Free How to Hook a Bookworm by Cassie Mae Page B

us to play Boggle with him. Adam always wins.
    “Actually…he’s on a date.”
    Adam’s lips twitch, and my jaw drops.
    “Wow. Is that weird for you?”
    He cocks his head toward me. “That my dad has been out more in the past two months than I have in my entire lifetime? Yeah…I’d say I feel a little pathetic.”
    “I didn’t say pathetic,” I say, adjusting myself on the couch so I’m sitting upright. “I asked if you felt weird .” Adam should never feel pathetic. He’s a genius, has lots of close friends, and even if he doesn’t go out a lot, I know there are girls who like him.
    He stands, reaching over me to the lamp above my head and snaps it on. When he sits back down, he chooses the middle cushion instead of the end. “I do feel weird about it, but I don’t know how weird yet. Dad hasn’t had a date stick past the first one, and he’s come home indifferent. I don’t know if I’d be happier if he’d found someone, or if I’d be happier if he keeps coming home like he has been. Or if it will just be weird for a while.”
    I scoot closer so our legs press together. The book Adam was reading during the really scary parts smooshes against my thigh. “So, it’s not just one person? He’s sort of playing the field?”
    Adam groans, and I stifle a laugh. But really how else was I supposed to phrase that?
    “He set up a dating profile, and he’s been out every Saturday since February.”
    “Why didn’t you say anything?”
    “I wasn’t sure what to say. When he asked me if I was okay with him dating again, I just sort of sat there and nodded. Then he asked if I’d help him set up his profile and that was beyond awkward. But I did it, and he’s been ‘playing the field’ since.”
    “But you weren’t sure if you were okay with it?”
    He drops his head into his hands, his glasses pressing against the bridge of his nose. “I should be okay with it. Mom’s been gone for ten years. He should’ve been dating way before now. But I don’t know if it’s because it’s been just me and him for so long that I feel strange about it, or if it’s because I really don’t want him to find someone else.” He turns to look at me, keeping his head in his hand. “But I know how I should feel. So that’s how I act.”
    My stomach hollows as I try to find the right words to say or if there are any right words. I link my arm through his and rest my chin on his shoulder. “It’s okay to act exactly how you feel sometimes.”
    His eyes search my face for a minute, then he half smiles and pushes my braid off my shoulder. His fingers trace down my arm and squeeze my elbow. I shiver, and the room gets quiet. Or at least I think it does. The background music on the TV should be playing, but I don’t hear it. All I hear is my own heart in my ears. Suddenly the air feels thick, and I worry that maybe I shouldn’t have moved so close.
    He looks intense, but happy as he studies me. Even though my heart is pounding and the air is heavy, I’m comfortable. My body starts to relax against his side.
    Adam inches forward, and I’m thinking he’ll flick my nose or pinch my hip…something friendly and playful like always, but his gaze is still intensely focused. I don’t know what’s happening, but whatever it is, I don’t stop it.
    Without thinking, my eyes drop to his lips, and in that small second, he stops inching. He pulls back, eyebrows bunched together, and he squeezes his eyes closed. I lift my chin from his shoulder, and we both shake our heads at the same time.
    He lets out a hollow laugh. “I think we’ve had a long enough break.”
    “Huh?” Wow, I sound extremely breathless.
    He pats my knee, then jerks back as if he’s not used to doing that all the time…even though he is. “Uh, one more quick study session. Then I’ll take you home.”
    I whine, and Adam taps my foot with his before he leads me to his kitchen table. Plopping my butt in the wood chair I say, “Do we have to? It’s