CHAPTER ONE
Jocelyn
I look out the window and see Hutch walking to the park. I grin. That dork is at it again. He is definitely trying to find out who keeps leaving flowers on the bench every day. He’s been at it for months with no leads. I admire his determination, but also question his sanity. Secretly, I think he needs this mystery in his life. In another world, I’d be trying to date him. He looks like a giant Viking with piercing blue eyes and a man bun that somehow suits him. He also looks like he could crush any other human with his bare hands.
But in this life, we are just friends…friends who flirt. It’s fun and lighthearted, and there’s no way it will ever lead to more. If I’ve learned anything, it’s that men can’t be trusted, even if you think they are one of the so-called good ones.
I look back the other way and I swear the man that just walked into Joe’s Tavern is the spitting image of my father. I shake my head a little at the ridiculousness of my thought. I haven’t seen my father in forever. My mom refuses to talk about him. My little sister and I have spent years searching for him, but with a common name like Marco Martinez, we’ve come up with no leads. Even using his nickname of Marc, we’ve come up with nothing. All I know is he was born in Puerto Rico and went to the same university as my mom.
As if my sister knows I’m thinking about our family, my phone vibrates with a text. I pull it from my back pocket.
Val: Can you pick up two packs of chicken thighs on the way home?
I roll my eyes. My sister is finishing her college degree and living at home. We’re exactly two and a half years apart down to the day. But we might as well be ten years apart. I’m practically like her mom.
Me: Fine. I get off at five.
Val: Perfect! Thanks!
I roll my eyes. We are opposites in every way, our looks, our personalities, and even our favorite foods.
“Hey, Joc, can you enter the new shipment into inventory?” Roxy’s voice calls out from the back of the bookstore. It’s just the two of us today. My friend Clare who works here part-time is off for a few days while she visits her cousin in Las Vegas.
“On it,” I reply as I walk over to the stack of boxes sitting next to the checkout desk. I pull up the chair and start mindlessly working. Roxy bought this scanner that makes it so easy. So now, I’m over here not even thinking about my task. Instead, I’m contemplating what to write for my last grad school paper. My mind wanders as I stare at photos of shirtless men on covers. I glance back out the window and see Hutch. Damn, he really is hot. I bet he’d look amazing on a romance book cover, like some sort of Nordic Viking god.
Maybe I should write about Vikings. No, Greek mythology.
“Hello? Earth to Jocelyn!” Roxy says. I look across the store where she’s shelving a new billionaire series.
“Huh?” I manage as I hope I’m not drooling. Have I ever drooled over Hutch? No. That’d be crazy. We are just friends.
“Can you bring the books when you finish?” she asks, raising an eyebrow. I blush. Did she see me ogling him? Fuck.
Roxy is the best boss. I’ve loved working here. Her store is on the ground level of an apartment building and everyone who lives here is awesome. It’s a little found family of different personalities and they are hilarious and kind. I’m a little jealous, if I’m being honest.
I bring her the books once I finish and set them down on a table in front of her, handing her several at a time.
“So, how’s the paper going?” she asks as she glances over at me.
“It’s…going?” I answer but it comes out more as a question.
She raises an eyebrow, and I sigh.
“I’m supposed to write something personal,” I say on a groan. My personal life is super uninteresting. Aside from the whole sob story about my dad not being in the picture, I have nothing worth writing about. I live with a semi-normal mom who works at the local high school’s library. And I have one slightly annoying little sister. I dated a bunch of boys in high school and then a few in college. I haven’t been on a date in months because I’m too busy and my last boyfriend was more interested in playing his video games than he was hanging out with me. That, and he couldn’t have found my clit if I drew him a map and put a neon sign around it. Men have been one disappointment after another. Maybe that should be my paper.
“What about how your mom’s love of books led you to want to study English and literature and teach it one day?” she suggests.
I roll my eyes. “That’s too cliché. Everyone writes shit like that. Boohoo, single mom teaches her daughters to love books.” I wave my hand at her to stop.
She laughs. “OK, well, I’m sure you’ll think of something,” she says, shrugging as she places the last books on the shelf. She checks her watch and looks outside.
“You can wrap up for the day if you want,” she offers as she straightens a few books on the shelf.
“Thanks. I think I’ll go sit in the café and try to come up with something,” I say. I have an advanced writing class I’ve been taking. It’s in two parts. I just finished the first part where I was supposed to outline my short memoir. And next semester I’m supposed to write it. Our final project is to query an agent with it. Thank God my professor is giving me more time to write my outline. I turned in something about my lack of having a dad growing up, but Professor Campbell pointed out that this topic has been written many times. She wants me to find a new angle or a different topic.
I grab my bag and walk over to Cam’s Café. It’s the first week of January and a gentle snow falls as I make my way across the dead-end street. I glance back at the park where Hutch is sitting about fifteen feet up in a seat attached to the tree. He waves and I wave back. He got off work early today. I wonder how his day was, and I find myself changing direction. I walk over to the park and stand under the tree where he’s sitting. I think it’s something used for hunting, but I don’t really know.
“Hey,” I say as I smile up at him.
