Page 22 of Scrape the Barrel
I wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but I’d gotten seventy pages into this apparent fast-burn romance, and I secretly hoped it lasted a little longer so I could continue readingin peace. Obviously, I had to pick Avery up from her friend's house before nine, but having some much-needed quiet after the afternoon I’d spent getting everything ready was a blessing.
A throat cleared to my left and I pulled my face out of the book with a jump, then quickly wished I hadn’t. The back of my head hit the shelf behind me and I winced.
“Shit, Sage. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have snuck up on you.” Callan knelt beside me with a furrowed brow.
My fingers felt the back of my head as the pain eased, while my other hand still held the book open. “It’s okay.”
Warm fingers found mine and I froze. “Let me see if you’re bleeding.”
“I don’t think—”
“Sage.” My name was a rough command on his tongue, and I wanted to melt.
Moving my hand away, I angled my neck so he had a better view. His fingers gently prodded at my scalp, seemingly moving the hair away. After a few seconds, he pulled back.
“No blood.” He stood and held a hand out to me. Closing the book, I reached up to grab it. He pulled me to my feet, though I was perfectly capable of getting up on my own, and it put us mere inches from each other.
“How was the meeting?” I asked.
“Long,” he replied, glancing down at the book in my hand. “You like to read?”
I internally cringed at the thought of him seeing I was reading a romance and positioned the cover away from him so he couldn’t see the title. “Whenever I can squeeze in the time.”
“What genre?”
“What?”
“The book.” He gestured to where I was very obviously trying to hide it.
“Uh.” I moved to hold the book in front of me, looking down at the cover like it held the answers. “Romance.”
He probably thought I was some hopeless romantic now.
“My mom likes romance, too. As a kid, after a long day on the ranch, I used to sit next to her as she read.”
That was…unexpected. “Really?”
He gave a small nod. “There’s nothing wrong with reading, if that’s why you were hiding it.”
My cheeks heated at his acknowledgement of what I was doing. “There’s just a stigma around it. I guess I thought you’d think I was some hopeless romantic.”
He looked confused, then said, “You shouldn’t hide your hobbies just because others don’t share them or understand why you have them.”
Apperception shone in his eyes despite his words, like he, too, had hidden things before for the sake of not being judged.
“We’re about to start cleaning up if you want to grab your Tupperware and the leftovers,” he said, changing the subject.
“Yeah.” I turned to slip the book back into its spot on the shelf. I wouldn’t be able to check it out tonight even if I’dwanted to because the library was technically closed. They were only using the building for the back room.
Callan and I fell into step beside each other, heading past the computers toward the meeting area. A good majority of the people were still here socializing, so the area was pretty crowded, but I stayed close to the wall with Callan at my back as he followed me to the table full of mostly empty platters.
I eyed the one my pastries were on and bent to grab the empty container from where it was stashed under the table. Setting the remaining sweets in one of them, I popped the lid on it and slid it to the side before bending to grab the other Tupperware. Callan must have gotten caught up on the way over because when I glanced to my left, I found him standing about ten feet away, stuck in conversation with an elderly woman.
Instead of turning back to grab the containers, I stood there like an idiot, hoping he didn’t see me watching him. His hair was just as it was that day on the ranch, curling at the nape of his neck up toward his tan cowboy hat. The button up he wore under his vest was fitted enough that I could see the definition of his biceps through the fabric. It was a light brown, close to the shade of his hat, and was tucked neatly into his jeans.
He was attractive. All of the Bronsons were, if I had to admit it. But Callan held a different level of charm with his awareness of those around him. Now that I thought about it, I realized none of his brothers were here, but I was sure they had other things to do. They had their lives and some, significant others,which made me wonder why Callan seemed to have the free time to help out. Did he have a girlfriend?
He seemed like the type of guy to drop everything on a dime if you needed him, and by the looks of it, he was always there for his mom.
