Page 21 of The Luck of Finding You
Tally bites her lip like there’s something she doesn’t want to tell me, but all it does is draw my attention to her perfect pink lips that I haven’t stopped thinking about kissing for over five years.
“We read romance novels,” she tells me. Why is that embarrassing? I’ve all but declared my love for the genre. “But the book club is very unconventional. After each meeting we all go over to the romance section and pick a book, a different book for every person. Sometimes we swap after, but we always pick a new one for the next meeting.”
“Sounds like fun.” There’s a grin on my face, and I wonder how exactly I can get myself invited to this book club.
“You have no idea.” Tally looks up at me. She’s not wearing the heels she was in yesterday or on Monday. Her face is glowing with childlike joy. It’s obvious that this book club is something that makes her happy. I feel the urge to find out all the things that make her happy, just so I can get her to smile.
Friends. We’re just friends, I try to remind myself.But friends can make friends smile, right?
“What did you read this time?” I grab a picture book that does not belong in the history section to distract myself. I expect a glare, but what I get when I look back at Tally is a face that is redder than a strawberry. “What? You’re not going to tell me?”
The blush on her face spreads to her neck. What I wouldn’t give to know what’s going on in her head. I have to know what she’s been reading and why it’s got her acting this way.
“It’s, um—” Tally clears her throat and won’t meet my eyes. “It’s a very steamy historical romance.”
“Intriguing,” I murmur, and only then does she look up at me, her eyes wide. I smile at her. “I happen to be a huge fan of historical romances.” This last bit isn’t exactly true, seeing as I’ve never read one. But why haven’t I? Even though I read a large variety of genres in general, when it comes to romance, I tend to pick up books that have fantasy elements as well.
Tally swallows hard. I take a step closer to her—for what, I’m not actually sure. I should probably stay away, but I don’t want to.
Tally doesn’t step back, and there’s about a half a foot between us when there’s a loud banging on the door. Tally jumps, dazed, and hurries to the front of the store. I watch her until she disappears behind one of the shelves. Only then do I turn and try to shake the tension from my body.
* * *
On my lunch break,I slip out the back door and up the stairs to take Mo out and have a moment alone. Tally has been cordial all morning. Giving me the ins and outs of how they very informally track what books come in. Tonight I’m planning to start designing an online website so that we can not only sell potential inventory online but also have a better system for tracking the books we do have. I’ll also figure out a code to create the system we have within the new website.
I put a cookie sheet full of pizza rolls in the oven and open Twitter. I haven’t talked to Nora much this week since I am trying to give her space. But I had to talk to her after I ran into Tally in my new apartment yesterday. I mentally shake myself; I will not think of how she was wearing nothing but a towel, how smooth her shoulders were when I reached out to steady her, her skin warm and pink from the water.
“Nope,” I tell myself, and Mo tilts his head as he looks at me. “Sorry, buddy, but I’ve got to get Tally out of my head. She’s definitely not interested. Maybe she’s got a boyfriend.”
I haven’t asked her outright, and from what I can tell, she spends most of her time at the shop, but the thought still makes my gut clench every time I think about her being with another man. It also makes me want to laugh because what type of normal person gets jealous when a woman they’ve got a crush on and barely even know might have a boyfriend?
But I’m also not just some random guy. I know Tally, the real one. At least I did. I know the one from five years ago, and at first I thought I had remembered wrong all these years because I didn’t want to admit to the fact that Tally has changed, that she is different than how she used to be. Harder around the edges, she doesn’t smile like she used to. Back then, she gave away her laughs so willingly, so easily. Now trying to get her to laugh is like pulling a tooth that isn’t even loose. I don’t want to stop trying though, because her laugh lights me up and I might also be a bit concerned about the permanent frown on her face.
Olivia can get Tally to crack a smile, but the smile never reaches her eyes. What happened in the last five years that made the light go out of her?
Without thinking about it, I type out a message and I’ve already sent it to Nora before I remember I’m trying to give her space.
MoReads:Hey, I know we haven’t been talking much (that’s okay, seriously, take all the time you need to figure out if you’d like to meet or not. I know I kind of sprung that one on you), but I’ve got a friend who’s pretty down in the dumps and I’m not sure how to help them.
There. We can talk about it, but she doesn’t have to know my friend is a woman who I’m also kind of trying not to fall for.
I asked Nora to meet me at the Simone Sorrows event because it felt like the perfect place for us to meet since her books are the ones that brought us together in the first place. But she’s also been my best friend for the past two years. I’ve always got Annie and Sam, but Sam hasn’t even been in the country for the past year and Annie just started dating this guy I hate, so they’re not always around. Nora is the one person I’ve been able to count on. Which is why it’s so easy to reach out to her and ask her what she would do in this situation; she’s always given the best advice.
While I wait for her to reply and for my pizza rolls to cook, I decide to call Sam. My expectations are incredibly low when it comes to my best friend since high school. I love the guy and the crazy adventures he’s always taking us on, but he’s not exactly the most reliable person in the world.
At least he’s consistently unreliable.
The phone rings and rings and finally goes to his message. “This is Sam, you know what to do.”Beep.
“Hey, man.” I run a hand through my hair. “I could really use some guy advice right now. Remember Tally? Well, turns out she worked for my Grandma Marsha, and now we’re running my grandma’s old bookstore together. She pretty much hates my guts. Oh, and I asked Nora to meet me in person, but she hasn’t responded yet, and mostly, I’m really freaking out. And I don’t know how to talk to Annie about this, so give me a call back when you can.”
I hang up and look at Mo. His eyes light up. “Ready for a quick walk?” He runs to the door. Mo is not a fan of sidewalks—at least that’s what I thought while we lived in New York. I practically had to force him out the door to go on walks. Now he sits by the door multiple times a day to go out.
I’m starting to think that maybe it was New York and all the people outside that he wasn’t a fan of.
I force myself to leave my phone on the couch when we go out for our walk. If I bring it, I’ll be checking every five seconds to see if Nora responded or if Sam is going to call me back today. I should have texted him. Even if he doesn’t respond that day, he’s usually pretty good at texting back in a reasonable time frame.
Mo stops to smell a tree and I reach for my phone, groaning when I remember I left it upstairs. “This is torture!”
