Scott was a lot bigger than he was.
“You don’t say.” Charlie smiled wryly, standing to make it easier to work his way through the pile, which towered over his head when he was sitting down.
“I guess you hear that joke all the time, huh?” Scott asked, looking sheepish.
“I do, but I’ll give you a pass this one time if you promise me the next one will be better.”
“Promise,” Scott said. “Cross my heart.”
“Good.”
Charlie started scanning books, setting them aside in a new pile as he worked. He wasn’t in the habit of paying much attention to the titles of what people were borrowing, since it felt like a breach of their privacy unless he absolutelyhadto know, but there was a decided theme to Scott’s book selections.
“Are you a vet? Is that why you’ve got all those dogs?”
Scott laughed a warm, deep laugh that made the back of Charlie’s neck tingle pleasantly.
“Not yet. I’m studying to be one. And I know all of this stuff is probably faster and easier to look up on the internet, but I like being able to read something cover-to-cover and get a whole overview instead of just looking up the stuff I need to know. I wanna be agoodvet,” Scott said. It sounded like a speech he’d pre-prepared in his head, which was kind of cute.
“You don’t need to explain yourself to me. I’m glad the non-fiction collection is seeing some use. People mostly come in for fiction. Sometimes autobiographies, which I personally think are also mostly fiction.”
“I definitely wouldn’t tell the whole truth about my life,” Scott said. “I don’t think anyone would.”
Charlie shrugged. “I’d tell the truth to the people close to me. But not the whole world.”
“I guess if I had anyone close to me, I’d tell them,” Scott said, shrugging.
Charlie could almost feel his heart breaking for Scott in response to that. It wasn’t so muchwhatScott had said as the way he’d said it. Matter-of-fact, like he didn’t have anyone and that was just the way the world was. Like he’d accepted his fate.
It took Charlie exactly one second to decide that he was Scott’s friend now, whether Scott liked it or not.
“So are you studying at Hope Springs Community College, or…?” Charlie asked, changing the subject. He didn’t want Scott to be miserable. He wanted Scott to feel like they were friends.
“Yeah. I’m thinking about transferring the credits to a four-year school later if I can get in, but y’know… Hope Springs is a nice place, and the college has a good reputation. I know it’s not all that impressive, but…”
“Hey, I went there,” Charlie said. “And they put me in charge of the library after.”
“Really?” Scott raised an eyebrow, obviously surprised.
“Really. I mean, not immediately after, but when Mrs. Epstein retired and I was already working here, I got the job. As long as you’re qualified to be a vet, you should be able to get work, right?”
“Right,” Scott nodded. “Yeah, exactly. I’m new here and everything, but I like this place. If I was staying, there wouldn’t be much point in finishing up at a fancier college, right?”
“That’s up to you.” Charlie shrugged. “It depends on what you want. You seem like a man who makes good decisions.”
“Yeah?”
“Well, you have five dogs.” Charlie grinned at him. “Any series of decisions that would lead to that have to have been good ones.”
Scott snorted. “I dunno. I never get to pee in peace and every time I try to take a bath, at least one dog tries to get in with me.”
Charlie paused, trying desperately not to imagine Scott in the bath and failing miserably. He was hot, and Charlie was…
He didn’t like the worddesperate, but he couldn’t think of anything more appropriate. It wasn’t as though he was at the point where he was going to hook up with just anyone. Aside from the fact that he’d worked his way through pretty much all of his options, he needed more now.
Sex wasn’t enough. Charlie wanted to be loved. He’d watched Owen and Jude get their happy ending, and he wanted one of his own.
Maybe that was stupid, but it didn’t stop himwantingit.
