AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Nathan was near the end of the line, running out in his white jersey with electric purple trim that matched the jacket she wore. She’d bet he would be very proud to know what she’d just done—a fast learner, just like he said.
He did what the other players did, ran a lap, and hyped up the crowd. His eyes searched up and down through the students, and it took Tully embarrassingly long to realize that he was looking for her. He saw her just as he was passing, and the surprise on his face made her snort softly in amusement. It was obvious he hadn’t expected her to be up front with the other girlfriends, and she hadn’t expected it either.
His surprise was quickly washed away as a grin took over, and he winked at her. She felt a row of heads spin toward her, and she gripped the hem of his jacket for strength.
She wondered if Nathan could tell the smile she gave him was real.
nineteen
tully
“What are you doing here on a Friday, girl?”
Tully paused her shelving to look at the librarian who had appeared at the end of the shelf she was working on. She held up the two books in her hand. “Putting books away. What does it look like?” she shrugged, and a soft smile tugged at the corner of her lips.
Mrs. Pritchard frowned, deepening the weathered lines on her face even further. “I thought we agreed on Tuesdays and Thursdays.”
“We did. But as it turns out, I’m staying late for the game in an hour and I could use a few extra service hours.”
Mrs. Pritchard’s nose crinkled, and though she frowned, Tully knew that she wasn’t actually upset. She just wasn’t expecting her. “Well, what am I supposed to do now? You’re almost done so now I have nothing to do.”
“Go home early, enjoy the weekend. You could use it,” Tully said and slipped her book in between two others.
Pritchard mumbled something under her breath that Tully couldn’t quite make out and walked away. But if she had a guess, she would think it was a hesitant thanks. Mrs. Pritchard liked her even if she liked to pretend that having a free, consistent, and reliable shelving assistant was a burden, underneath all those scowls, she loved Tully and Tully knew it. It would be hard not to when they spent so much time together since she started shelving books for her in her freshman year. A great way to get service hours for college applications and a great way to fill her time when she didn’t want to go home.
“There you are, angel.” Tully didn’t need to look to see who found her pushing the cart around the shelf, but she paused anyway and immediately glared before she turned to look at Nathan. He was back in his basketball shorts and jersey, and his hair looked a little damp from sweat like he’d just been running around the gym. “Stephanie said you would be here.”
“Shouldn’t you be getting ready for a game?”
“I could ask you the same thing,” he stepped up, and looked down at the almost empty cart. “You should be claiming your seat to cheer for your boyfriend, not reading books.”
She shot him a sharp look and put one of the books on the shelf a little too hard. “For your information, I’m not reading these books. I’m shelving them,” she punctuated by putting another one on the shelf. He nodded slowly.
“You do that often?”
“Usually on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Today I’m only doing it for you.”
“Me?”
“Your game,” she clarified. “To kill time so I can go to your game.”
He nodded. “Should I save your spot in the front row?” He was teasing her. Even though he was pretending to be serious, his lips were twitching to give away the smile he was trying to hide. She could make an educated guess that what he really wanted to do was ask about her sitting on the front row during the pep rally.
“I’ll sit wherever is open.”
He snorted, and she avoided his eyes. Out of the corner of them, she saw him pick up one of the books, look it over, and then slide it onto the shelf. She scrunched up her face and looked at him. “What are you doing?”
He ignored her and picked up another book, looked at the spine, looked at the shelf, and slid it in between two others. “The game starts in twenty minutes. I’m making sure you won’t be late because of all these books.”
She snatched the next one out of his hand. “Don’t worry about me. Go warm up or whatever. I can manage this on my own.”
He crossed his arms and clicked his tongue disapprovingly. “Now, now. That is no way to thank your boyfriend for his help.”
“I don’tneedyour help. Now go.” She flicked her fingers to shoo him away like a dog. “I’ll thank you if you win this game.”
He grinned over his shoulder. “You better keep that promise.” It wasn’t a promise, just an encouragement to get him to leave. She didn’t care if they won or lost.
“Yeah, yeah.”
