chant.
“It feels a little like you’re trying to bring me over to the dark side, LG.”
“Who? Me?” She looks genuinely affronted. “I would never do that…” Her eyes na rrow. “Matthew?”
I shake my head. “Nope. And your face says differently,” I grumble as I reach for the second book. Before I can grab it though, she takes my hand and pulls it back. Goosebumps erupt across the surface of my body, and my eyes immediately go to where she’s got my fingers in hers. A guy could get used to holding her hand. I’m sure her boyfriend is. Lucky bastard.
“Actually,” she says, letting go of my hand, “I loaned out my copy to someone and never got it back. Do you mind if I get it for myself?” Do I mind? Hell no. I shake my head and watch as she grabs it and slips it next to the bird book.
I have the book I was looking for and she’s got what she was looking for, but I am not ready to head home. “I was thinking I’d see if they had the other author you recommended, um…” I’m blanking on the name, but I had looked the books up and they did sound good, so at least I won’t have to fake knowing what they’re about. “Maria…”
“Maira.” She laughs at my terrible memory for names. “Maira Sahni. Her books will be in the YA section. Follow me, sir.” I’ve been called sir once before, and it did nothing to me. “Sir” out of Nellie’s mouth has my entire body on high alert. Lord help me.
“Wait, YA?” I ask trailing behind.
“Young adult.”
“Oh, are we considered young adults?”
“How old are you? Twenty…”
“Two.”
“Well, technically no. We would be NA, new adult.”
“What’s the difference?”
“Ugh.” I can see the blush spreading across her cheeks, like watercolor added to a drop of water. It’s beautiful. “Usually NA has more mature themes.”
“Such as?” I can put two and two together, but friends tease each other, right ?
“Swearing, more gruesome deaths, um… sexual content.”
“Maira’s books are YA? So they lack swearing, gruesome deaths, and”—I lower my voice to a whisper and lean closer to her—“sexual content?”
Nellie glares at me in the most adorable way. “I’d classify her books as NA or even adult, but for some reason, they stuck her in YA. Still interested?”
“I was never not interested, LG, even if there was no swearing.” I smile smugly and earn myself an epic eye roll.
I follow the rest of the way, wordlessly trying to figure out a way to prolong the time with her. When we get to the right section, she pulls back and squints at the shelf. She leans in a bit and brings her glasses down. Or rather, she tries to, but the nose piece gets stuck in her hair. “Shit,” she says quietly.
“Let me.” I reach out and gently pull them free and for some reason, I cannot explain why, other than my hand going rogue, I run my hand over where pieces of her dark auburn hair have been pulled out of place before tucking a stray strand behind her ear. Her breath hitches causing alarm bells to go off in my brain as we make eye contact. What the actual fuck is wrong with me? That was a very non-friend move on my part. “You should get one of those chain things.” I mime taking glasses off and letting them hang around my neck.
“Really lean into the librarian look?” She adjusts her glasses and turns her attention back to the books. Her red cheeks do not go unnoticed.
“You could start a whole line for our generation.” I gently nudge her with my elbow like a friend would do.
“I’ll consider it,” she says absentmindedly. “Here.” She hands me The Forest of Despair , and I flip it over immediately to look at the price. It’s significantly cheaper than the replacement book for my sister.
“Why is this book half the price of this book?” I ask, holding up the historical fiction.
She shrugs as she slides her glasses right back into her hair. “I have no idea. Everything about it seems like it should cost more, eh? I mean there are twice as many pages, the cover is embossed, it’s a hardcover.”
“I didn’t expect to get a little lesson on the book industry while here, but I’m getting the impression that nothing makes sense.”
“Ah, so you’ve learned something on this trip north. Time well spent.” Her blue eyes sparkle up at me. Holy shit, I’m imagining sparkles now. At this rate I’ll be driving home with giant cartoon hearts obscuring my vision.
I nod because if I open my mouth I’m going to say spending time with her was more than worth it. Everything else is just a bonus.
“All set, David?” she asks, nodding down at the two books in my hand.
“Yeah, I think so.” I’m getting the second book. I shouldn’t, but I am. I’ll just forgo the after-game drinks tomorrow with my team. “And my name isn’t David.”