Page 74 of Stealing for Keeps
She starts to giggle a lot like she did the other night.
I can’t help but smile as we crowd together, our books smashed between us.
“Well, this seems familiar,” I say. “Hopefully this time, I don’t get yelled at.”
“Let me.” She straightens, then laughs heartily like I just said the funniest thing. “I love that book. Have you read the sequel? It’s even better.”
She takes a step toward the end of the row and then motions with her head for me to follow. I don’t know how I feel about this, but she’s already blown our cover.
“No, I haven’t,” I say, not nearly as casual and convincing as she had. “I’ll have to pick that one up.”
We step out from behind the shelves. The librarian stands behind her desk at the front, looking at us over the top of her cat-eye glasses.
“Oh, Mrs. Finch,” Claire says brightly.
“What are you two doing in here?” Mrs. Finch asks, tilting her head to the side. It might be my imagination, but she seems to be eyeing me specifically with a look of skepticism.
“The door was open, and I wanted to see if you had this one.” Claire lifts the book.
Mrs. Finch cracks a smile, and the tension leaves her face, smoothing out the lines around her eyes. “That is one of my favorites.”
“I saw it on your recommended reading list.”
“You did?” The librarian seems surprised.
Recommended reading list? I look between them.
“Oh yeah. I look at your list every month, but this is the first year I’ve had time to finally read some of them. Is it okay if I check it out? I meant to come by earlier—”
“Of course.”
While Claire steps forward, I stare at her, jaw dropped. She lifts her brows at me and practically skips forward.
I’m still staring at her in awe when Mrs. Finch’s gaze slides to me. “And, Mr. Keller, would you like to check out that one?”
“Yeah. That’d be great.” I move up to stand next to Claire.
“Oh, good choice.” Mrs. Finch beams at me.
When we get out into the hallway and are several feet away, I look at Claire. She has a pleased smile on her face as she walks next to me.
“Impressive,” I say. “Recommended reading list?”
“It’s in the monthly newsletter.”
“Must have missed that.” I shake my head, then hold up my rented book with my coach’s face on the cover. “If any of the guys see me with this book, they’re going to give me so much shit.”
She pulls her phone out of her back pocket and snaps a picture before I know what’s happening.
* * *
“Yo, Disco!”
I swivel my head around as I continue to pull my practice jersey over my head. Today, we had a brutal practice followed by a conditioning session that had multiple guys throwing up. It was not pretty.
We had another away game last night, and you’d think from the way Coach punished us that we played badly or lost. We did neither. We finally found a rhythm. We were connecting passes, being patient with the ball, and staying in control.
Rowan walks toward me. His jersey is balled up in his hands. Vaughn is with him.
