Page 54 of Midnights
“She’d say,‘You can never find it, but it will always find you.’”
I tilt my head, letting her words settle.
“Smart woman.”
Shenods, absentmindedly running her fingers over the book in her hands.
“She really was.”
I hesitate, then say, “My mum’s the same way. She loves reading, she can’t get enough of it. She always says books are her escape.”
“Sounds about right,” she murmurs, looking up at me. “Smart woman.”
For a moment, we just… stand there. The air between us isn’t playful anymore, it’s something heavier. And then just like that, it’s gone as soon as Rachel’s voice breaks through the moment.
“Raven, stop flirting and come look at this!”
Raven startles, blinking like she’s shaking herself out of whatever spell we’ve fallen into and rolls her eyes.
“As if I’d ever flirt with him.”
I cross my arms, watching her try to walk away. “Careful. Lies have consequences.”
She pauses, glancing over her shoulder with a slow, sweet smile. “So does an ego too big for its own good.”
I let out a low chuckle, stepping forward just enough that she has to tip her head back to meet my eyes. “And yet, here you are, feeding it.”
Her lips part, and I can see the battle in her eyes. The sharp retort she wants to throw at me warring with whatever else is lingering beneath the surface. But instead of indulging me, she scoffs and turns back toward Rachel.
“I’d say keep dreaming, but I’d hate to feed into whatever delusion you’ve got going.”
“Not a delusion, Princess, more like an observation.”
She exhales, flipping her hair over her shoulder as she walks away, but not before I catch the way her fingers tighten around her book. I watch her go, laughing under my breath.
Yeah. I definitely hit a nerve.
She makes her way to Rachel, tossing out some comment that earns a laugh, but even as they talk, I watch her fingers drift absently over the book’s cover.
As soon as their conversation fades, she flips it open.
Her posture shifts and her focus sharpens. Page after page, her brow furrows and her lips part slightly in concentration. It’s like the rest of us disappear, swallowed up by the pull of whatever she’s reading.
I lean against a nearby shelf, watching. She’s lost to the world, oblivious to anything outside those pages, and for some reason I can't look away. There’s something so sexy about her right now. But I’ve lingered long enough.
I push off the shelf just as Rachel drags her toward the counter. Cam appears beside me, “She’s got you all kinds of fucked up, doesn’t she?”
“Fuck off,” I mutter, grabbing a book of a nearby shelf like I’m going to throw it at him.
Cam just chuckles. “Never seen you this distracted before. It’s almost cute.”
I shoot him a glare, but he’s unfazed, scrolling through something on his phone. Then, just like that, he shifts gears. His voice dips low, almost cold.
“Hey, since we’re here—” he turns his screen so I can see what he's looking at. “Got a sec to talk about the Owens job?”
I glance at him, keeping my expression neutral. “Didn’t we already turn that one down?”
Cam hums, tilting his head slightly. “Yeah. But they came back. Doubled the offer.”
