Unless she was studying. I wasn’t enough of an asshole to get in the way of that. If she was, I would wait until she was able to take a break.
“Not really, I’m at the library reading over some stuff, but I’m nearly done. For now, anyway.” She stifled a yawn.
“I’m coming down there. Sit tight.” I took a quick shower, slung my gym bag over my shoulder, and made the short drive to the public library.
My mom had tried to get me into reading as a kid, but it never quite stuck. I had always preferred to throw a ball around outside or play touch football with the other kids from the neighborhood in the park. When it was raining, I found other shit to do.
I’d done my assigned reading, of course. I’d read the classics, and more recently, I’d read a ton of children’s books to Harper, but I wasn’t one to spend much time in the library.
It was a surprise to find it so empty.
The musty scent of old paper hit my nostrils as I pushed my way through the double doors. Dust particles floated in the rays of sunlight that shone through the stained glass windows. It was like stepping into a quieter, forgotten world.
A gray-haired, bespectacled lady hunched over a desk that housed a computer that looked like it had been outdated before I was born, but that was it. There were no other people that I could see. The stacks were empty, and the rows of tables with rounded lamps on them sat unused.
The librarian took no notice of me as I took the stairs to the second story two at a time. I made my way past row upon empty row, following yellowed paper signs that read ‘LEGAL’ to the back corner of the library.
Gabrielle was seated at a table just off the darkened rows of books that must have been the stacks that housed the law books. Her golden curls were piled on top of her head, held in place by a pencil. Earbuds dangled from her ears as her head nodded in time to whatever it was that she was listening to.
She wore faded light blue jeans and a loose-fitting shirt that slid off one shoulder, revealing a bright red bra strap. My cock stirred.
Engrossed as she was in her reading, she didn’t notice me until my shadow
fell across the desk that she’d taken over. It was piled high with books that were thicker than my biceps and had titles that threatened to bore me to death.
She smiled as she looked up to find me standing over her and tugged her earbuds from her ears, letting them fall to the desk. The faint sounds of alternative rock filled the air.
“Hey, stranger,” she greeted me without rising.
“How am I a stranger? We’ve been talking on the phone practically every day.” I strode over to her seat. “Don’t I even get a hug for driving down here to save you from having to spend your break poring over more books?”
“Who said I was taking a break?” She stood and walked into my arms. Her vanilla scent was slowly becoming familiar. I wrapped my arms around her in a tight hug but released her quickly.
“You did, actually. You said that you were nearly done for now.” I repeated her earlier words back to her.
“I meant that I was nearly done for today, not that I was just taking a break. I’ll carry on tomorrow. I have so many Latin terms swirling around in my head that I’m just about ready to pass out.” She sank back into her seat.
“How’s the studying going?” I took the seat opposite hers and made myself comfortable.
A faraway look entered her eyes. They were slightly red, and there were small dark smudges underneath them. She was tired. More so than I had thought she was. She was always so upbeat on the phone. She was still hot as all hell though, tired or not.
“It’s going okay, I guess. It’s a lot more work than I remember it being, but I just have to get back into the swing of things. I’ll be fine.” She was confident. I had to give her that.
“Yeah, you will. If you decide to take the exam. Which way are we swinging today?” She would get no judgment from me. It was a big decision for her. One that she had to make for herself.
Personally, I was team ‘take the damn exam,’ but she had enough pressure from Richard telling her what she needed to do. I was not getting on that bandwagon. I did point out how passionate she became when she talked about it, though.
“Today, I’m thinking I should just take it. Studying with Heather and the others again has been good. Fun even, at times. Listening to them talk, arguing with them. I’m remembering what I liked about law, but I’m still not sure if it is what I would have done if there were other choices.” It seemed reasonable to me.
“Whatever you decide to do will be the right thing for you, but I don’t think you’d have been studying this hard for it already if some part of you didn’t think that taking it was the right thing.”
I liked that she was that dedicated. I was proud of her for the way in which she had thrown herself into her studies in trying to decide if law was her true passion, the way football was mine.
“Yeah, you’re probably right. We’ll see, I guess. Time will tell.” She cast her eyes over the leatherbound book lying open in front of her and then folded it closed, setting it on top of the large pile to her left.
She toyed with a simple band around her index finger and then locked her gaze onto mine. “So, what have you been getting up to? You know, except for the obvious.”
I smirked as she gestured to my body. “Well, there’s been a lot of that. I have to keep in shape for next season, and we’ve been running some training drills with some of the younger guys.”