When I turn to face him again, Mountain is already at my side, not so subtly fixing the pile to his liking. He’s not rude about it, and if I had to bet, he doesn’t even realize he’s doing it.
“So what?” He quizzes, awkwardly turning toward me.
“What did you think?”
Mountain stares at me, confusion written across his handsome features.
“The book.” I nod to the red cover on his desk. “I read it with my little brother, too.”
“Oh.” He scratches his head again. “It was good.”
“I liked the villain,” I admit while picking up his hockey stick.
“Really?” Mountain narrows his eyes at me, amusement beaming in them.
“Yeah. I personally feel like he’s misunderstood. Besides, I usually go for the villain of the story anyway.”
“Why the villain?”
I avert my gaze and put the stick back where I got it. “They have the most to gain, and most of the time, they were antagonized themselves. Not to mention, villains are more fun.”
“And more dangerous.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
“So that’s your thing? The bad boy?”
“Let’s just say walking red flags are hot when they’re fictional.”
“It’s fiction. Where are you seeing thishotness?”
I snap my gaze to him. “We’re judging now?”
Mountain smirks, the hint of a smile attempting to show, but he holds it in. He always does. One of these days, I’ll get through to him, get him to cave.
“No. No. I just never get how you ladies get over book characters.”
“I don’t know if I should be offended.”
He laughs, and I can’t help but do the same. There it is—a smile. It’s barely there, the smallest of tugs, but I see it.
He holds up his hands in mock surrender. “You know what, I believe in letting people love what they love. And if that’s supervillains for you, then love away.”
I smirk. “I’m definitely feeling judged.”
We laugh.
“I may be surprised by some of the books on your shelf, but what isn’t a surprise to me is your room. I’ve actually pictured that it would look something like this.”
His brows pull tight in confusion. “You pictured it? But you’ve seen my room before… the night of the party.”
“I mean, yeah, but I was looking for the bathroom, and there you were damn near naked. Remembering what your room actually looked like was the last thing on my mind.”
Mountain meets my eyes at that, another slight smile fighting to peek through. “Fair enough. Expand on that then.”
“You can tell a lot about what a person’s space might look like based on how they carry themselves.”
He glances around. “I’ll bite.”
