Crazy Over You

📚 Chapter 15 📚

I take a book of a shelf as the title peeked my interest.

"Callista, isn't this one of the books you've been wanting?" James asked, walking around the corner of the book shelf with a few books in a hand which I chose to ignore since the one that he's holding with his free hand has my full attention.

James is looking at the back of the book, reading what I assume to be the last line because he looks at me the next second.

"How?" I put the book back on the self and take quick steps towards James. His smiles grows when I take the book from his hand to look at the cover and then turn it around to read the back. "I have been looking for this for a very long time. How did you find it?" I ask him while smiling as I can't help but feel excited. I was about to give up on this series.

They rarely have it in store. They have the other parts of the series but never this one which has been a pain to get.

"You accidentally bought the second book thinking that it was the first and I remember how much it bothered you. You even showed me a photo of how the first book looked like once." James says with a chuckle. He walks past me and goes to stand where I once was.

"And you remembered?" I asked, walking to him and watching how he has eight books in one hand but he moves it to his other arm without so much as struggling. But it's fine. He's paying for five and I'll pay for the rest.

I was currently holding it until he told me that it's better he held them that way I have more room to keep looking at more books. James can carry more than I can that I slowly started to just give him more and more.

"It looked familiar so I asked." James shrugs, reaching for the same book that I was originally looking at. "You're interested in this one?" he asked, turning the book around to read the back. "Oh?" James chuckles. "Yeah, you're definitely getting this one," he says as he puts it on the pile.

"Hey." I whisper-shout, trying to grab the book from the pile.

"You're seriously going to tell me you're not going to get it?" James challenged with a raised eyebrow. "Callista, honey, amor mio, mi diosa divina--" he chuckles, "-- it's literally about a beast, enemy to lovers, spice, and a kingdom involved in the story. You're seriously going to tell me you're not going to get it?" James questions me, again.

I try to find any excuse. Any at all to erase that look on his face but I can't. I know I can't because I do want to get the book. It's practically begging for me to take it home. Who am I to deny it?

"I hate you." I whisper as I place the book with the rest. James just laughs as he takes the other book from my hand to the pile. "This should be enough. If I look anymore, I know I'll have twice as much books, not to mention the total is already more than a hundred dollars. It may even be two hundred." I try calculating the price in my head for all the books but they all cost differently.

"There's your discount as you have a yearly membership," James reminds me which I nod as I do take that into consideration but it's only 10%. It's basically no tax.

We start walking to the counter to pay for the books. James is holding on to them carefully to not give them any bent corner of the page or accidentally drop them.

"Yeah, but you're only paying for five. I'm paying for the other five so at least our bank accounts aren't crying." I mention, waiting in line since there's a few other people in front of us. Once we're near, I'll grab five books that he's hiding and pay for it first, then James will go.

"We came for five and we're leaving with ten. This is why you're not allowed to shop by yourself." James lectures and I just roll my eyes.

I can't argue since it's true. It's not my fault. I already had books in mind to get but I just find something new and interesting that I just need to get. It a bad addiction, however, arguably, it's really better than getting drugs or doing illegal activities. At least, everything that's illegal is fictional and in books.