Page 71 of Bookworm

I thought back to that brief moment of him laughing.

"Like when the sun comes out after a storm."

With that, I walked away.

I was practically skipping I felt so buoyant. Aspen hadn't gotten to me (much), and her friends were nice. Chalk one up for weirdos everywhere, I thought. If I had a soundtrack, Iwould've thrust my fist into the air.

"Gorgeous, huh?" a voice said so close to my ear that I almost tripped.

"Stryker," I gasped, turning to face him, a hand on my heart. "What the heck? Where did you come from?"

"I was waiting for you," he said.

"Well, don't do that."

"Do what?"

"Sneak up on people, all quiet and stealthy like a ninja," I said.

"Guess it's a good a thing you weren't on a ladder this time," he said.

"Funny."

"So"—Bo lifted a brow, and I saw that his eyes were alight with something—"you think my smile's gorgeous."

"I mean,you're no Ian Mackenzie. But it's okay," I hedged, continuing to walk with him.

"Who's Ian Mackenzie?" he asked, and his smile was nowhere in sight.

I scrunched my brows. "He's the main character of that book you checked out a couple weeks ago.The Madness of Lord Ian Mackenzie.Didn't you read it?"

"Ah," Bo said. "Nah, ran out of time."

"Well, you could see if it's available," I said. "Though it's one of my favorites, so I recommend it a lot."

"I'll keep that in mind. Now back to my gorgeous smile."

"Eh, it's alright."

"That's not what you said."

I huffed. "Yes, but that's because I'm playing the part."

Bo cut his eyes at me.

"Oh my gosh, fine! You have a nice smile."

"I know," he said, and I couldn't help but laugh.

"Was there some reason you were waiting?" I asked.

Bo cocked his head. "Thought we were meeting."

"Oh, that."

"When I didn't see you in the lunchroom or the library," he said, "I figured you must be in there. Hiding out."

"I wasn't hiding," I said quickly.

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