Total pages in book: 121
Estimated words: 116362 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 582(@200wpm)___ 465(@250wpm)___ 388(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 116362 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 582(@200wpm)___ 465(@250wpm)___ 388(@300wpm)
“I thought summer was your busy season,” I say.
“It is. Usually when the Clipper ferry or the cruise ships get in. Give it another hour.” He leans in close to me. “If it wasn’t for that, this store would have gone under long ago.”
“You’re here,” a voice booms from the counter.
I look over to see his father, who could be Blake’s double, albeit shorter, rounder, and with glasses. It’s funny, I’d always known him as the owner, and now to know him as Blake’s dad makes things a lot more interesting. I’m pretty sure he yelled at me once when I was in high school for trying to read A Feast for Crows without buying it. As you can imagine, I was here for a long time.
“And on time,” Blake says, flashing that charming smile of his on his dad. It doesn’t seem to work on him though. Then again, it barely works on me…no, really.
Oh, who am I kidding?
“Who is this?” his father asks.
“Dad, this is Amanda,” he says.
“Your girlfriend!” A kid’s voice fills the air, and after a few thumps of feet running on the hardwood, I see who I can only assume is Kevin emerging behind a row of books and running toward me with a plastic sword drawn. “You exist!”
My eyes dart to Blake and I raise my brows in question. Girlfriend?
“Yes, my girlfriend,” Blake says through a strained smile as he tries to pat Kevin’s head.
Kevin shies away and comes right over to me. “You’re his girlfriend. I’m his best friend,” he says proudly, poking his thumb into his chest.
“This is my stepbrother Kevin,” Blake explains.
“Did you tell her about LAIRE?” he asks excitedly.
“Laire?” I repeat. I’m still having problems with the girlfriend thing. Why would he tell them I’m his girlfriend?
“It’s an acronym,” Kevin explains to me, as if I’m dumb. “Live Action Interactive Role-Playing Explorers. There’s a battle at Beacon Hill Park and Blake promised me that the both of you were going to take me there.”
Obviously, this is the first I’ve heard of this. My gaze goes to Blake, amused. “Are you going to dress up like Loki?”
Blake frowns. “Um…”
“Because you know I’ll go if you dress like Loki.”
He wiggles his lips for a moment, trying to get out of it. “I’m not really sure that dressing up as other characters is allowed...”
“Yes it is!” Kevin says, waving his sword through the air. “That’s why this one is so fun! It’s like Comic Con but with fighting. I’m going as my own character, Betoolamous the Brave but you can wear whatever you want.”
“Still think this is a mistake,” their dad says with a sigh, turning back to the cash register. “Why can’t you go to a Justin Bieber concert like other kids your age?”
“Dad!” Blake says in horror. “No. It’s been years since that manchild was last appropriate for kids. He knocked up one of the Baldwins. He has a lightning bolt tattooed on his face.”
“Cool, I want a lightning bolt on my face,” Kevin says with a wondrous look. “Just like Harry Potter.”
“See what you did, Dad?” Blake says with a grimace. “Next stop, Post Malone.”
“Actually, I think it’s a cross on Bieber’s face,” his dad points out, glaring at them both. “But no one is getting any face tattoos!”
I watch them volleying back and forth for a moment before I realize I don’t really belong here, and the longer I stand here, the more I have to pretend that this whole girlfriend label isn’t weird.
“Well, it was nice meeting you, Kevin,” I say, giving him a slight bow since he’s holding a sword and all. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Crawford.”
“Likewise,” he says absently, not looking up from the register.
“Call me,” I tell Blake quickly before turning on my heel and leaving before things get weirder.
I’m halfway down the street when I hear Blake calling after me.
I turn to see him dodging a man on a unicycle before he catches up.
“Sorry about that,” he says, putting his hand on my shoulder. The unicycle guy pedals past, muttering obscenities.
“About what? Volunteering me for LARPing or telling your family I’m your girlfriend?”
“Both,” he says. “Come on, you know how I am. I had to tell them you were a girlfriend to get them off my back. I couldn’t tell them you were my writing partner.” He runs his hand through his floppy hair and looks off for a moment. When his gaze returns to mine, he flashes me a smug smile. “You know that we’re just fucking. That’s all we are, all we will be. It’s just good fun.”
Damn. I have to pretend that doesn’t hurt. For all intents and purposes, it shouldn’t hurt, but it does. C’est la vie.
“Right,” I say flatly.
He studies me. “You agree, don’t you? I mean that’s what you want. To be partners that fuck on the side.”