Page 38 of The Rejected King
The excitement in her voice had Davin smiling. She gripped him tighter, and immediately his heart exploded inside his chest like a thousand pre-Desolation grenades had gone off inside him, leaving him filled with a humming sensation.
He decided to let her sudden touch slide.Hehadn’t broken any of the rules.
Emree’s animated face sank to dismay as she looked down. “What am I holding?” she said under her breath.
Davin paused. Was she asking him that? He cleared his throat. “My arms.”
Slowly she pulled away from him. “Did I say that out loud?”
Davin nodded.
She brushed her hair away from her face, giving him a timid smile. “Sorry, that was extremely inappropriate of me.”
Apparently, she had rules of her own.
“It’s fine.” Then he cleared his throat. “I guess I’ll let you look through them, then.” He pointed to the corner of the room. “There are boxes you can put the books in.”
“You’re not going to help me choose which books?” Her eyes looked hopeful, but only for a brief second before they turned nervous, and she started scratching the top of her head. “I mean, if you have something else to do, that’s totally fine.” Her hands gestured out in front of her wildly. “I just thought since you’re the one donating them, you might want to see what books I choose.”
“I’m interested.” He lifted his shoulders.
Nice, Davin.
He coughed, trying to dial it back. “If you need help, then I’m available.”
Her lips lifted into a smile. “Okay.”
They both turned to the middle shelves, scanning the spines of each book. Davin glanced at her. She was already staring back at him but looked away as soon as their eyes met. That’s how it seemed to go for the next few minutes; at the rate they were going, they could both make a living as thieves with all the glances they were stealing.
“Here’s an interesting one.” Davin held up a brown book. “The History of the Council of Essentials.”
“That’s perfect,” she said with a big smile. “What about this one?” She held up a purple book.
Davin read the title out loud. “Pre-Desolation Holidays. Nice.” He grabbed the next book on the shelf. “How to Build a Mud Dome House When You Don’t Have the Essentials.”
“That’s actually an excellent read,” she said with a seriousness that made Davin believe she’d really read it.
His brows folded together. “Would you like to keep this one for your personal library?”
“No! I was just kidding, but I saw this one on your nightstand.” Emree bit her bottom lip as she turned the book around.
“Everything You Need to Know About False Teeth,” Davin read.
Laughter burst out of her in a loud cackle. Her eyes widened, and she immediately covered her mouth with her hand, muffling her giggles.
Davin couldn’t hold it in either.
He laughed.
Hard.
Emree Dutson had made it easy for him to laugh. At that moment, he was no longer the king, but a guy laughing with a cute girl. It felt so...normal, so good. Unlike every other one-on-one activity he had been on that day.
“I’m keeping this,” he said, grabbing the book out of her hands.
“For your next date with Monique?”
“Something like that.” He didn’t know why he wanted the book, but it definitely had nothing to do with Monique and everything to do with Emree Dutson.
