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“What?” Nathan interrupted her thoughts, and she turned to look at him. He had paused halfway through putting a book on the shelf with his brows raised. She frowned.
“What?”
“You said something.”
“No I didn’t.”
“Yeah, you did. You asked, ‘why’.”
She paused. Did she? She had certainly thought it, but did she really say it out loud? Was she really coming undone by everything? “I don’t think so.”
“I heard it loud and clear.”
Caught. She didn’t technically do anything wrong, so why was she so embarrassed? She looked back to her shelving and used the advantage of him not seeing her flushed cheeks to decide how to proceed with this. Should she continue to play dumb, or should she grow back the backbone she lost and just ask him? Shewascurious—the questions pounded at her. He had answers—they might pound on him too. Maybe he wanted to say it as much as she wanted to hear it.
“Why were you upset?” she asked before she changed her mind. His face remained calm, even as he silently finished shelving the last book in his hand. If she was wrong about this, she would be pushing the buttons to the limits. “I mean, I’m sure being thought of as a cheater isn’t pleasant, of course, but I just didn’t take you as the type to care what other people think.”
He had agreed to fake dateherafter all.
He nodded but didn’t respond right away. He grabbed a few more books, but she didn’t do anything while she waited for his answer. “I don’t really care. I do, however, know how cheating affects people. I can take any other rumors, but cheating is something I won’t be associated with.”
“Were you cheated on?”
Nathan laughed and shook his head. “No. Well, not in the way you’re thinking.” Somehow, that left her with more questions, but she decided to let it rest and continued with her job in silence. “Now is it my turn?”
“What?” she asked.
“Do I get to ask a question now?”
Tully smiled into the shelf, relieved, and nodded. “Ask away.”
“Why do you do this?” he gestured his hands to the general area. The library, the shelves, the books. “Do you just really love being surrounded by dusty books?”
If he was expecting some deep philosophical answer, he was going to be sorely disappointed. She slipped another book into place. “For the volunteer hours. They look great on a college application.”
He was quiet for a surprisingly long time. Long enough that Tully thought he might have not heard her answer. But when she glanced towards him through the corner of her eye, she saw the contemplative twist of his face. “That’s a thing?”
“Of course it’s a thing. Colleges like grades and all, but other stuff is important too. The more you can brag about things you do, the better you look to prospective schools. Like your basketball. They love athletes. Especially smart ones.”
“Hmm,” he nodded. “So there’s a chance for me?”
“Keep getting those grades up and there is.”
He chuckled lightly and grabbed the last three books at the same time she was reaching for them, stealing them before she could get hold. He grinned, and she felt her chest lighten at the familiar teasing lift of the corner of his lips. After yesterday, she thinks she would do anything to keep seeing this side of him. “Then I’m lucky I have you.”
Thank God he turned away when he did. If he’d seen her smile falter, her chest flutter, and her cheeks brighten, she would be far too humiliated to stay next to him. She cleared a nervous phlegm from her throat and took charge of the now-empty cart. “I’m going to return this to Ms. Pritchard.”
Tully didn’t wait for an answer and walked past him towards the loans desk. She shook her head and tried her best to clear him from her mind, but she was finding it harder and harder every minute.
Something was wrong with her. Very, very wrong with her.
twenty-nine
nathan
The bowling alley was dark, lit by neon lights that made Tully’s white long-sleeve shirt and Nathan’s new socks glow blue.
Normally he would come on a weekend with his friends, sometimes some team members late at night after a game, but Tuesday nights at a bowling alley were busier than he expected. Families took up lanes, a group of older ladies cackled as one of them sent the ball rolling into the gutter, and there were some lanes occupied with students from Richmond High.
