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Lark laughed. “I don’t think I need that much whipped cream. But I like the sentiment anyway.”
She leaned forward to kiss me. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
* * *
“Should we do something today?”she asked. “I feel like I’ve only gone to work and then come home.”
We’d finished our breakfast and were just wrapped around each other on the couch, as usual.
“We could go on a book crawl,” I said.
“What’s that?” I was surprised Layne or Honor hadn’t told her about it.
“It’s like a pub crawl, but we go to different bookstores and buy a book at each one. I can’t remember if Layne or Joy came up with it, but we do it every time we go on a trip. Except for the last trip, because we were in the middle of fucking nowhere.” The cabin had been nice, but there was a distinct lack of civilization.
Lark sat up, her blue eyes bright. “That sounds fun, can we do it?”
I ran my fingers through her hair. “We can do whatever you want, my little burrito.”
* * *
I wasn’t usuallythe planner for things like the book crawl, so Lark decided she wanted to plan our route. The destinations weren’t important to me, and the books were almost superfluous to spending time with Lark. Since she was deciding where we were going, I agreed to drive. The forecast was clear with zero snow or rain, so it was a perfect day for a drive.
I packed up my bag with snacks and drinks for the road and Lark bounced over when she was ready.
“You are very excited about this trip,” I said.
“It’s our first roommate road trip,” she said, and for some reason, the word “roommate” made my stomach churn a little bit. I’d probably eaten too many pancakes.
“Let’s go,” I said, taking her hand.
* * *
Lark wasthe perfect road trip companion. She let me be in charge of what we listened to, she told me when the turns were coming up, even ahead of the GPS, and she always said something interesting. As a bonus, she held the snack bags open for me so I could eat with one hand and keep driving.
Our first stop was a store I’d been to before but was one of my favorites. Located in a brick building in a town about twenty minutes away from Arrowbridge, it had an odd and eclectic selection, with a weirdly high amount of true crime about women murdering their husbands. Didn’t know what that was about, but they had a great cozy mystery section, so I was happy.
“Okay, help me find a book,” Lark said as we got out of the car after parking at a meter down the street from the shop.
“We’ll find you a book, don’t worry,” I said as I fed the meter and made sure my car was locked. Lark skipped onto the sidewalk and then took my gloved hand in hers, swinging our arms together.
I thought back and couldn’t remember ever holding hands with someone like this. At least not someone that I’d slept with. I might have held Joy or Layne’s hand to be funny, never like this.
Lark chattered away, telling me about her book selecting process as she kept swinging our hands together.
She had no idea that thoughts were completely exploding in my brain.
Holding hands with Lark as we walked down the street was… I loved it. Even though I couldn’t feel her skin against mine, the warmth of her hand washed over me and I couldn’t stop smiling.
She held the door for me, and we walked into the three-story shop. The space was cramped, but that was all part of the charm.
Lark went for the bestseller table first, and I was just along for the ride. I let her drag me up and down each floor, trying to decide what she was going to get. I even grabbed a basket to carry around her potential selections. Lark seemed to want options before she made her final choice.
By the time we’d made it through all the shelves, she had five potential selections in her basket. I’d picked up the first two cozy mysteries from a new-to-me author, so I was set.
“Okay,” Lark said as we sat at a table in the small café on the second floor. She held up the first choice, a non-fiction book about someone who had escaped a religious cult.
