The Bookworm's Guide to Flirting (The Bookworm's Guide 3)

It was almost as if they’d been locked away, kept in a little box and pushed out of my mind until now. The realization that I had strong, tangible feelings for him was almost shocking.

Or not.

This was me.

That was what I did. Ignored things that scared me. Locked things away if they could hurt me. I kept walls up so nobody could get to me.

One trip to the bookstore, and Dylan had torn them all down.

He’d waited nearly an hour for me to finish and he hadn’t complained. Not once. I don’t think it had even crossed his mind to do that.

He said he’d come back with me because the bookstore made me happy.

No matter how he felt, it was what I felt.

In hindsight, that’d been our entire relationship, ever since we’d met. He’d stifled his own feelings for mine, always putting me first.

And I’d done nothing but hold him at arm’s length and keep distance between us.

“Are you going to drive or are you going to continue staring longingly at the bookstore?”

“Dylan?” I said softly, turning to look at him.

His eyebrows twitched into a frown. “What’s wrong?”

“Thank you.”

“For what?”

I turned in my seat as much as the steering wheel would allow and touched my hand to his cheek. “For being you.”

The frown dropped, and he smiled softly. He leaned in and kissed me. It was soft, yet it was filled with purpose, and when he tangled his fingers in my hair, I sighed against his lips.

Mother of God.

I was falling in love with him.

And there was absolutely nothing I could do to stop it.

He pulled back slowly. “To show your appreciation, you can take me for dinner.”

“And there goes the moment.”

***

“Hear me out,” Holley said, holding up a fry. “What if there’s a reading nook?”

“That. I want that,” I agreed, holding up my own fry.

Sebastian blinked at us both. “Why would I have a reading nook in a sports center?”

“For parents? Siblings? Maybe Mom wants to get her freak on with a BSDM loving billionaire while her kid shoots hoops.” I sipped my wine. “You don’t know that.”

He shared a look with Dylan. “How do you put up with her?”

“She’s good in bed,” Holley said around a mouthful of burger.

I nodded. “It’s true. I can sleep for hours.”

Dylan side-eyed me, but he was smiling. “The same way you put up with Holley. But Saylor cooks. It’s also been about a week, so not really comparable.”

“I can cook!” Holley replied indignantly.

“Babe.” Sebastian stared at her. “You can’t cook.”

“I boiled eggs yesterday.”

“You were trying to soft boil them and accidentally hard boiled them.”

“I still boiled eggs.”

“Eggs are hard. Especially soft-boiled. I get them wrong all the time and I can cook.” I shrugged and dipped a fry in ketchup. “So there’s that.”

“Can we stop talking about cooking and go back to work?” Seb asked, raising his eyebrows. “I’m the one who has to live with Holley.”

“Oh, so it’s official.”

“In his mind,” Holley muttered.

“You’re never at your apartment. I don’t know why you still pay rent,” he replied.

Holley’s shoulders tensed, and I got the feeling this was a sore subject.

I was in an unusually good mood and wanted to stay that way, so I circumvented the discussion back to the sports center. “Have you thought of a name for the sports center yet?” I asked the guys.

They both shook their heads. “We have some ideas,” Dylan said. “But we haven’t settled on anything yet. I think we should go with Stone Sports Center.”

Seb looked at him. “No. We’re partners in this.”

“Hardly. You’re financing it.”

“Doesn’t matter. I don’t want to run it alone and I don’t think I could run it alone. It’s not just my name going on the building.”

“Stone and Parker Sports Center sounds stupid.”

“Why don’t you just call it the White Peak Sports Center? The land is technically in town limits, right?” I glanced between them both. “You didn’t think of that, did you?”

They both looked at their plates.

“No,” Seb muttered.

“Dear God.”

“Excuse me,” Holley said, tapping the corner of her mouth with a napkin. “I’ll be right now.” She got up and headed in the direction of the restrooms.

“I’ll go after her,” I said quietly, pushing my own chair back.

Seb grimaced.

I followed her into the restrooms. Nobody else was in there, so I leaned against the sink unit that stretched from the door to the wall. The toilet flushed after a few minutes, and Holley stepped out.

She saw me and rolled her eyes. “I knew you’d follow me.”

“What’s wrong?” I turned when she went to the sink to wash her hands. “I know you.”

She sighed. “Moving in is becoming an issue. Yes, I spend most of my time at his place, but my apartment is closer to the store on days when I have to be there early. We’ve only been together a few months and I like my space. I just think it’s too soon.”