Page 72 of Summer Reading

“Be home by ten,” I said. I gave him the same raised eyebrow look he’d given me when I went out with Ben.

“Of course.” He bounced out the door, letting it slam shut behind him.

He’d been home every night since I arrived, and I’d been worried that his only friends lived inside his game system. It was weird to have him out and about even though I was going out myself.

On the one hand, I was ecstatic that he’d made in-person friends, but on the other hand, what if something happened to him? This was another new emotion for me in regard to my brother. Worry. I cared about him—a lot—and the weight of responsibility for him felt heavy.

I settled back in my chair and rewound the book. The readers were a man and a woman alternating as the book switched points of view. They were both good,really good, but they weren’t Ben. I closed my eyes, listening, letting the story wash over me. I was a million miles away, figuratively speaking, in Phoenix, Arizona, where the book was set, when I felt a hand on my knee.

Naturally, I screamed. And not a little yelp but an ear-piercing, “kick out at the person standing over me, screeching like I was being assaulted” sort of scream. The person jumped back with his hands in the air.

Chapter Eighteen

I raised my fists in a fighter stance while my phone dropped from my lap to the floor.

“Sam, it’s me,” Ben said. His hands were still raised. “Just me.”

“Oh, geez,” I gasped, and pulled out my earbuds. “You scared the shit out of me.”

I pressed my hand to my chest to try and calm my racing heart. I doubled over and my hair fell around my face. I’d been so lost in the story I hadn’t heard him enter the house.

“I’m really sorry,” he said. “Normally, I wouldn’t have just walked in, but I could see you through the window, and you weren’t answering my knock and I got worried. Those are some crazy self-defense moves you’ve got.”

“Are you mocking me?” I asked through my curtain of hair.

“No,” he said. He shook his head, but his eyes were glinting with suppressed laughter.

“Don’t you dare laugh at me,” I said. “I can stillkick you and I’m sneaky enough to do it when you won’t see it coming.”

“I have absolutely no doubt that you could kick my ass if you put your mind to it,” he said. He sounded like he was trying to mollify a savage. Given how I’d leapt off the couch in attack mode, he wasn’t totally wrong.

I rolled up to a standing position, tossing my hair back. Ben bent down and scooped up my phone. He glanced at the display. “You’re listening to her other book.”

“Yeah,” I said. I put my earbuds in their case, feeling embarrassed, which was ridiculous.

Ben of all people would not judge me for listening to an audiobook. I just didn’t want him to think I was doing it to impress him or anything.

“How is it?” he asked.

“I like listening to you read more,” I said. Which was the truth. “You know, if you ever want to give up the glamorous library world, you could absolutely read books for a living.”

“You mean like a voice actor?” he asked.

“Yes,” I said.

He laughed, amused by the idea.

“You’d be brilliant,” I insisted.

“I’ll definitely keep that in my back pocket,” he said. “Have you recovered from your scare?”

I nodded.

“Good.” He held up the piece of paper with his list on it. He was wearing jeans, biker boots, and a charcoalgray T-shirt that highlighted his perfectly defined muscles. Truly, the man was not like any librarian I had ever seen before. “I figured we could start here in Oak Bluffs. Depending upon how far we get, we can tackle the other towns.”

“Sounds good,” I said. “I’m guessing Giordano’s and the Ritz Cafe on Circuit Avenue are our starting places?”

He looked at me in surprise.

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