Page 83 of The Sound Of Us

She leans forward, looking back conspiratorially at Ben and then around at the crowd, before bringing her eyes back to mine. “I’ll deliver notes if you let me have the Garry Michael hardback.”

The reflexes in my face give me away before I even have a chance to deliver a denial of any kind.

“I mean, Pepper’s not the only one, right?” Casey’s eyes sparkle and she cocks her head to the next-door stall, where a delighted Pepper is lying flat on her back with Eli rubbing her belly.

“W-what?” I sputter, but it’s no use. So, I go with pathetic. “Hardback?” I ask in a tone pitched too high.

“Do you know how gorgeous hardbacks look on a bookshelf?” she asks in a low voice, looking back at Ben. I look too, to make sure he hasn’t caught us making deals in the front.

“C’mon, Axel. I already promised you the manager’s position when I get the bookstore. Just give me the hardback, make a plan with the stock control sheet, and I’ll square you up when I get my allowance.” She fidgets for a second and then adds, “In three months’ time.”

“You got your allowance taken away, too?”

Casey rolls her eyes. “I mean, do you people even understand math?”

“Us people?”

“Yeah, you great and mighty adult people. So I failed math, big deal. Ben manages the bookstore and I’ll bet even he doesn’t know what math is.”

“Uh, I—” I don’t even know what to say.

She grins. “Look, I’m not gonna say anything, okay? I’m a hopeless romantic and Eli Saxon is soooo hot and sweet and sexy, so I want him for you. But—”

She looks back at Ben. He’s nearly done. “But Ben is such a stick-in-the-mud gold star employee. He'll just say I already have the paperback, so I gotta do what I gotta do. You understand, right?”

“It’s not what you think,” I say desperately. We both stand in front of the sales table, facing the crowd. We must look like two secret agents exchanging new information at the park bench trying to look like we don’t know each other.

Casey laughs. “Bro, the way he looks at you? You’re lucky most of the town will be too drunk or too high soon enough to notice.”

My body trembles with fear. I’ve never been so grateful for my depressed, drug addicted community before.

“I’m not blackmailing you just for the sake of it, Axel. If I didn’t need the book, I’d still keep your secret. You have my full support, but like I said, I gotta do what I gotta do. So just give me the hardback and we can forget this whole conversation.”

I feel like the second half of a secret agent pair. The one who’s always late, or the one falling off the bridge and right into the enemy’s meet up place. The stupid one.

With a casual look over my shoulder to make sure Ben is at a safe distance away, I slide over the hardback she’s after.

Casey greets a few folks walking by and slides the hardback over the table and into her backpack.

“You look hot together, by the way,” she whispers. “You two must have the hottest sex, too.”

My eyes round. “Casey, you’re seventeen!” I hiss.

She laughs, backing away from the stall and slinging her backpack over her shoulder. “Dude, with the number of monster romances I’ve read, I’m freaking eternal.”

“And where are you going?” I call out as she walks backwards.

She pats her backpack. “I have some math homework. I’ll be over there by the oak tree.”

“Math homework, my ass,” I mutter.

“Hey, where’s Casey?” Ben drops a few books onto the table.

“She has math homework, apparently.”

“That’s a big fat lie.”

“Probably.”

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