Chapter 7

Andrew

T he bell above the door rang, and Mrs. Davis glanced up from the register. Her long brown hair was pulled into a braid today that draped over her shoulder. Her glasses slipped low on her nose and she grinned when she saw me coming into the store.

“Andrew. It’s good to see you. Brandon is in the back doing inventory.”

I smiled in answer as I made my way to the back of the store, trying not to let my annoyance at being off work today get to me. While I was only a tech in training and couldn’t work full time, my boss was cutting back on my hours. I not only needed more hours to make some sort of living, but those hours went toward my board exam as experience.

Brandon sat on the ground, surrounded by several open boxes and stacks upon stacks of books. He had one sitting open in his lap, looking more like he was reading than actually working, which wasn’t unusual. I often wondered if that was his favorite part of the job, getting to read a lot of the books before they made their way to the shelves .

“Hey, you,” I whispered, hoping to not startle him. It never helped. Brandon jumped, anyway, as though the door had been slammed shut.

When his eyes landed on me, they sparkled with humor as his hand pressed to his chest. “I swear, you always sneak up on me.”

I laughed before pushing one of the boxes aside and sitting next to him on the ground. I plucked the book from his hands as he let out a small protest and looked it over. It was a romance, if I had to guess, judging by the cover. I flipped it over to read the back. It was about a tattoo artist and a bookstore owner. It sounded cute.

“I’m never actually trying to sneak up on you.”

Brandon let out a huff and snatched the book back from me. He closed it, but I didn’t miss it when he placed a finger between the pages to hold his place. “I’m just saying it feels that way.”

I nudged his shoulder with mine, which got him to chuckle. “I was thinking about going to the beach today. Maybe get some lunch. Want to join me?”

Brandon always blushed when I asked if he wanted to join me for things. In a perfect world, I’d be asking him on a date, but he was still dead set on pretending that kiss hadn’t happened still. “I’m working.”

I nodded at the book in his hands. “Working, or reading?”

That earned me an eye roll and a shoulder shove. “Don’t be a jerk. You know how easily I get distracted. ”

Working in the bookstore had been the best fit for Brandon, and I loved how he got so easily lost between the pages of a good book. It didn’t seem to matter what genre it was. He preferred romances, but it wasn’t unusual for him to pick up a thriller or mystery.

“So, are you going to come with me?” I asked again.

The blush on Brandon’s cheeks deepened as he found a spare piece of paper and stuffed it between the pages of the book. “Let me check with Mom and Dad that it’s okay to leave them. I think we have Sonia coming in later to help close, so it should be fine.”

As he stood and stretched, I grabbed the book from the pile and slipped it behind my back. He’d seemed invested in the story and if I could surprise him with it as a gift later, I would. We walked out to the front of the store and he talked with Mrs. Davis for a moment. She grinned as he explained I was trying to kidnap him for the afternoon.

When Brandon went to grab his jacket from the back, I quickly approached the counter and held up the book. “He was reading this in the back. I want to buy it for him.”

Mrs. Davis laughed. “Why am I not surprised? Go ahead and take it.”

Now it was my turn to have my cheeks warm. “I can’t have you just give it to me.”

“Sure, I can. The perk of owning the place. Plus, it’ll make my boy smile. I like it when you make him smile. ”

Sometimes I wondered if Brandon’s parents were invested in the two of us getting together as well. I’d been a part of their family for so long…

“What are you two talking about?”

I shoved the book into my coat and smiled at Brandon as he approached us.

“Nothing, honey. You boys have fun.” Brandon scowled as his mom came around the counter, her long skirt swishing, and wrapped him in a tight hug.

Leaving the store, we walked along the sidewalk. I should have thought the book through a little better because I wanted to reach out and grab his hand. Recently, things felt different, though it wasn’t unusual for me to do it.

Brandon was smart. He knew I was hiding something because we didn’t make it very far from the shop before he stopped and started laughing. “So, tell me, what did you do?”

I rolled my eyes and pulled the book from my jacket and handed it over to him. His entire face lit up before he started laughing even harder. “You got me the book?”

“I got you the book. You were enjoying it.”

When Brandon finally calmed down, he took it from me and turned it over in his hands. He stared at it wistfully before bringing it to his chest and hugging it. “Thank you. I was and now I won’t have to worry that Sophie will accidentally stock it and sell it. ”

Something warm spread through my chest. The smile that stretched across his face was so damn special and I wanted to keep putting ones just like it there. Brandon deserved someone who would always do nice things for him, like someone who notices when he’s invested in a book or takes him on interesting dates. I wanted to be that person. The actual issue became that I had to convince him we needed to let that happen.

“What are you hungry for?” I asked once I finally looped my arm through his. When Brandon leaned into my side, there was a rightness to it. He’d always felt right next to me; like we were born to fit together like this. We belonged to one another, and I desperately wanted to make that happen, but I also had to respect his boundaries. It was always tough to balance between respect for my best friend and desperately wanting him more than that.

He sighed as we continued to walk. “Honestly, I could eat anything. If we’re heading down closer to the water, maybe we can eat at one of the seafood places? Maybe get a good northwest cioppino?”

A good fish stew did sound amazing and perfect for the cooler afternoon. The clouds were rolling in and the smell of petrichor in the air hinted at rain.

Sure enough, the second we ducked into the doorway at a little mom-and-pop shop, the sky opened up and big fat droplets fell from the sky. People rushed to duck into different stores, but it was easier to spot the true Pacific Northwesterners who continued on their walks without a care in the world. A little rain never hurt anyone.

Once we ordered our bowls of stew at the counter and sat at a table, Brandon pulled out his phone and started scrolling. I couldn’t stop staring at him. The way the light from the screen glinted off his glasses lit up his entire face. I probably looked like a giant creep just sitting there and staring at him, but I’d always found Brandon attractive.

“What?” he finally asked, looking up from his phone.

I looked away and let out a small laugh. “Nothing. I was thinking how nice it is to do this with just the two of us.”

Brandon’s smile was bright again, just like when I’d given him the book that now sat on the table between us. “We do this often. What’s different this time?”

I shrugged. I wanted to call this a date, but that was impossible. To prevent myself from saying or doing something stupid, I fished my phone from my pocket and joined Brandon in the world of doom scrolling. Maybe it defeated the purpose of spending time together when we weren’t exactly talking, but I was content to be in his presence. Wasn’t that enough?

Our soup came out, and we ate in silence. Brandon opened his book and read a few more pages, laughing occasionally about how clumsy the bookstore owner was. This was perfect. I wanted to go through life like this, with my best friend by my side enjoying the little things like fish soup and books on a rainy afternoon.