The Bookstore
‘Try not to miss me too much.’ I gave Loki a playful wink. We were finally on a plane leaving Iowa to be a distant memory.
‘If you’re worried about me missing you, we could always transition our sleeping arrangements to the compound’ he teased back.
I gave a short dry laugh, ‘in your dreams.’
‘Actually, in yours. Don’t worry, I haven’t forgotten about the sleep talking’ he smirked.
I groaned, ‘you’re never gonna let that down are you?’
‘Oh not a chance. I love the blush on your face when I mention it. It must have been quite the dream for you to get so flustered about it.’
‘I told you I don’t even remember it, probably because it involved something nightmarish. So horrible my own brain wanted to forget it.’
‘And I told you, you definitely didn’t sound like you were frightened.’ His smirk never left his face as I rolled my eyes.
‘I can’t wait until you forget about this.’ I huffed out.
He leaned into my ear, tucking my hair back slightly, ‘dear, you moaning my name like that is something that I never want to forget the sound of.’ A bright blush the shade of ‘kill me now’ heated my cheeks.
‘Well you better hold onto that memory tightly, because that will be the only time that happens.’
He laughed as he pulled away from me, ‘there’s the blush I was looking for.’ He said before he turned back to his book.
Kill. Me. Now.
***
The joy I felt when I flopped onto my own bed back at the compound was indescribable. I let out a breath that I had been holding in since the moment I walked through the motel front door.
I know quite a few people will want to chat me up with small talk. I dreaded that. I might have to self isolate in my room just to get a few nights of peace for myself.
As introverted as a person I was, it did feel a little strange to go back to being alone after sharing a shoebox with someone for the past two days.
I was actually starting to like Loki. He still got under my skin, but being around him was starting to feel less like a chore. I know if I admitted that to him he would be insufferable.
A knock on my door interrupted my thoughts, ‘yeah?’ I answered.
The door opens and Loki stood there, leaning against the entrance with his hands in his pockets.
I lifted myself up onto my elbows, ‘miss me already?’ I quipped with a smirk.
‘Hm, I don’t miss that attitude. I seem to have exhausted the entirety of the compounds readable material. I was seeing if you could point me in the direction of that bookstore you said was a few blocks from here? I doubt you’d have anything worth my time in your personal collection.’ He said this as he lazily browsed my book cases, pausing to occasionally pull a book by the spine to inspect and then put back.
‘One, people find my attitude quite charming. Two, we’ve been back for all of ten minutes and you’re already pulling me out of my bed? I was really looking forward to the nap I was going to take.’ I huffed and pulled my elbows out from underneath myself to fall back onto my back.
‘I never said you had to come with me. I’m very capable of doing things by my self.’ I couldn’t help but notice that he looked a little disappointed.
‘Okay,’ I huffed, ‘let’s get going before it gets dark. Grab you jacket it’s a bit cold out there.’ I dragged myself off the bed and throwing on a scarf and coat.
His eyes gave a small glimmer of emotion that made me think he was happy that I decided to step out with him, ‘fantastic.’
I loved this bookstore. It’s colour palette was a mixture of greens and browns, blending together in a smoky haze. Plants littered every spare inch of the shop that wasn’t covered in books. It was a maze that I could easily get lost in between the isle.
‘So, what are you into? Murder mystery, science fiction, classic lit, historical fiction?’ I asked Loki as I grabbed his hand and gently further into the store. He seemed cautious and quizzical, with his eyebrows stitched together. ‘You seem like the serious type. Jane Austin and stuff.’ I looked to him for any confirmation, but his face didn’t change. He just watched me.
So I continued to pull him along, one hand in his and another grazing the book spines as we walked.
I pulled a book and handed it to him. He raised an eyebrow and started to inspect it. Before he could look too hard at it, I stacked another into his hands.
I started with classic things that I thought he’d like, then added some newer ones that went well with the rest to start branching him out to things that were written this century.
As I piled the sixth book into his arms when he asked, ‘what do you like?’
I hummed, thinking. ‘A lot of different things, I’ve been reading a lot of fiction thrillers lately.’
He gave a short laugh, ‘that somehow doesn’t surprise me.’
I browsed the thrillers and pulled out the one I was looking for, ‘here, this is the one I’m reading right now. Nineties, women travelling alone, surviving the night trying not to be murdered by a serial killer.’ I added it to the stack.
He furrowed his brow, ‘I don’t understand how you could possibly get anything out of that.’
I laughed, ‘you’re not reading it to expand your mind, you read it for the thrill. That’s why they call it thriller.’ I gave a teasing eye roll.
He looked at me. He was smiling. It wasn’t a mischievous smile, it was plain. I didn’t see that very often from him. I liked it.
I liked that I made him smile like that.