Page 4 of I Met Him At The Library

Ryan

My eyes widened as Emily walked into the bar behind Meghan. Her auburn hair was hanging straight and shiny around her shoulders. I bet it would feel soft if I pushed my fingers through it, the thought had my fingers flexing. Her lips were painted red, and even though she was across the room, her eyes were shining bright.

She walked in and everything else disappeared, until I realized I’d been staring at her for an uncomfortably long time. Blinking, I gazed down at my hands. They gripped my pint glass a little too hard on the table.

Levi chuckled next to me, and my head turned to him. “What?”

“You stopped in the middle of your sentence when Emily walked in. We thought maybe you were having a stroke or something,” Levi answered, before taking a sip of his beer.

I scowled at him as a mischievous smile spread across his face. His dark blue eyes shined, and I could practically see him trying to decide if he should continue teasing me.

Unfortunately, he had a point. I didn’t even remember what I was talking about before she entered. Emily was a flame, and I was a moth. I wanted to be in her light - to bask in it.

And I needed to get control over myself. She didn’t even know I existed.

Remembering what I was talking about, I resumed the conversation, “Anyway, my sister hasn’t hardly left her apartment since she moved here. I’m getting concerned.”

“You could always invite her out with us,” Preston remarked before taking a sip from his beer bottle.

“I have, she tells me she doesn’t want to intrude on ‘guy time.’ Or, she says she’s got too much work to do.”

“She’ll come around. Break-ups are difficult,” Levi said.

My sister, Lacey, had a nasty break-up with her boyfriend a few months ago and immediately decided she needed to get away from the western suburbs. She came to stay with me, and shortly afterward, she had gotten her own apartment and moved to Maple Creek permanently. Like me, she wanted to be someplace small and quiet.

Lacey was ten years younger than me, and at twenty-six, she needed time to refocus on what she wanted out of life. She went to school, graduated with a bachelor’s degree, and was working from home doing data entry. She needed time to heal from everything, but I was concerned she wasn’t making friends.

Maybe I could convince Trey to have his sister, and maybe Emily, go out with all of us. We could invite a few others to make it a large group thing. Looking at Trey to bring up the idea, a scowl darkened his face as he stared at the door.

“That asshole has some nerve walking in here,” Trey muttered.

We turned our gazes toward the door. Aaron Hill stepped through and his eyes scanned the dim bar before landing on a few people in the opposite corner from us. His dirty blonde hair was perfectly placed in his normal side part sweep which made him look like the douchebags I used to work with.

As he sat in the booth, he scanned the bar again with his normal smug grin. His eyes landed on our table, and he sneered before his eyes traveled to the bar, where Emily and Meghan sat. Preston nudged Trey when he practically growled under his breath.

Aaron moved his eyes back to his buddies and joined in their conversation. Glancing at Emily and Meghan, both of them continued chatting as though they hadn’t even noticed the little twerp's existence.

“I’m going to kill him one of these days,” Trey muttered.

“One day he’ll get what’s coming to him,” I responded and gave my friend a determined expression.

Aaron was a giant douche during high school, evidently. He got away with a lot of things because of his family name. Unfortunately, Aaron never had to deal with the consequences of his own actions, and people who grew up with him held a grudge because of it.

“I heard he and Sophie Hart are engaged,” Preston whispered.

“I still don’t understand how she could fall for him,” Trey murmured before sipping his beer and relaxing slightly.

“Did she really fall for him or was it a lack of other options?” Levi questioned.

My eyebrow raised as my head tilted. The Hart family were not a part of the founding families fan club, so it was a bit of a shock all around when Sophie and Aaron started dating. According to Levi, Sophie and her sister, Rosemary, were inseparable, until Aaron weaseled his way between them.

Aaron was Pastor William’s son, and Maple Creek Christian Church, or MCCC, basically ruled this town. Well over half the residents were members who attended at least one weekly service. Some of those members liked to look down on us heathens who didn’t attend church.

Rosemary, being a part of the outcast crowd, and Sophie by association, meant the coupling between Sophie and Aaron was huge gossip for weeks in the town. As far as anyone could tell, the Hart and Hill families were mostly happy about the union, even if Rosemary wasn’t.

“So when are you going to talk to Emily?” Trey asked, obviously trying to move the conversation away from his archnemesis.

My eyes traveled over to Emily who was laughing at something Meghan said. The corner of my mouth tugged up just seeing the joy on her face.

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