Book Smart

Ten

"No reading at the table, Pup." Collin chastises and it takes all of two seconds for me to press the power button on the side of my phone to darken the screen before looking away in shame over breaking one of the few rules he insisted that I follow. I had hoped I would be granted a small reprieve from the barbaric rule everyone around me always seem so happy to remind me of, but no such luck. Apparently, Collin wouldn't be letting me escape into the rather interesting fantasy novel I had picked up but had been unable to finish the last night due to the migraine that had been triggered by staring at my phone with the blue light filter accidentally turned off for too long.

A light kiss to the top of my hair has me leaning more into Silas for comfort and hopefully make it easier for him to keep his lips to himself as he picks at my salad trying to spear one of the black beans for my next bite.

"You like reading, hmm, Beautiful?"  His voice is purposefully kept soft as he adjusts us just enough to make sure he has access to my face, soft kisses being pressed to my cheek. The pet name whispered in my ear as barely a purr laced caress of his lips on the sensitive flesh, his ever-present hand flexing yet again to give my belly another squeeze.

"Did you not bother to look around his room at all?" Alpha Collin rumbles, his laugh hearty in comparison to Becky's light chuckle as I hang my head in order to try and sink into myself enough to avoid everyone's rapt attention.

Silas shrugs, "We could have been in a cave and I wouldn't have noticed...I was too focused on Adrian to pay attention to anything else."

His words make my face explode in a violent flush, his wording seemingly more than my capillaries can handle.

"He and Agatha are verifiable hoarders when it comes to books. Adrian doesn't even have a real bed frame. His box spring and mattress are resting on books because he ran out of shelf space." Luna Becky rats me out and Silas stiffens slightly when I groan and cover my face with my hands. I can feel his eyes on me even when I try and hide in his shoulder, rejecting the balanced bite he had so thoughtfully crafted. Yes, my bed's platform is books...but not because I ran out of space... It's because I don't want any of them to see my favorites. The ones that are hidden in the hollowed-out center of the pile extending up into the box spring that I had so carefully cut open. The books that had been read cover to cover a thousand times that had worn down spines and pages falling out. The ones that meant the most to me that I couldn't let anyone else see. The books I had had to wait until 18 to buy and hide from Grammy because she deems most of them inappropriate...

...
Silas
....

"I'm not a hoarder! It's a personal collection and it's not that bad!" Adrian squeaks in his adorable but unneeded embarrassment as he shoots a longing look at his smartphone before slipping it in his pocket. Shy, but not unwilling to defend his apparent guilty pleasure.

He curls up in my arms flinching away from the teasing smiles across from us. It takes me no time to ditch the fork he's no longer interested in and use my now free hand to shuffle him closer and slip under the back of his sweater, ready to soothe his overworked nerves.  He shivers when I press my palm flat against his lower back and start to gently rub the tension away almost unable to keep myself from pulling his sweater off to have unfettered access to his beautifully creamy skin.

Adrian is quick to try and fish out my hands, his eyes darting from my face over to Collin and Becky and back again, self-conscious of the added attention even if he does need it. I take the hint and rather than make him more uncomfortable and forcing my affection I relent and settle for looping my hands around his waist appreciating his soft curves only for a moment before settling my hands on his outer hip.  So so very shy my sweet mate is.

"Either way, it's a borderline problem. I almost thought we were going to have to reinforce the third-floor last year to deal with the weight of your combined collections." Collin chuckles trying to suppress a smile, "We made them each donate half their stash to the public library in town. The Duxbury librarians didn't know what hit them."

Collin loses my focus when a small whimper sounds from the back of Adrian's delicate throat as he squirms closer in my arms, his hand working its way up to the center his chest to grip his sweater as if his heart hurt underneath, a nearly silent, "It was awful.." Pouring from his pouty lips as his skin drains of its vibrant flush, face going gaunt as he shivers through the clearly upsetting memory.

...
Adrian
....

The others chuckle at my dramatic reaction and it's hard to remember that they aren't laughing out of spite... I don't think it ever really dawned on Collin and Becky how much it had hurt to pick through the books I had so carefully collected over the years and give them away. The characters nestled between the pages had kept me company for so long taking the place of the parents I had lost as they comforted me, standing in for the friends I was too shy to make. The words had wrapped themselves around me to shield me from the loneliness that had held me at gunpoint for most of my life. They never minded that I was shy or sick all the time. They always kept their voices down during my migraines and were there to mentally hold me up when I was crumbling. My whole world had been wrapped up in those pages and I had been forced to part with so many of them.  The books had never judged me or reprimanded me.

"Hey...Hey...No.." Silas's gentle hand reaches up brushing his knuckles across my cheeks to catch the tears I hadn't intended to let fall, his voice a soothing balm, "No more tears, Baby." He gives me a squeeze and cards his fingers through my hair as much as he can with my natural tangles.

"We won't have to worry about having too many once we get you all moved in, now will we? Hmm?" His warm hand cups my face and draws me to him for a heartbreakingly tender kiss before stroking away more of my tears.

At first, I misunderstand him, thinking he's talking about keeping my habit under control, but as my face falls he kisses me again taking my breath with him when he pulls away this time, "I've been wanting to add on to the house anyway to expand my study. I think I'd be more than able to build my sweet boy his own library, hmm?" He nips my bottom lip and nibbling it for a moment when I gasp at the suggestion.

...
Silas
...

Adrian places both of his hands on the sides of my face and pulls me away from him until he can look me in the eye. Its the first time he's been so direct and bold all day and as his bottom lip trembles with the effort to deny his wolf's submissive nature, "You mean it?"

All it takes is a nod and he throws himself into my chest so hard it nearly has us tipping over in our shared seat, his arms winding around my neck in a hug threatening to cut off my oxygen.

"That would be amazing!" He sniffles, his face pressed into my neck laying fevered kisses just under my ear. I can feel his happy tears starting to splash against my skin and can't help but hug him back while my sister and her mate chuckle at the stunning display of affection that has my heart racing as he nuzzles into me.

Authors Note- so you guys probably noticed that the cover and the name changed. Book Smart seems to fit the story and the character's personalities better. I hope you all keep reading and enjoy it. That's all for now.