Not So Broken (West Coast College Book 3)

Chapter 2

Ava

"You heading out, Aves?" Delilah signs, her glasses sliding down her nose before she pushes them back up gently.

"Yes. I'm actually moving into a new apartment today." I sign back, wondering down the shelves of books on either side of me.

I absolutely love working at Novelty Nook.

It's one of the oldest books stores in Vancouver and we get book lovers from across the globe stopping by often.

I mean, who wouldn't? The building itself is straight from the Victorian era, warm brown and greens coloring the outside of the building that sits on a quiet corner, less than a five minute walk from my new apartment building.

The inside is...sigh. It's beautiful. When you first walk in, there are six wooden round tables with new and popular books that will draw in customers my age with gentle string lights hanging above you as you shop. To the back of the store, there's a beautiful curved staircase that takes you up to the second floor where there are floor to ceiling shelves filled with older books.

The second floor is my favourite place in the store. Not only 'cuz of the rolling ladder but the warmth that the books give the place.

The owners, Delilah and Cooper, hired me when I was only thirteen and I've been working here ever since.

I'd been coming in for years before they offered me the job and at this point, it's home. It's my home for when I want to escape home home.

Delilah taught me sign language when I was around nine or ten, mostly because I was coming in here everyday after school with a whiteboard being the easiest way we could communicate.

And it came in handy six years later after I learned I had a genetic degenerative condition and lost eight percent of my hearing.

I got hearing aids only a few months ago so that's been a plus but I'd rather not wear them at all. It feels unnatural and they hurt.

Delilah nods, her grey hair falling into her eyes. "Roommates?" She asks, wheeling the go-back book cart around the tables.

"Yes." I sign, blanching when I realize the book I just picked up has cheating. Murder, kidnapping and stalking are all okay but cheating is where I draw the line. "Two hockey players."

Delilah pauses, stopping to wag her eyebrows at me. I snicker.

"Two annoying hockey players." I correct, laughing when Delilah playfully pouts.

Maeve and Rhys told me countless times that I could stay but I really had no reason to. Rhys is there now and I think he'll be the best father figure Liam can ever have so they don't need my help caring for him anymore and now that Liam's getting older, I know eventually he won't want to continue sharing a room with his sister and since there was only two rooms at their apartment anyway, I felt it was time to move.

So Maeve and Rhys offered me his old room at his teammates apartment. And I took it.

"Well, you better get going then. I can ask Cooper if he can come over and help you move all your things over?" Delilah signs, her eyes crinkling with kindness.

"That's okay. I already moved all my boxes over this morning." I expected someone to be there but I remember Maeve mentioning they hit the gym a lot on their days off.

Cooper is also in his seventies and I wouldn't want him breaking bones trying to move all my boxes of books up the stairs.

Delilah comes up and kisses my cheek. I hold out the two books I'm thinking about and she tilts her head in thought. She taps the mafia romance. I beam. "Good choice." I tell her.

Even though I've told her countless times that it's bad for business and some may think I'm stealing, Delilah has always let me take as many of the new shipment books I want home. I'm allowed to take the older ones as long as I return them but those are so fragile I'm scared the spine is going to turn to dust as soon as I pick it up so I steer clear of those ones.

I give Delilah a tight hug before heading behind the counter and grabbing my tote, waving my goodbyes and telling her I'll see her tomorrow.

Since it's only the start of February in Vancouver, there's a light dusting of snow on the ground as I make my way to the new apartment, teeth chattering by the time I climb the three flights of stairs and jam my new key in.

"Who's boxes are these?" Someone asks as I toe my shoes off.

"Our new roommates."

"Are you sure Rhys just didn't leave his dildo collection behind? I swear I saw one in the sink just now."

Mike sighs. "He did not leave one in the sink."

"How'd you know?"

"'Cuz I was just in there, dumbass." 

Silence. I clear my throat, blushing slightly when both of them turn to stare at me.

Cam points at me. "Intruder! Sound the alarms! Grab the dildos, we're under attack!"

Mike slaps the back of his head before smiling at me. "Hey, Ava. Do you need help getting settled in?"

I've talked to Mike a few times. He's a good dude-like they all are-and the sanest one between himself and Cam.

I shake my head. "I should be fine. It's just the last bedroom on the left, yeah?"

"Yep." Mike nods. I ignore Cam's confusion. Seems no one did end up telling him. "But there is only one bathroom so the two of us just use caddies for all our toiletries and keep them in our rooms."

I nod, taking my time inspecting the space. It's nice for two boys living here. No garbage, no laundry piled on the couch.

It's similar to Maeve and Rhys's apartment except it feels more open. They have a nice sectional and coffee table sitting in front of the TV. There is no dining table but they have a decent sized kitchen with a long island that sits four

There's no personality whatsoever. Everything's just white. Bleh. Boring.

"Our schedule is on the fridge. Nothing too exciting. We train most days except Sundays and Tuesdays since Saturdays are game day. I don't think we have anymore out of towns games, just home." Mike points to the magnetic calendar, then offers to show me around even though I was just here this morning but I let him, raising a silent eyebrow over my shoulder at Cam, who trails quietly behind us.

"So, how is all your skincare gonna fit beside mine?" Cam asks when the three of us stand in the doorway of the bathroom.

I snort. "You mean that bottle of Dawn dish soap sitting beside the sink? I think we'll be just fine."

"Whatever works, right? If it can clean baby ducks covered in all types of shit then why can't it clean my face?"

"You'd need a lot more than a three dollar bottle of dish soap to clean you." Mike argues, walking back down the hall.

I snort. Cam smiles at me before turning away. He pauses. "Oh, you see that bottle of soap in the shower?"

"Yeah..."

"Don't use it-"

"Oh gross! Is that what you guys use to get off?" My face drips with disgust. And to think I have to use this shower.

"No." Cam points to the Costco size bottle of what looks like shampoo. "That is. It's lube so don't mistake it for shampoo."

"Why do you even have lube that looks like shampoo?" Boys are so fucking weird.

Cam beams, facing me for a moment too long. "So when we have guests over and they ask to use our shower, we know they're lubing their hair up instead of shampooing it." He snickers.

"Am I not a guest?"

He pauses, thinking it over. His honey hair falls forward when he dips his head toward the ground. "No." He says softly. "No, I don't think you are."