12. Miles

Chapter 12

Miles

A s soon as I hung up the phone, I felt a knot tighten in my stomach. I glanced at Sawyer and Cooper, who both looked at me, their eyes filled with concern.

"What's wrong?" Sawyer asked.

Cooper leaned in closer. "Is everything okay at the bookstore?"

I shook my head, still trying to process Uncle Ben's words. "I don't know," I admitted, my voice trembling slightly. "Uncle Ben said there's a crowd of people in front of the shop."

Quickly, I scrolled through my phone, skimming through the messages. Most of them had come in the last half hour.

There were a few from Uncle Ben, but the majority were from Noah:

Noah: Walked past the shop. What's happening? A lot of people.

Noah: More and more people are showing up.

Noah: People who know I work here are asking for you.

Noah: Get down here!

Noah: I'm calling your uncle if you don't answer.

I frowned, still unsure of what was going on. Noah had a tendency to overreact, but I couldn't ignore the urgency in Uncle Ben's voice.

So on the scale of mild unease to full-blown panic, my concern was still somewhere in the middle.

"Do you want me to come with you?" Cooper asked.

"I can postpone my PT," Sawyer offered, but I could see the eager gleam in his eyes. My brother would do anything to get out of his physical therapy.

I shot him a look. "No, you can't miss that," I said firmly.

Then, turning to Cooper, I added, "And I'm fine. You just got back into town and drove all night the day before yesterday. You probably haven't had a proper sleep in two days."

Sawyer awkwardly cleared his throat. I rolled my eyes and stood up from the table, downing my coffee in one go.

"Plus, Uncle Ben and Noah are already there," I said, trying to reassure them both.

But Cooper still looked worried. "I'll be okay," I assured him.

"Fine," Cooper relented, but as I headed towards the stairs, he called after me, "But at least let me drive you there."

"Alright, alright. Just give me five minutes," I shouted back, already halfway up the stairs, my mind racing with possibilities about what could be going on at the bookstore.

The entire drive to the bookstore, I couldn't stop fidgeting with my hands. Crowds could mean good or bad things, right?

But what if something truly terrible had happened?

Was it an angry crowd? Was Ryder involved? My mind raced with possibilities, each worse than the last.

Desperate to distract myself, I tried to think of something else. My thoughts drifted back to the kitchen earlier that morning, and I suddenly felt tense for a different reason.

"So, what were you two dumb dumbs hiding from me earlier?" I asked Cooper.

Cooper raised an eyebrow at the unexpected question, but his expression quickly shifted as his jaw clenched.

"One of Ryder's men was watching your house," he said, his voice controlled but taut with frustration.

When I didn't respond immediately, he continued, "I broke his window." He raised his bandaged fist to show me his knuckles.

Ah.

I bit my lip, unsure of how to react. Cooper glanced at me, his eyes searching my face.

He furrowed his brows. "Why don't you look surprised?"

I remembered how just yesterday, Bruce had been loitering outside the store, and I had confronted him.

Should I tell Cooper about it? He had already punched through someone's car window over something similar happening earlier.

I fidgeted nervously with my fingers, deciding not to keep anything from him.

"Yesterday, you know, um, Bruce? He was kind of outside the bookstore," I said slowly.

The car jerked to a sudden stop, and Cooper's hand shot out protectively to my chest, even though I had my seat belt on.

"What the hell?" I yelled, looking around. Luckily, we were on an empty street with no cars or pedestrians in sight.

I wanted to yell at him more for recklessly stopping the car, but the look on his face made me bite my tongue.

Cooper was staring straight ahead, hands gripping the wheel so tightly his knuckles turned white. His eyes were beginning to glow with a golden hue, and his claws were starting to emerge.

Nervously, I reached out, gently placing my hand on his shoulder.

"Cooper? Nothing happened. He just left," I said.

Cooper turned to me, his anger barely contained.

"Why didn't you call me or Sawyer? Confronting Bruce directly is dangerous, Miles!"

I felt my own frustration bubbling up.

"I can handle it. And I can't come running to you or Sawyer every time there's a problem. I can deal with someone like Bruce on my own," I told him.

The atmosphere was tense, but I saw Cooper's eyes slowly soften, the golden tint fading back to their normal color.

Cooper let out a sigh, his shoulders relaxing a bit. "Just… at least tell me next time, okay?"

I nodded. "But I can't promise I won't do anything before that." I said with a small smile. "And I can't just let some creep stand outside my store, right? It'd be bad for business."

The corners of Cooper's mouth lifted slightly. "Just call," he repeated, his voice gentler.

I nodded again, and Cooper started the car, driving us the rest of the way to the bookstore.

As we pulled up, I saw what Uncle Ben had been talking about. A large crowd had gathered outside the bookstore, with a line stretching down the block.

We barely got out of the car when Noah practically dragged me away. Mrs. Jenkins spotted me and waved enthusiastically. "Miles! I brought my friends over!"

She lifted some Tupperware containers, and I noticed her friends were also carrying large, heavy bags.

I remembered her mentioning at the car wash that she wanted to be here for the store's reopening and would bring some food.

I felt a pang of guilt. Even though the store was still a few hours away from opening, I should have been here much earlier.

I wanted to go over and thank them, but Noah tugged me towards the alley beside the store.

"Where have you been?" Noah asked, his voice a mixture of frustration and concern. "And why are there so many people here?"

"I don't know," I admitted, feeling overwhelmed.

Uncle Ben appeared, looking just as confused. "Miles, what's going on? What can I do to help?"

I shook my head, giving him a firm look. "Go home and rest, Uncle Ben. You're still recovering," I said.

He began to protest, but I stood my ground.

"Alright, but call me if you need anything," Uncle Ben finally agreed.

I turned to Noah and handed him the keys. "Can you open the shop and start getting things ready?"

Noah nodded and headed inside. As I scanned the crowd, I spotted Cooper standing with Mrs. Jenkins, who looked worried.

"Mrs. Jenkins, there's a spare foldable table in the back. Can you ask Noah to help you set it up by the cashier?" I asked, trying to keep things under control.

She nodded, quickly moving to follow my instructions.

I then turned to Cooper. "And you," I said, poking him in the chest, "didn't I tell you to go home and rest?"

Cooper crossed his arms, clearly determined. "I'm staying, no matter what you say. There are too many customers to handle on your own," he said.

I sighed, feeling resigned. Arguing wasn't going to help right now; there were too many things to manage. "Alright, fine. Everyone, let's get moving!"

The bookstore came alive as we opened the doors, people flooding in like a wave. I'd never seen the place this full before.

We could probably handle around 20 to 30 people at a time, but we had to ask the rest to wait outside.

It wasn't because of a space issue—the bookstore was pretty big. We were just not used to managing such a large crowd.

Normally, a crowd of five felt like a lot. Ten was practically a full house.

Cooper took charge at the cashier, thankfully experienced enough to handle the rush. Noah was busy assisting customers, guiding them through the shelves and answering questions.

Mrs. Jenkins and her friends had set up a table on the side with their food, complete with an electric kettle for tea and instant coffee.

Noah had somehow managed to dig out some non-expired tea and coffee from the chaotic mess of the office—how he found anything in there, let alone something useful, was beyond me.

It seemed like my dream of having a little café section in the bookstore was finally coming true, even if it was in a makeshift, thrown-together kind of way.

As I walked around, I overheard Mrs. Jenkins firmly telling some customers that the food was only for paying customers.

I wondered if I should tell her not to worry about it, but I understood where she was coming from.

She and her friends had brought all the food, and with so many people, we needed it to last until lunchtime at the very least.

Now that the chaos of earlier had died down, I couldn't help but wonder why there were so many people here.

It wasn't like we'd done anything particularly special. From some of the conversations I overheard, a few of them were even from out of town.

What the heck was going on?

I heard a group whispering nearby, "Where are the hot guys? I thought this was the bookstore with hot guys?"

Huh? Where did they get that idea?

I quickly walked over to Noah and whispered, "Can I talk to you for a minute?"

Once we were out of earshot, I asked, "What are they talking about?"

Noah pursed his lips and pulled out his phone, showing me a video that had been circulating online.

It featured clips from the car wash, with hashtags like "Hot Guys at the Bookstore" and "New Reopening."

"But how did they know the reopening day was today?" I asked, trying to wrap my head around this sudden surge of interest.

"I replied to some of the messages," Noah admitted. "I didn't think it would blow up like this."

As we talked, I noticed the crowd starting to get a bit loud and impatient. Some people were grumbling about false advertising, and the chatter was getting louder.

It was starting to feel chaotic. My heart raced as panic began to set in.

Cooper, noticing the commotion, came over. "What's going on?" he asked.

I quickly filled him in on the situation. Cooper grabbed Noah's phone, scanning the screen. "‘Bookstore Boys in Tanks'? ‘Readers and the Ripped'? What the hell?"

"I know," I said, my voice tinged with frustration. "I don't know what to do. Should we just tell them it was a mistake?"

Cooper raised an eyebrow and offered, "Well, I could be the ‘hot guy' they're looking for."

I shot Cooper a skeptical look, but to my surprise, Noah was rubbing his chin thoughtfully, his gaze shifting between Cooper and the crowd, as if seriously considering the idea.

Cooper leaned in close and teased, "But half-naked in front of all these people? That should be for your eyes only, right?"

His words sent a jolt through me, and I felt my face heat up. I couldn't afford to get flustered now, not with all these people around.

Ignoring him, I turned to Noah. "Okay, fine. But we need more help. Get your brother down here. Tell him to wear a tank top."

Cooper laughed and mockingly pouted, "Why? Am I not enough?"

In a panic, I snapped back into business mode, pointing at him. "No! This is an all-hands-on-deck situation! Stop joking around and take off your shirt."

Cooper chuckled and, without missing a beat, took off his shirt, revealing a white tank top underneath.

He leaned in close and whispered to me with a teasing grin, "I really like this side of you, taking charge and ordering me around."

I nudged him away, trying to hide my smile. He continued helping to serve customers, and the crowd started to calm down. Things finally felt a bit more manageable.

Meanwhile, Noah was already on the phone with Griffin, explaining the situation and trying to get him to the store as quickly as possible.

With Cooper and Noah taking charge, I finally had a chance to catch my breath. This wasn't how I'd imagined the reopening day—far from it.

Despite the chaos, the day was turning out to be memorable in its own way. I took a deep breath and braced myself for whatever came next, knowing that for now, we'd managed to turn things around.