I look at Bobbi, then the door, cracking it open slightly. Inside is the biggest library I’ve ever seen. Granted, I haven’t seen a lot of libraries, but it’s huge!731Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQaaF6A3has
“Not many people gossip here, if any,” Bobbi assures. “Quiet and safe.”731Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEXHUZaev7j
“How many books are here?” I ask.731Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9WYbtKFdcU
“I’m not sure,” Bobbi says. “You’re welcome to count them, if you want. But your Dad says you like William Blake, and we have him somewhere around here.”731Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKqNVOhJLJd
“I would like to read through his works again,” I admit. “It’s been…a long while. Where is the poetry section?”731Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8OepZAzGd3
Bobbi points in the general direction of the back and the three of us walk over. “So, Ama says you’re trustworthy…” I start.731Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSufsJl180q
“Well, I don’t know much about that!” Bobbi laughs. “You say that, Mandy?”731Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrWqh0L2Kzn
“Don’t call me Mandy, but yes,” Ama growls. “I trust you…mostly.”731Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSRuUlzvDHy
“Goodness, woman, why?!” Bobbi cackles. “Have you met me?”731Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBfLsI89vWb
“Yes,” Ama smiles. “I know your full name, Bob. Don’t tell me that I don’t know you well.”731Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTWzA6ujcOI
Bobbi blushes furiously. “Poetry, here we are.”731Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa70NEk90Cq
I turn to look at the number of books they have, which is quite a lot for just poetry. I look for “BLA” while Ama and Bobbi speak to each other in hushed tones. I snatch a book off the shelf when I see “Blake” on the spine and start flipping through it. “Ride!” a certain someone calls in that familiar voice.731Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwMgxdR8kRM
My head snaps up and Klef runs up to me. “There you are! Where did you run off to?”731Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡf5QEl47RzN
I blink. “Here.”731Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyy47jjwRMH
“I know that, but why?”731Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC40KCdzVhR
“Well, typically it’s not a good idea to stay near an attacked area when someone wants to kill you.”731Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡzSqkenPYBS
Klef rolls his eyes. “Ride…”731Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡj9ftlWOvYG
“Treble.”731Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡB29dsBtO8s
“Please work with me here.”731Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKfUfqcIliv
“Why? This is more fun!” I exclaim.731Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeZaLFPhYPf
Klef rolls his eyes and pulls me down for a kiss. “I was worried,” he murmurs.731Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdu2H7IRf7s
“I’m in good hands,” I assure. “Ama and Bobbi here are trustworthy. And I’m clearly fine.”731Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDcJWv2NBuZ
“But you weren’t in my hands, Ride. I want you with me.”731Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8xap5S6cSv
I grab his hands and squeeze them. 5 years ago I would have been weirded out by his intense gaze right now, but these days I can’t help but find it adorable. “Don’t worry. My heart’s always with you, isn’t it? You still have the box I put it in?”731Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaiFI4LNzlg
Klef breaks into laughter. “Ride! C’mon, I thought we were having a moment!”731Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOYU7PtH3vm
Ama “aww”s behind us. I turn to her and Bobbi. “Please don’t tell anyone,” I request.731Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ34ibatw6eL
“Our lips are sealed,” Bobbi assures me.731Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4iJuxbtcnF
“Speak for yourself!” Ama exclaims.731Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOa3ptcx8Jk
“Ama. For all your faults you can keep a secret,” Bobbi chastises.731Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlKKLI13MeO
“But they’re so cute together! And they shouldn’t have to sneak around to be romantic if they can help it!”731Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPorAEoGI6R
“We choose to sneak around, miss,” Klef explains. “We don’t want to be office gossip.”731Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡeE6LzGJ8E1
“‘Office gossip’,” I scoff. “You make this sound like a reputable business.”731Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBySJ5RYqIV
“It is, nowadays,” Klef points out.731Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTXXElC2Cse
“Oh yeah? To whom, outside our business?” I challenge.731Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrERLvFkE3S
“Well--” Klef starts. “There’s…” he tries. “Okay. Um. You win.”731Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjnE3ZQxkfp
I give Klef a smug smile. “So ha!” I exclaim.731Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqxMOxTEhVr
Klef is just indulging me at this point, but I choose to gloat a while longer. He whacks me on my arm and I whack the back of his head. “Oh, an escalation?” he asks with a devilish grin. “I can do that too, you know.”731Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3k5e7pwnAJ
“Do I?” I tease. We both know that he can.731Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2IUSTMKGdw
He gets on his toes and presses his lips against mine lightly and we both smile. Bobbi laughs. “Still in the honeymoon period?” they ask.731Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡak6nEcV0Db
“Ah, no. But she was in an abusive relationship so I make sure that I’m not crossing any boundaries. Some days she’s okay with kissing some not. I don’t make assumptions.” Klef shrugs. “So I give her plenty of time to say no. Doesn’t really matter to me whether or not I can kiss her. I just love being around her.”731Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2v5YK0cLCw
I blush. “Shut up. I was going to read. Care to join me?”731Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1gHdHImOYT
Klef turns nervous. “Oh, that’s okay. I’m more of a numbers guy.”731Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbWeG4SEhp2
“What, can’t you read?” I tease. “And not just memorizing symbols like I’ve seen you do, actually reading.”731Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMxlPFjZm1S
“I can! Just…not…well.”731Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDWs8s7bZfT
I smirk. “Looks like Treble has trouble with something after all!” He groans, and I ease up on the gloating. But not too much. “Reading, like anything, requires practice. Come on, we can find you a picture book.”731Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiNMZUpRiox
“Why some kiddie book, though?” Klef whines.731Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWvHXzL2AHQ
“Do you want to read adult poetry with tons of big words?” I ask him, holding up the book in my hands to emphasize my point.731Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPdTUQCb6vH
“Fine. Get me a kid’s book and see if I care,” Klef says, sulking.731Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN9NGCA5hKG
“Ama? Bobbi? Where’s the kid’s section?” I ask with a sickening smile.731Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡACX9M6tS92
“That way,” Bobbi says with a smirk. “I can show you where specifically, just follow me.”731Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNFjfzTtHoJ
“You better keep quiet about this,” Klef threatens. “Otherwise other people might think that they’re more qualified for my position here. And I love my position, I don’t ever want to give it up. It’s important to me. I’d daresay it’s so important to me that not even Rides could--”731Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWF5Dkrep1g
“Here we are,” Bobbi interrupts. They must be as bored with this discussion as I am.731Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1zlj5wBN8T
I know all too well Klef is talking about his “position” being not only my partner in crime, but my boyfriend. I grin at the thought of teaching my boyfriend how to read, though, and proceed to drag Klef through the books. Klef picks out one that’s colorful, and I laugh. “What’s so funny?!” he asks.731Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLYPAllAyXJ
“Stealing and Why It’s Wrong is so funny!” I exclaim. “You chose the one book on why you shouldn’t steal!”731Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSDMGkqSbVN
“Oh. Not interested,” Klef says, putting the book back, which just succeeds in making me laugh harder.731Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdbKSIgEa6a
“You should read it, Treble! You might learn a thing or two!”731Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnCffQpRdsQ
Klef sighs in that way he has that makes it seem like he’s questioning all of his life choices. He picks out another book and struggles to read the title this time. “Oh, this one’s about food!” he exclaims when he figures it out.731Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5zm4nKm3Sg
I roll my eyes. Out of all of the books he could have chosen…“Typical,” I sigh. “Come on, I’ll help you read it.”731Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWnBfUfPyKc
Klef whoops, and drops to the ground with the book in his lap. He frowns. “Now I remember why I don’t read. This is hard on the eyes and the brain.”731Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0sSzQJadxp
“It’s not too bad,” I persuade. I point to the first word. “Don’t you know what this one says?”731Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2Q7ODjsjCu
“‘Jo’,” Klef responds, rolling his eyes. “Look, I’d rather have complex equations than words any day. And I don’t even like complex equations. Why can’t you just leave me to be illiterate in peace?”731Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2ESOgRVvKY
“Because what if we adopt one day? I can’t be the only one to read to our prospective kids!” I say. “Besides, reading is good for you, and your eyesight is practically perfect! You can see it just fine, you may as well make use of the fact that you have the opportunity to read!”731Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡc8VC7Sw0tY
“Adopt…as in kids?”731Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY2Ya5iZ00d
Oh. I’ve never said anything about kids before now, so it comes off as totally out of the blue. “Yeah, you can’t exactly adopt an adult, can you?” I joke.731Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡb7T71O9v2e
Klef smiles and I can tell that he’ll let the matter rest, for now. “S’pose not,” he says easily, and leans back, sighing at the pages of his book.731Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY6Pg09ApdT
Penana
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