I pick up my books, heading towards the check out area. That was an interesting encounter, but it was sweet. I put my books on the counter as I scratch my head, “These please,” I look at Percy behind the counter.
“Another stack?” He questions as he smiles, starting to check out my books. I nod, “Yeah,” he nods, “You seem to like the author,” I nod as I pick up the book, “It’s a good book,”
“You have two already….Jordan Prince huh? Seems like a good author,” I hum as I pick up the books, “That’s the newest one,” I point to the book he scans.
“Valley of Sorrow’s, sounds sad,” He sets the book down, “There ya’ go,” I nod, “Thanks,” I pick it up, putting it on top of the stack, “Cya tomorrow,” I’ll most likely finish some of these tonight.
“Bye, oh yeah, that guy and his boy...his last name is Prince, think it would be him?” He wiggles his eyebrows. I shrug, “Who knows,” Percy waves me off, “Bye,” I wave as I leave. I spent the rest of the night reading, getting through three books and half of Valley of Sorrow’s. I let out a sigh as I check the time. 2:35 am. I close the book and rub my eyes, yawning. It’s not really surprising it’s this late, the books were pretty good. I stay on the couch, pulling a cover on top of me. I wonder what’s going to happen next in the book.
I wake up, rubbing my eyes and checking my phone, 12:35 pm. I get up, picking up my books and setting them on the table. I have a quick breakfast and get my books again, taking a cover with me. I already know it’s going to be cold in there. I walk down to the library, opening the doors. Some of the staff say good afternoon as I make my way to where I usually sit. I set all of the books on the table, taking out Valley of Sorrow’s, opening it to my page. As I was reading, my eyes starting to feel droopy and I was out like a light.
I feel someone tap my hand softly, I yawn and move my head, rubbing my eyes, “Yes?” I see the boy from yesterday smile, wave than point to Valley of Sorrow’s.
“The book?” I question as I rest my head in my palm. The boy nods and goes back to the guy from yesterday, he pulls on his sleeve and points in my direction. The guy blinks and moves his hat, he walks over and tilts his head. The boy points at the book again. I scratch my head as I hold onto my cover. The guy looks at the book and smiles “Like it so far?” I nod, “Yeah,”
“Where are you at?” the guy asks as he eyes the book. I look down at the book, “Middle,” I estimate, looking at the number of pages I have left.
“So...where Sebastian is in the Valley tryin’ to figure out how to use the power of the water, I’m guessin’,” I nod. I’m not that much farther than that. The boy giggles, “Book 1,” he makes a number one with his finger; the guy raises an eyebrow.
“What do you think will happen next?” the guy asks as he pets the boy. I look down at the book, “I don’t know, that’s what the joy is when I read it,”
“So you like it so far?” I nod again, looking back up at the guy. I really have to stop referring to them like that.
“Nice,” his voice clips, he licks his lips and shuffles his feet, “I’m Liam, the troublemaker here is Jake,” the boy smiles and nods.
“Owen,” he nods “I hear Jordan is comin’ out with the next book,” I hum, “Yeah, it should be good,” I don’t usually speak this much to others. Liam smiles as he gives the boy—Jake, his fedora.
“Well then, I gotta get back to writin’, Jake you stayin’ or comin’?” Jake looks at me and nods, sitting next to me. Liam chuckles and nods. I look at Jake and smile lightly, “Did you get a book yet?” he shakes his head, “I like to watch Uncle write his books,”
“What books does he write?” he blinks and points at Valley of Sorrow’s and other book called “Water’s Song,” I nod my head, “Cool” I’m going to assume that this is true and his uncle's pen name is Jordan Prince.
Jake sniffs and shrugs, he plays with the tips of my hair. I laugh a little, reading. He slides off the pops his head in front of the book, he looks at me and grins. I laugh lightly, sitting up. He sits on my lap and puts his head on my chest, still grinning. I wrap the cover around us, “Wanna read with me?” I ask as I point to another book. He nods and snuggles in my lap. I open the book to the beginning, resting my head on his as I look down at the page, “Just flip the page when you’re done, okay?” he nods. As we read he yawns softly, his eyes get big. I cover my mouth as I yawn after him, “Tired?” he nods “You’re nice,” he slurs and buries his face in my chest. I laugh lightly as I rest my head on his, holding onto the cover.
He falls asleep quickly, Liam comes over a few minutes after and smiles softly. I close the book I was reading, keeping the one Jake and I was reading open. He sits next to me and runs a hand in Jake’s hair “He likes you,” I nod lightly as I place my book on the table, “He’s very nice,” I say softly. Liam nods and looks at me, his eyes flick between my eyes. I yawn again, rubbing my eyes.
I hear Liam clear his throat and rub Jakes head “C’mon bud, time to go,” Jake wakes up and looks up at me. I smile down at him. He smiles tiredly and hops off my lap, giving a loving look to Liam and takes his hand.
“Thank you,” Liam smiles at me. I shake my head, “It was nothing,” I look down at Jake, “I’ll save the book page if you want to read it again,” I smile. He nods and smiles. He looks up at his uncle “You finish book 2?” Liam nods “I did,” I should probably finish Valley of Sorrow before that one is published, or released to the library.
“Can I read it?” Liam looks surprised at first and gives a small smile “This one has stuff you can’t read,” I laugh a little, this series isn’t really for him. He huffs then nods and smiles. I rest my head on my palm, “It was nice reading with you,” I smile and wave a little.
Jake nods and sniffs. I feel a hand on my head, making me put my hand over his as I look up at him. Liam looks at me and tilts his head, “Thank you, truly, maybe I’ll let you read my manuscript before it’s published,” he takes his hand off my head and beings walking away with a confused Jake. I laugh as I got back to my book.
I still the feel the heat from where Liam put his hand on my head. He’s very warm.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I feel someone tap my hand, I look over my cover seeing Jake, “Hey,” he smiles and waves.
“How are you?” I ask as I rest my hand on my palm.
“good, chu?” I smile, “I'm good, didn't get much sleep, these books are really good,” he nods and sits on my lap. I see Liam coming over, a small smile on his face “Hey,” I wave, “Hey,” I turn back, picking up the book me and Jake started. He sits next to me, I feel his body heat next to me. I feel myself relax as I open the book, “Want to read again?”
Jake nods and leans into me, Liam gets closer and tilts his head; a smile on his face.
“Flip the page whenever you’re ready,” I say softly as I rest my head on his, looking at the book, reading.
Jake turns the page and sniffs, he sneezes softly; making Liam give a rich chuckle, “Bless you,” I say quietly, reading.
“Tank chu,” he cringes and sniffles, Liam pats his head and fixes his hat. Jake takes Liam’s hat and puts it on, making me laugh a little. I look at Liam, done with the pages I read. Liam looks at me and smiles, his blue eyes shining as his gaze flickers down then back up. Jake turns the page and I look back, going back to reading.
Jake looks up at me and makes his nose twitch. Is he… is he a bunny? I smile a little. He takes off Liam's hat and puts it on my head, “Now you’re like Uncle,” I laugh lightly.
“Thank you,” he gives a pleased smile.
“You have a nice laugh,” I hear Liam say softly. I tuck some hair behind my ear as I look at him, “Thank you,” he smiles “You’re welcome,” I hear Jack giggle as he looks at us. I look back down at him, “Are you almost done with the page?”
“I am, you guys look like you guys were flirtin’ it was cute,” I look at Liam, “What books does he read?”
“Any that I write,” I put a hand over my mouth as I try not to laugh.
“What?” I shake my head, “Nothing, it’s nothing,” He really lets him read those books? Liam blinks “C’mon tell me,” I shake my head, “It’s nothing, really,” I say as I flip the page.
“It has to be somethin’ to make you laugh,” he smiles.
“Nothing much,” I feel a hand on my head, “You sure?” I nod, “Yeah,” I give a light smile. He slides his hand done the side of my face, he stares at me. His hands are warm. He tilts his head and his gaze flickers down. I look back down at the book, his hand still on my face. He moves his hands off my face to my neck then off. I keep reading as the warmth leaves me. He’s so much warmer than the cover. I look down at his hand and put it on top of my head, looking back down at the book, reading as Jake turns the page.
I feel Liam run a hand through my hair, making me put my head on Jakes as I read. I feel Liam move his hand down to my neck, I feel my eyes get heavy as I try to read. I wish I got more sleep last night. The last thing I saw was Jake turning a page before I fell asleep.
I feel someone tap my shoulder, making me open my eyes slightly, “Hmm?”
“We’re goin’,” I nod as I yawn, opening the cover for him to get up, “Sorry I fell asleep when we were reading,” he shrugs, “It’s fine, you goin’ to be here tomorrow?” he yawns at the last word. I think about it, I probably have to turn in a draft before my editor kills me. Maybe I can just work down at the library so I can read when I get bored, “Yeah, but I’ll probably be in the section with all the bean bags,”
Jake looks at me and nods “Uncle...when are we goin’ to make the cover?” Liam tilts his head “Dunno, probably tonight. You know it takes me forever to make the covers with all the software on my computer,” I rub my eyes, “Which software are you using? That’s probably the problem,” I yawn.
Liam looks at me “Front Raiders,”
“Yeah, that’s the problem, that’s not the best one to use if you want to make covers, I used it for a little bit and it kept crashing as I worked. Try Delta Tech, it’s plan is better and it’s a lot more functional,” I say as I stack my books. I don’t usually talk that much about anything. Liam nods “Thanks, c’mon Jake,” Jake frowns and takes my hand. I look at Jake, “What is it Jake?”
“Come with us,” I look at him surprised before I smile at him, “Maybe next time,” I ruffle his hair. He sniffles and nods, “Okay,” Liam chuckles and looks at me, “Thank you for spendin’ time with him,”
“You don’t have to thank me,” I say as I stand up, yawning as I pick up my books.
“We should talk sometime,” Liam says while looks at Jake. I hum, “Sure,” he takes out his phone. I look down at his phone, where did I place my phone again? I put my books down as I pat my pockets, “I… lost my phone,”
“Let’s find it then,” I nod as I look around my area, looking under the table. Liam looks around the library “found it,” I take it in my hands, “Thank you, I keep losing it,” I say as I look down at the phone, turning it around.
“Really?” he chuckles, I nod, “Yeah, I sleep a lot and I forget where I place things,”
“Huh…” I look back up at him, “What is it?”
“Nothin’,” I nod my head. We exchange numbers and I pocket my phone, picking up my cover and books.
“You got it?” I nod slightly, “I think so,” he gives a soft chuckle “Do you read these all night?”
“Mhm,” I hum. He tilts his head “How’d you like Valley of Shadow’s?”
“It was really good,” I actually have to return that one, mostly the reason why my stack is so big, “Anythin’ you didn’t like?” I look up as I think about it, “Hmm… I don’t know, I really liked the characters,” Liam smiles “Did you? I did too,” Is he… complimenting his own book? I smile back, “That’s good to hear,”
“I just wish the book would get published faster,” he rolls his eyes and shakes his head. He really is talking about his own book, “I’m okay with the wait if they rush the quality won’t be as good,” I say as I place my books on the counter, waiting for them to be checked out and returned.
Percy looks at Liam then looks away “How ya’ doing today?”
“Good, you?” I ask as I separate the books I want to check out and the ones I’m returning.
“I’m alright, how are you doing today Mr. Prince?” he looks at Liam with a weird look on his face.
“Fine,” a tense fills around them. I ignore the atmosphere, “I’m returning these” I point to the right stack. Percy nods, “How was Valley of Shadow’s?”
“Really good,”
“You start on Water’s Song?”
“I finished that first,” It should be in that stack, probably at the bottom.
“Ah, I see it. Was it good? People said it was good,” I nod, “Yeah, it was,” I feel something tug on my pant leg, making me look down at Jake. I give him a smile and ruffle his hair as I look back up again.
“What was it about?” He always asks me what the books are about, it always involves a long answer, “A guy who could sing, he got into an accident and he went looking to find the culprit,” I give a brief description.
“And did he?” I shrug, “Read the book to find out, I tell you that every time,” he huffs “Aw, come on Owe,” I shake my head, “That ruins the book,”
“But….but…” I shake my head, “Check out my books,” I ask as he had stopped after returning the other ones. He grunts but compiles, I hear a snicker behind me. I look back at Liam, he smirks and tilts his head.
“Hey… Mr. Prince?” Liam raises an eyebrow “Yes?”
“Do you know Jordan Prince?” Liam looks around, “No,” He is Jordan Prince. I shake my head, picking up the books he has already checked out.
“Really? You guys have the last name,” Liam shrugs as Percy finishes my last book.
“Doesn’t mean I know him,” I place the last book on top, “People can have the same last name and not know each other, you have a common last name too,” Percy scowls, “whatever,” Liam scuffs, “C’mon Jake, see you tomorrow Owen,” I wave bye, “Bye Liam, bye Jake,”
Jake waves, Percy huffs. I give him a questioning look as I hold all of the books in my arms.
“I don’t like him,”
“Why?” I said absentmindedly, looking at the back of a book I checked out. I look back up at him, his face pink. He says something I didn't catch, “Hmm?”
“Cause…..he’ll….just nevermind,” I look at him for a little bit before I nod slightly, “Okay?”
“He’ll take you away from me….”
“What does that mean? I come to the library all the time,” he gets up and moves around the desk “That’s not what I meant,” I rest half of the weight of the book on the desk, “Percy?” He doesn’t usually come from behind the counter, Gale had yelled at him last time.
He purses his lips “I like you,” I nod my head slowly, “Okay…” I hold my books again.
“Do you understand what I mean Owen?” I nod my head again. He bites his lip and goes back around the desk. I guess I know that now. I scratch the back of my head, “That’s… very flattering,” he shrugs.
“I should be heading out now, Night Percy, tell Gale I said night too,”
“Yeah,” his voice clipped. I made my way back home, setting my books down on the table. I didn’t expect a confession today. I let out a sigh as I make a quick dinner, going back to the living room and read a book as I eat.
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