And more scared than ever of losing it.
Chapter 16
Trevor
It’s somewhat of a shock to arrive at the library Monday morning and find someone other than Isaac sitting at the table we’ve claimed.
For a second, I simply stare, my feet having come to a stop.
Then I hear Isaac approaching from behind me. “Hey, what are you…”
He trails off as I turn around, check that his latte is firmly in his grip, and heft him into my arms. Although clearly surprised, his legs come around my hips immediately, his eyes whipping from my face to the interloper seated behind me.
“Trevor,” he hisses, slapping my shoulder a couple times with the hand not holding his caffeine stable. “Turn back around right this instant.”
“I’m not gonna do that,” I say quietly, rounding the corner past the cassette tapes. I turn down a row of old magazines.
“But there’s someone at our table!” Isaac insists.
“Which is precisely why I’m not bringing you back there. You value your morning calm too much to start the day off with a fight.”
His shoulders drop, blue eyes peering at me with a banked fire. I can see the war there. His stubborn determination to hold on to his ire combined with the allure of simply…letting it go.
“I know a good place,” I assure him. “For just this once.”
“Fine,” he heaves out. “Just…put me down at least. I’m not a damn child.”
I let him drop, amused by the red staining his cheeks, despite his implied dislike for being carried. I have a feeling it’s the public setting he doesn’t appreciate, not the act itself.
“This way,” I tell him, wading deeper into the library.
I find the hall of private rooms on this floor. Isaac looks at me curiously as I pass three open doors. We turn another corner, walk past a drinking fountain, and there it is. Tucked away behind a large, fake plant is a small bench facing a bank of windows. The sky is still mostly dark, only a tiny hint of orange lighting the buildings on the horizon. Regardless, it’s a nice secluded spot. One I’ve used many times myself.
Isaac seats himself slowly, his eyes on the windows and what lies beyond.
“Not so bad, huh?” I ask, setting my bag against the wall beside the bench.
He shrugs, even as a smile lifts the corner of his lips. “It’s all right.”
“Mhm. At least give it second place.”
“That I can agree to,” he says, passing me his latte for a moment so he can tug out his things. Once settled, he takes the drink back, the action so small and simple for how light it makes me feel.
I prop my laptop on my thighs, and Isaac leans his shoulder against my arm, one leg drawn up on the bench.
“I mean, the nerve though,” he mutters.
I can’t help my laugh. “Let it go, Red.”
He harrumphs, but then he settles in to work. The soft flipping of pages accompanies the otherwise-quiet humof the library as I tap away on my keyboard. Neither of us mentions the change between us.
Not simply a new location.
But the fact that we’re sitting pressed against one another. That a mere forty-eight hours ago, I was asleep in Isaac’s bed.
I have no doubt Isaac feels the shift as acutely as me.
I put thoughts of my new favorite redhead aside for the time being and focus on the fake business plan I’m preparing for one of my classes. It feels like no time has passed at all when my alarm goes off.
