“Come on,” he says, glancing once at me and then nodding towards his Jeep parked at the back of the lot. “We should get going if we’re going to get anything done while it’s still light out.”
I make no move to leave. If anything, I plant my feet more firmly on the ground and square my shoulders to face him.
“So, you’re just not going to acknowledge the fact that you left me waiting out here for almost an hour?”
He shoots me an odd look. “An hour? And you’re still here?”
I open my mouth to reply, but I can’t think of anything good to say. Before I can turn on my heel and storm off, which so far seems like the most appropriate response, Rory hoists the stack of books up to eye level and holds them out for me to see.
“I pulled a bunch of books from the library. Took a little longer than I thought because the librarian said some of these are reference books that can’t be checked out.”
“So, you just … stole them?”
“Took a little distracting. Marlowe and Kaleb helped with that.”
I glance over his shoulder, but see no sign of the other two. “How come we don’t just go back inside and use the library?”
“I think better in the fresh air,” he answers. “And I don’t know about you, but this place is a joke. It’s hard to concentrate under the weight of such overwhelming underachievement.”
I snort out an unexpected laugh. I can’t help it.
Rory leads the way towards the Jeep. The hard top has been left at home today and he’s put down the second row of seats, leaving a blanket-and-pillow-heaped space in the back open to the sky.
“We’re working on the project in the back of your car?” I ask.
“I got pillows and stuff. That okay with you?”
It does look better than sitting cramped in a corner of the tiny dark library, trying our best to ignore the sounds of a third grade reading circle one aisle over.
“Uh, sure.”
Rory gives me a hand to help me step up over the back door, then hops up to help rearrange the blankets. I’m pleasantly surprised by how comfortable it is.
I’d be a fool to ignore the fact that this had to take some planning in advance. I wonder who I have to thank—Marlowe or Kaleb. Whoever it was, this certainly wasn’t Rory’s idea.
“So, what are all the books on?” I ask as I settle down into the back of the Jeep. The air is surprisingly warm today. I have to fight the compulsion to close my eyes and tilt my head back in the sunshine. I need to keep my eye on this one.
“Well, I wasn’t sure what idea you ended up settling on, so I got a little of everything.” He glances down at the stack again. “Actually, I might have actually taken everything. The library here isn’t very big.”
I remember that I haven’t spoken to him about the project since having decided on the topic.
“Oh, actually,” I say, suddenly feeling a bit unsure. “I kind of narrowed down the scope of the project already. I know lycanthropes are a little overdone, but everything else was either boring or already taken.”
Rory stares at me without blinking for an unnaturally long period of time. How’s he even doing that? His black eyes start to glass over and look like a mirrored reflection that I can see myself in. Finally, the pause extends too long and I am too uncomfortable to not say anything.
“Is that not okay with you? I mean, I had to pick something when you disappeared on me last week.”
“No,” he says as he returns to blinking. “It’s fine.”
He shifts the piles of books around and pulls one up to set in front of me.
“This one has some lore about the lycanthrope in it I think.”
I arch an eyebrow at him. “And you already know that how?”
For what might be the first time, I swear I see Rory blush.
“I’m a bit of a nerd when it comes to were wolves.”