Smoke and Wishes (Best Wishes #1)(23)
“This isn’t studying boys,” I chided, shuffling through the cart for more books.
“We know, but we’re going to be heading out, and we wanted to say bye,” Logan pulled me against his chest, my back pressing tightly against the expanse of muscle. My heart warmed at the sentiment. Landon smashed me between him and his brother, the smells of sugar, spice, and bonfire encompassed me as I hugged them back. Now if only they were wearing less clothing… no, bad Lucie. No twin sandwiches, I lectured myself.
“We’ll catch you later, lemon drop,” Landon squeezed before letting go. Of course, with them being who they are, they couldn’t just walk down the aisle like normal people, supernaturals... whatever. They proceeded to strike poses and vogued until they reached the edge of the walkway, turning back to wave. When I finally got my laughter under control, I wheeled the cart down the corridor towards the next section, hurrying with returning books, so Muriel didn’t have to sit at the desk too long.
“Hey,” a feminine voice called out right as I slid the book into the slot. I turned around to find one of the girls from Coffeeology last Saturday standing a couple feet away. She was, once again, impeccably dressed in designer labels and her highlighted brunette hair was loosely curled around her shoulders.
“Can I help you?” I asked as I looked through the piles of books on the cart to see if there were any other non-fiction novels to shelve before moving on.
“Yeah, you can,” her voice took on a harsh quality as she placed her hands on her hips and lifted her chin to look down her nose at me. “Stay away from Dante.” Her sharp words cut through the quiet corner of the library, my brows scrunching at the odd command. Great, plastic number one has an attitude.
“Dante and I are just friends, so I don’t understand where the hostility is coming from,” I gave her an incredulous look. Her eyes burned in anger as she glared at me. What is this girl on because hot damn, she’s intense.
“I don’t give a shit what you two are or aren’t, stay away from him. Got it?” She took a few steps forward, closing the distance between us. After taking half a step back from the raging Barbie, she leaned her arm onto the top of one of the book stacks that were piled on the cart.
“And if I don’t?” I really didn’t want to deal with this bitch, so I started pulling the other books for this section off the cart.
“Then you’ll regret it,” she proceeded to push the stack she was leaning on over the edge of the cart. She turned on her heeled boots and strutted away. I knew my mouth was hanging open staring after her. What grade are we in? I feel like I’ve taken a damn time machine back to middle school. When I finally snapped out of my stupor, I bent down and picked up the spilled volumes hoping the pages weren’t damaged in the tumble.
I unhurriedly returned the rest of the books after that. While I didn’t want to leave Muriel to deal with all of the counter business, I just didn't have any more social interaction in me. By the time I pushed the book cart back into its slot behind the front desk, it was nearing dinner time.
“Hey hon, I’m going to run over to the dining hall and grab some quick supper. Would you care for anything?” Muriel’s voice filtered out from the office, I shot back a quick ‘no, thank you’ before taking up my post at the counter.
I was lost in reading a book someone had returned when the heavenly aroma of curried spice swirled around me. Looking up, I found Dante leaning on the counter with his arms crossed in front of his barreled chest. His face was lit up in a broad, white-toothed smile. The deep tan of his skin was flushed and his chin was covered in a day’s worth of stubble.
“A little blue-haired bird told me that you love yourself some lamb vindaloo. Can I convince you to have dinner with me?” His eyes held a playful glint, shifting to move one arm so he could prop his chin on his palm.
“I can’t leave, Dante, I’m the only one here,” I threw my thumb over my shoulder towards the office to show it was empty. He knelt down in front of the counter like he was grabbing something from the floor, which piqued my interest enough for me to lean forward up off my chair.
“Well, then I guess it’s a good thing I was a Boy Scout. Always be prepared,” his deep voice flitted over the counter from his bent over position. When he straightened, he held two take-out bags and set them on the counter. “I come bearing delicious Indian cuisine including; lamb vindaloo, vegetable samosas, several types of chutney, gulab jamun, and of course, a large stack of naan.” My stomach growled loud enough for Dante to hear, resulting in a soft laugh to fall from his lips. “I take it that sounds appealing,” his voice shook with amusement. “So how about it, firecracker, have dinner with me?”
“I’d love to Dante. Now bring that deliciousness back here before I waste away from starvation,” I pleaded in a pathetic voice. My playfulness was rewarded with a full-bodied laugh while he walked around the counter. Wonder what that plastic bitch would think of this. I snickered in my head at the thought of what her facial expression would be.
Ending my internal musings, I rolled over to the empty desktop adjacent to the computer, pulling a stool out for Dante. He reached up and brought the bags down from the high counter. As he emptied the bags out onto the desk, I was enveloped in the heavenly smell of curry spices once more. Inhaling deeply, I moaned. Dante turned to me with a raised eyebrow, a strange look that quickly morphed into amusement flitted across his face before I could identify what it was.