“You’re no bother. Just stay there.”
The phone clicked off and I ran my fingers through my hair. I hated disrupting her morning, but I had a feeling that even if I’d solved everything myself, Avery would send a fleet of Texans to help me.
I couldn’t help but wonder what it was like to havetwoboyfriends. I had so many questions, and all of them were entirely too nosy, along with a small dose of envy. Although, my bisexual ass didn’t want two boyfriends.
A girlfriend and a boyfriend though?
Maybe. After the hell of being with Justin, though, the last thing I needed was something serious. I’d already decided after our breakup that if the chance came up for me to have hot, kinky sex—I’d take it.
Getting my back blown out sounded like the perfect bandage for a broken heart.
Here, I reminded myself, no one knew me. No one knew me as the failure who lost her job, her apartment, and long term relationship.
I could start fresh. New and Improved Madi.
Maybe I’d even become a version of myself I actually liked.
CHAPTER TWO
Dallas
Fighting an old lady at 7:00 a.m. on a Friday was not the way I wanted to kick off my relaxing four-day weekend.
“Put the romance booksdown,” I snarled.
Ms. Carlson held three bodice rippers in her claws like a weathered pearl-clutching harpy. Her expression pinched as she glowered at me. It didn’t matter that she was at least a foot shorter and fifty years my senior, she had the look of a wrestler about to bodyslam their opponent in the ring.
“You can’t put these things out.” She waved the book at me. “What if a child picks one up?”
Why was that always the go-to argument? “Not my problem,” I said. “I’m not their parent. I’m not responsible for someone else’s child and what they read. This is my Little Free Library on my property, and if you don’t put the books back, then I’m going to call someone.”
“The whole point of your little library is totakethe books.”
“The point is that you take one and leave one, and if you leave another fucking Bible in place of the romance books, we’re going to have a problem.” At this point, I was convinced the woman had a bible wholesaler on call with the amount she had on hand.
Ms. Carlson’s glare became lethal, but it didn’t affect me the way she expected. This was my first weekend off in months. The shop was closed and I had nothing on my schedule except forresting. It had taken my sister and her boyfriends bullying me relentlessly (along with holding “you don’t want to be like Austin” over my head) to convince me to take this time off.
Needless to say, I was not in the mood to throw down with a fucking eighty-seven-year-old over the smut I carried in myfreelibrary. I was also certain she wasn’t ready for the conversation about how wonderful all of these books were. Or how hot.
“How dare you speak to me that way, Dallas Whynot!” she seethed. “You know, I used to?—”
“Babysit me, yes I know. I remember. You terrorized us then, and terrorize us now.” I grabbed hold of the three books and simply plucked them from her grip. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you wanted all these books because you enjoy reading them. If I remember correctly, I think I even spotted one in your purse last week when I dropped by Avery’s art class.”
Her cheeks turned red. “I would never read thatfilth.”
“Thou doth protest too much.” I made sure to enunciate every word excruciatingly clear. “You are welcome to take one if you’d like to read it. Which will it be? How about the one about a millennial and a minotaur with a big?—”
“Your momma did not raise you right,” she growled. “You Whynots think you can do anything since the town is your namesake. But ever since your daddy died, nothing has been the same.”
I ignored the jabbing pain her words caused. “Would you rather the dark stalker romance where he wears a mask? Or the book about two college swimmers doing kinky stuff together? Both of those at least have humans, but they’re stillwonderfullyhot.”
I was being an asshole, sure. But it was too early for this shit. Ms. Carlson scoffed, but surprised me by snagging the dark stalker romance from my grip. My brows shot up as she angrily shoved a bible into the little red box and marched across my lawn to her car.
Well, then. I hadn’t expected her to be a dark romance reader. I plastered on a smile and waved at her, chuckling as she flipped me off before stomping on the gas. The tires peeled out dramatically and I shook my head.
She literally lived a block away from me.
The moment she was out of sight, I raked my fingers through my hair and returned the books. I spent a minute reorganizing the two small shelves of the wooden box until it was neat and organized. This box was just a fraction of the books I owned, but I loved the amount of people I saw stopping by to pick one out.
