Book Lovers

The bartender returns with our sweating glass bottles then, and Charlie thanks her. For the first time, I see her staggeringly incandescent smile. “Of course,” she says. “If you need anything, just say the word.”As she turns away, Charlie faces me, taking a long sip.“Why do you get a smile?” I demand. “I’m a thirty-percent-minimum tipper.”“Yeah, well, you should try almost marrying her and see if that helps,” he replies, leaving me so stunned I’m back to gawping.“Speaking of sentences with a lot to unpack.”

He starts to lead me up the hillside, and immediately my heel sinks into the mud, pinning me to the ground. I take another step and the other heel punctures the mud too. An indignant half shriek rises out of me.Charlie stops, sighing heavily as he eyes my shoes. “Am I going to have to carry you?”“I am not letting you give me a piggyback ride, Lastra,” I say.“And I,” he replies, “am not letting you destroy those poor, innocent shoes. I’m not that kind of man.”I look at my mules, and a miserably petulant sound squeaks out of me. “Fine.”“You’re welcome.” He turns and hunches as I hike up my dress and say a fond farewell to the last remnants of my dignity, then hook my arms over his shoulders and hop onto his back.“All good?” he says.“I’m getting a piggyback ride,” I reply, adjusting the umbrella over us. “Does that answer your question?”“Poor Nora,” he teases, his hands settling against my thighs as he starts up the steps. “I can only imagine what you’re going through.”

Her mouth shrinks, tightening into a knot as she reads, until finally, she bursts into laughter. “Oh my god!” she cries. “It’s Nora Stephens fan fiction!”“Can it really be called fan fiction if the author clearly isn’t a fan?” I say.“Has she sent you more? Does it get smutty? Lots of fan fiction gets smutty.”“Again,” I say, “not fan fiction.”Libby cackles. “Maybe Dusty’s got a crush.”“Or maybe she’s hiring a hit man as we speak.”“I hope it gets smutty,” she says.“Libby, if you had your way, every book would end with an earth-shattering orgasm.”“Hey, why wait until the end?”