Page 58 of Between the Lines

“Do you prefer tea? I’d like to make note for next time.”

“Next time?”

It comes out as a whisper, because this time hasn’t even begun, and already, he wants me back? He nods, then clears his throat, which I’m beginning to understand is a tell that he’s nervous.

“If you’d like.”

I offer him a tight-lipped smile and nod rapidly.

“Yeah. I’d really like that. Cocoa is fine, but I like herbal tea. No need to pick it up special though. I’m pretty low-maintenance.”

His lip tilts up as the lines around his eyes crinkle, and we settle into our books.

I don’t even notice the silence this time around. I’m nearing page one-hundred, and between the crackle of the fire and Nathan’s errant page turns, I think I have a new favorite soundscape. I’m so lulled into my story, cozied down into his big leather chair, that his chuckle startles me out of a near trance.

“What? What happened?”

His amused expression is one I don’t think I’ve seen before. He has his chin in his thumb and pointer finger, and the slow stroke reminds me of when he had that hand on me.

“You’re amusing when you read. Something exciting happening over there?”

I swallow, blink a few times.

“Yeah. The story is starting to pick up. It’s a lot of world building, but that isn’t slowing down the pace at all.”

“You’re liking it then?”

I nod. “I’ll definitely pick up the second one.”

“How far are you in the first one?”

“Uh, hold on, let me check…” I thumb over the bottom corner of my Kindle a few times. “Twenty-four-percent. It says I have four hours left. By the time I leave here, my parents will probably be asleep, so I can sneak back to bed and read the rest in peace without any problems.”

His brows bunch together inquisitively as his gaze travels from my face to my device. He shakes his head slowly.

“I don’t get how you can read on that thing.”

“You’re not the first,” I smile. “Idolove a physical book. But when the series starts at over four-hundred pages, and only gets bigger, I don’t want to be lugging them around. And besides, I’m on the go so much, this just makes my books easier to carry.”

“And when it dies?”

“Ineverlet Bertha get below forty-percent,” I say seriously. “I have a backup charger in my bag, and one in my car, for such purposes.”

“Bertha.” Nathan’s smile widens, and the short puff of laughter gives me butterflies.

“Don’t worry,” I say, lifting my tote from the ground and rifling around before I come up with what I’m looking for. “I also have my emotional support paperback just in case.”

He guffaws, and the tightness in my belly cinches.

“The Shiningis your emotional support paperback?”

“At least it isn’t about to disintegrate!” I jab back, indicating the book in his hand with the torn cover and dogeared pages. “I’m surprised moths didn’t fly out of that thing when you crackedit open.”

He licks his lips around his smile. “This is the oldest book I own. We’ve uh… we’ve been through a lot together.”

Suddenly, the light mood between us vanishes. A darkness washes over his eyes, like a shield dropping into place. I’m reminded of the man I see walking the halls at school, the façade he puts on for others that for some reason, he drops when I’m around.

Sometimes. Right now, I wonder what journeys he has shared with Frodo and Bilbo, and if he’ll let me in on them one day.

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