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I pull her to me, hug her. I bury my face in her neck and breathe in her fresh scent, trying to control myself. My eyes are burning. “Thank you.”
***
I admit I don’t believe she’ll do it until she seats me down after Donna has left and asks me for a list of the books I need to read, then finds one of them in the shop and hands it over to me.
“Read me some,” she orders me softly, and I have no choice but to do as she asks.
Because she wants to help, and even if my chest feels too tight with shame, I nod and open the book on the first page.
When I first stumble over a word, I freeze, my finger pressing into the page until it’s bloodless. The second time, I stop and swallow hard.
“You have a nice voice,” she says, and I glance up, finding her kneeling on the floor, at my feet. I jerk a little, but then her words sink in.
“My voice?”
“Mmm. Love it.”
That makes me grin like an idiot, and I duck my head. “I suck at this.”
“Not really. Just read that word again. Happens to everyone.”
No, it doesn’t. But when she drapes her arm over my leg and props her chin on it, looking up at me with wide eyes, I do it, just to feel her there.
I stumble over more words, and she repeats them with me, tickling my knee with her hand. I’m so distracted by that I forget to resume reading until she pokes me in the ribs with her other hand.
“This is a boring book, isn’t it?” she says after a while, and I put it down, my stomach dropping.
I was dreading this moment when she’d lose interest. Give up. I didn’t think it would come quite so quickly, but it makes sense.
“Sorry.” I close the book. “I’m just stupid, I told you. This has to be damn annoying, and a waste of your time. I’ll just—”
She lifts up on her knees and puts a hand over my mouth. My brows shoot up. Her hand smells of ink and roses. I give it an experimental lick, to see what it tastes like.
Salty.
“Ew!” She snatches her hand back and laughs. “You licked me.”
“I want to lick you all over,” I admit, then snap my mouth shut.
Not the time.
My fingers start drumming on the book, and the heaviness returns to my chest.
I start when she pulls at the book, prying it free from under my hands. “It’s a boring book. Not you, Jet. The book. If you say you’re stupid ever again, I’m going to lick you back.”
“You promise?” I try for a lascivious grin, but my heart is pounding. I watch her as she gets to her feet, glancing at the shelf closest to us. “What are you doing?”
“I think we should start with something more fun.” She trails her fingers over the colorful spines of stacked books, her lips moving without a sound. “Something like… this one.”
She pulls it out and returns to her place at my feet. She plonks the book in my lap. “Read for me?”
I stare at her, then at the book. “Harry Potter?” I frown at it. “There were movies with this, right?”
“Yes, but the books came first. Have you read them?”
Is she kidding me? I shake my head. “Isn’t it for kids?”
“No, it’s for those who don’t want to grow up.” She smiles, and my heart is pounding even harder. My chest hurts.
