Loves Me Not

*REVISED* Chapter Twenty-six

"Who the hell leaves in the middle of the night without telling their host?" Ellie yells through the phone.

"Who the hell sleeps through me dancing the Macarena on top of your bed while blasting Migos?" I laugh as I walk down the aisle of the Young Adult section at Barnes and Noble.

"You should have just stayed the night!" She whines. "What the hell was so important you had to leave in the middle of the night?"

I try to laugh without hesitation, but he I can hear the ring of falseness in my tone. "I didn't want you waking me up at some God awful hour in the morning taking about 'let's go eat breakfast even though its 5 a.m. Its super important'!"

"I wouldn't do that!" She lies through her teeth. "But I totally could have gone with you to Barnes and Noble!"

I bark out a short laugh before I squat down, trying to check out the new arrivals on the bottom shelf. "You hate going to Barnes and Noble with me! After 20 minutes you start volunteering to buy anything I want so we can just leave. So on second thought, maybe I should have taken you with me."

"And I have a reason to be, considering you typically stay there for over two hours!"

"I do not," I reply.

"Oh, yeah?" She questions. "It's 8:39pm right now. What time did you get there?"

I stay eerily quiet as I run my finger along the spines of a few books, refusing to answer her question and prove her right considering I got here around 5:40pm.

She laughs boisterously at my non-answer before she continues. "I swear your future boyfriend is going to need to dedicate a certain amount of money to buy you books every month."

"If my future boyfriend buys me books every month I'll fuck his brains out before I propose on the spot," I comment absentmindedly as I read the inside flap of a semi-interesting looking book.

"So should we just head to my bedroom now or should I wait until you get down on one knee?"

At first I just roll my eyes at the comment, but then I realize it wasn't Ellie speaking. I close the book in my hands and turn around to see Charlie grinning devilishly behind me. My mouth gapes open as I just stare at him, trying to figure out what he is doing here.

"Hello?" Ellie yells through the speaker. "Hellllooooo! Are you even there?"

"I'm going to have to call you back," I respond before I abruptly hang up the phone.

I quickly close my mouth as I replace it with a sly grin. "Well, I guess you do make it a habit of finding girls after the sun goes down."

His grin is identical to mine as he runs a hand through his hair. "It's easier to seduce them when the sun doesn't show how ugly I really am."

"Yeah because if I wasn't plowed with alcohol or bored in the middle of the night, Lord knows I wouldn't give you the time of day." I wiggle my eyebrows as I bark out a laugh.

He laughs in surprise as he pokes my side lightly, eliciting another giggle from me.

"What are you dong here, Charlie?"

"Is that your way of saying I don't look like the type of person who reads books?" He scoffs playfully as he places a hand over his chest. "You can't judge a book by its cover Kaiy."

"That is literally what I do all the time," I respond in mock seriousness before pulling a random book off the shelf. "See look, this book will probably be shit because of the vague ass, ambiguously ethnic, but probably white, girl posing in the middle of the ocean, which has nothing to do with the fucking title."

He peers closely at the book, taking note of all my criticisms. "But what if that's actually a really good book?"

"It could be the Anna Karenina of Young Adult literature! Unless the inside cover hints at a completely original plot whose ending I won't be able to guess, I won't spend a dime on it. I'll rent it from the library or something." I laugh as I move to put it away, but he stops me, grabbing the book out of my hand.

"Then I'll spend a dime on it! And then you can tell me how it is."

I can't help the swell of attraction rising in the pit of my stomach, although I know this is just a ploy. "If you're volunteering to buy me a book I'd much rather you get me one that I actually want."

"Nope," he shakes his head, "this is the one I'm going to get you. It doesn't look that bad to me."

"Compared to what? The Introduction to Business Management book you have there?" I stop myself early, not wanting to say something that will completely talk him out of buying it. "It's going to take more than just one hardcover book to get into my pants, Charlie."

He laughs as tucks the book under his arm, securing it with the business book he already has there.

"Don't worry," he smiles as he turns to the register, "this will just be the first of many."

My eyes widen automatically, because of both the idea that there might be more free books and also because he admitted to wanting to get into my pants. I follow him sheepishly to the register, trying to figure out what to say as he hands the cashier his debit card. I finally settle with a grateful "Thanks" as we are walking out of the store.

Charlie escorts me to Archer's car, leaning against the hood as I shift from side to side next to the driver's side door.

"You know," he says after a beat of silence, "I never did get the tour of East Greenbush..."

His statement trails off as twin grins spread across the both of our faces.

"Well," I try to dim my smile with little success, "it just so happens I know a great tour guide that is available tonight."

"Perfect! It's good to know that Ellie's available on such short notice." He laughs, throwing my previous joke back in my face.

I choke out a surprised laugh, a flash of unexpected insecurity flowing through me before teasing joy takes its place.

"Yeah I'll give you her number so she can text you her address at 5 in the morning." I play off of him easily, shrugging my shoulders in a nonchalant manor.

"Oh no, that's okay," he waves away my suggestion with an equally nonchalant shrug of his own. "I already have her number and know where she lives. I've actually been to her house a bunch of times, too."

I laugh automatically at his quick comeback, pushing his shoulder. He laughs as well, but it's not as automatic as mine.

"So are you free right now?" Charlie asks after our laughter dies down.

"I actually have to return my brother's car to him and make a brief appearance at home." I see the disappointment growing n his face so I rush to finish my sentence. "But I should be available after 11."

"Oh so you really are trying to make this a booty call!" Charlie teases as I unlock the car and open the door.

I roll my eyes as I stick half of my body inside, hovering midair as I prepare to drop inside. "Like I said before, it's going to take a lot more than one hardcover book to get into my pants."

I drop into the car with a teasing smile and swing my door closed, not bothering to wait for his reply. He taps on the window politely but I make him wait, taking the time to turn on the car and adjust the heater. I finally roll down the window, leaning my elbow against the edge as my right hand circles the steering wheel.

"Don't worry," Charlie leans down so that his head is almost through the opening of the car window. "I have a lot more to give."

He turns to leave with nothing but a lazy wave in my direction. "I'll call you later, KD."

I watch him go, my hand reaching out to feel for the book resting on the passenger seat. I look it over again as I roll up the window, my mind second-guessing all of the initial judgments on the cover. I can't help myself as I automatically glance back up at Charlie, watching his retreating form wind through the diminishing number of cars parked in the lot.

Maybe there are a lot of things I need to second-guess.