The smell was even better a second time. Honestly, it was sort of a crime that this beautiful space wasn’t being used. I was just doing my duty as a literary lover by utilizing the space. The scent of paper and polished wood wrapped around me, steadying something inside my chest.
I chose a chair near a set of bookshelves close to the windows overlooking the lake and opened my laptop again.
The words finally started to flow. And it was just themedicine I needed. I was able to forget everything else and just focus on the words in front of me.
I didn’t realize how much time had passed until I suddenly heard the doors to the library open and the sound of someone’s footsteps clearly entering the room.
My shoulders stiffened, and I turned to see Jay coming around the corner shelves into my view.
He looked like he’d just woken up. His hair was slightly disheveled, and he wore a sleep T-shirt and dark grey pajama pants. His brow furrowed at the sight of me.
“Hope?”
I straightened in my chair, a nervous jolt going through me. I was caught red-handed yet again trespassing in his library.
“I couldn’t sleep,” I hurried to explain.
His gaze moved briefly to the laptop, then back to my face.
“You okay?”
The question was simple, but it made my quills rise. My spirit animal was becoming a porcupine. I was sure of it.
“Fine.”
He didn’t look convinced. He glanced toward the double doors behind him. “I saw the light on.”
“I’m sorry, I can go,” I started to move like I was going to gather my things.
“No, it’s okay. You don’t need to go.”
I stopped and closed my laptop halfway. “You sure?”
“Yeah, I’m sure.”
He didn’t attempt to leave the room and let me continue my work.
“What are you working on?” he asked suddenly.
“My book,” I said.
His brow lifted slightly. “How’s the manuscript coming along?”
I hesitated, debating whether to tell him to leave me alone or to have some mercy and actually give him a real answer.
“It stopped being just fiction,” I finally relented. “I started writing about my story a little bit.”
He raised an eyebrow. “Really?”
“Yeah, I started a whole new manuscript, actually.”
“Well, that’s cool.”
“We’ll see.”
He took a small step closer and leaned against the side table that was a few feet from the chair I was sitting in.
“You want me to go,” he said quietly. It wasn’t a question.
